What Is Sustainable DC?

In July 2011, Mayor Gray announced a plan to make DC the greenest, healthiest, and most livable city in the nation when he tasked the Office of Planning (OP) and the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) with leading the Sustainable DC project. Covering the next 20 years, the Sustainable DC initiative is crafted for and by the city’s diverse and knowledgeable community with the ultimate goal of making DC more socially equitable, environmentally responsible and economically competitive. 

From its beginning, Sustainable DC has engaged people across the city by raising awareness, gathering public input, and tapping into the industry and business leaders the District is fortunate to headquarter. Even with extensive public participation and community input, the District will continue to reach out to an even broader audience until the Sustainable DC project has reached all people across all Wards.

The Process So Far

Following the start of the Sustainable DC initiative, the Mayor took quick action to develop the plan and take the first steps to making the city more sustainable. In November 2011, Mayor Gray launched nine different public working groups that examined best practices, existing conditions, and public comments in order to develop key recommendations for the District’s first sustainability plan. Over 700 people participated in the working groups throughout the winter of 2011 and 2012 by prioritizing innovative city goals and creating ambitious visions of what the District needs to do over the next 20 years to be sustainable.

In April 2012, the hard work of the working groups, with input from agency leaders and industry professionals, culminated in “A Vision for a Sustainable DC,” which accomplishes two things: 1.) sets the vision for the city as a whole and 2.) provides the framework for a detailed strategy to achieve the vision, which will be developed over the summer and released in the fall of 2012.

So far, the Vision is the product of extensive public effort and engagement:

The Process Moving Forward

Following the release of the Vision, the District will work closely with consultants who will perform detailed research and analysis for the priority recommendations that came out of the working group meetings and the Vision. Through the end of the spring and into the summer, the District will host a series of discussions about how to emphasize jobs, equity, education and health throughout the plan. The District will also work with different implementation committees who will help the District create financing tools, outreach processes, educational materials, legislative and policy changes for specific measures to move the District towards a more sustainable future. Stay involved with the process and up to date with Sustainable DC news by signing up for our email list.

Who's Involved?

The Sustainable DC process has consisted of several key groups who continue to influence the District’s sustainability plan by contributing to meaningful conversations, offering insightful ideas, and investing countless hours for the sake of city’s future.

• Working Groups: Working groups were open to the public and facilitated by District agency staff and experienced community members. Over the winter of 2011-2012, hundreds of dedicated volunteers in nine working groups met every other week to identify and prioritize potential goals and actions within the topics of built environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water, and the green economy.

• Green Ribbon Committee: The Mayor convened this committee of civic leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, in order to take a big picture view of plan development, as they review the plan from a broad range of community perspectives.

• Green Cabinet: Convened by the Mayor, and led by the City Administrator, the Green Cabinet is composed of agency directors and key government officials and tasked with determining how District agencies  can incorporate sustainable practices while advancing their core missions.

Plan Topics

The District’s sustainability plan focuses on nine major categories. So far, working groups have invested incredible time and effort crafting visions, goals and actions for each topic. During the summer of 2012, recommendations from the working groups will be analyzed by consultants to determine the feasibility, and benefits and costs of associated action. The result of this analysis combined with the Mayor’s Vision will be used in the implementation plan to be released in the fall of 2012.  

• Built Environment: Building and infrastructure relationships to transportation, energy, and water
• Climate: Gas emissions reductions and adaptation to a changing climate
• Energy: Energy use, generation, efficiency, providers, and financing issues
• Food: Local food production, distribution, access, security, and community benefits
• Nature: Natural systems, parks, habitat, biodiversity, and wildlife
• Transportation: Transportation systems, infrastructure, modes, efficiencies, access, and delivery
• Waste: Waste recycling, reuse, hauling and collection, composting, and waste to energy
• Water: Watershed protection, stormwater management, water quality and reuse, and sewers
• Green Economy: Job creation, economic development, and local business development

Cross cutting issues transcend each of the plan’s nine topics. Each working group consistently mentioned the need to provide particular focus on community health and education, social equity between all Wards and economic opportunity to create green and sustainable jobs. Following the release of the Vision, these cross-cutting issues will be discussed during the next wave of public outreach beginning in May 2012.

Project Downloads

• Sustainable DC one-pager [PDF]