Sustainable CT community honors

A group of 22 towns and cities were recently recognized as Sustainable CT certified communities at the annual conference of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The awards ceremony, attended by hundreds of municipal leaders from across the state, marked the successful completion of the first year of Sustainable CT, a statewide initiative that supports efficient, resilient, and inclusive practices at the local level.

With input from municipal leaders across the state, Sustainable CT was developed over the past few years under the leadership of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University, in partnership with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The program is independently funded, with support from three Connecticut philanthropies, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the Hampshire Foundation, and the Common Sense Fund.

All 22 newly certified towns worked to demonstrate significant achievements in actions in nine sustainability impact areas ranging from thriving local economies and vibrant arts and culture to clean transportation and diverse housing. In addition, the towns had to address diversity, inclusion, and equity when implementing sustainability actions.

Five municipalities received awards for achieving “silver” certification, the highest honor in the program: Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hartford, and Stamford. Another seventeen municipalities earned recognition at the “bronze” certification level: Bristol, Coventry, Hebron, Madison, Middletown, Milford, New Haven, New London, New Milford, Old Saybrook, Ridgefield, Roxbury, South Windsor, West Hartford, Westport, Windham, and Woodbridge.

For information, visit www.sustainablect.org.