Sustainable Cities
SDSN has engaged in a range of sustainable cities projects in the US and globally, but currently has no active projects in this space.
USA Sustainable Cities Initiative (USA-SCI)
From 2014-2017, the USA Sustainable Cities Initiative (USA-SCI) supported SDG achievement strategies in three US cities by building on ongoing municipal sustainable development planning efforts. New York (New York), Baltimore (Maryland), and San José (California) are global pioneers – the first to develop SDG-based city-level development strategies that have served as models for cities worldwide. Read more about the US-SCI program, and SDSN’s Thematic Network on Sustainable Cities, at https://www.unsdsn.org/cities.
PUBLICATIONS
University of California at Davis (UC Davis) and the City of Sacramento proudly announce the completion of the 2024 Voluntary Local Review (VLR) on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the City of Sacramento.
Congratulations to the Case Western Reserve University team for reaching the finals of the Universities for Goal 13 competition!
On Thursday, April 13, 2023, the City of Cleveland, SDSN, and the Cleveland Foundation held the city’s first Decarbonization Summit to discuss pathways for reducing the city’s carbon emission levels.
On February 17th, 2022, SDSN USA convened a networking event focused on SDG localization, bringing together members and friends of the network committed to tackling Agenda 2030 in their institutions and communities.
The 2019 US Cities Sustainable Development Report, released in July 2019, is SDSN’s third city-level report ranking 105 US cities on progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDGs). The results show that there will be significant work to do across the board if the SDGs are to be achieved by 2030, as cities on average scored only 48.9%. The report can be accessed via this link.
In January 2019, SDSN hosted a workshop alongside the 2019 Winter Meeting of the US Conference of Mayors with practitioners and experts to discuss their experiences and consider lessons detailed in the practitioner guide: “A Pathway to Sustainable American Cities: A Guide to Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.” This guide, a re-imagining of a 2016 guide prepared for a global urban audience, presents 10 steps for cities to consider on their way to adapting and adopting the global framework for their own city.
Additional Resources
American leadership in advancing the sustainable development goals (Brookings & UN Foundation, 2020)
Contact: Caroline Fox (caroline.fox@unsdsn.org)