Collaboration and Partnerships

Significance of Collaboration

Sustainability is a community, state, national, and global effort. Consequently, it is essential to collaborate with surrounding communities in order to accomplish wider sustainability goals and more holistically protect the planet and its people. We must center our connections to both our community and the Earth; no individual person or entity can combat climate change and systemic injustice by themselves. Explore the following links to learn more about our partnerships. 

Dane County

• Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change 
• Dane County Climate Action Plan 
• Sustainability Leaders Collaborative - Partnership of cities, towns, and villages across Dane County focused on resiliency initiatives and reduction of emissions. 
• Middleton - Cross Plains Area School District (MCPSD) - Recently adopted a resolution to "establish goals to meet 100% of all district operations energy needs with renewable energy by 2035 among other sustainability goals."

Green Tier Legacy Communities - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

• GTLC Main Page - Local government leaders/staff across the state collaborating on sustainability and resiliency efforts. 
• City of Middleton 2019 Annual Report
• City of Middleton 2018 Annual Report

Protecting the Yahara Watershed 

• Yahara WINS - "The Yahara Watershed Improvement Network, known as Yahara WINS, is a groundbreaking initiative to achieve clean water goals for the Yahara Watershed. In this effort, community partners led by Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District are collaborating on a strategy called watershed adaptive management, in which all sources of phosphorus in a watershed work together to reduce phosphorus."
• Yahara CLEAN Compact - "The Yahara CLEAN Compact seeks to improve the condition and usability of our lakes and beaches. It does this by expanding and strengthening the community partnership to clean up our lakes, and uniting around a common vision and action plan to which we can be accountable."
• Resilient Landscapes (Clean Lakes Alliance): Top Ten Ways to Help the Lakes at Home 

National Organizations/Entities

• Urban Sustainability Directors Network - "Network of local government professionals across the United States and Canada dedicated to creating a healthier environment, economic prosperity, and increased social equity to share best practices and accelerate the application of good ideas."
• United States Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED for Cities 2020 Cohort - "LEED provides local governments a framework for implementing strategies to address challenges related to energy, water, waste, pollution and carbon emissions. In addition to environmental factors, the rating system takes into account social and economic indicators, such as health, equity, education and prosperity. LEED helps local leaders hone metrics to evaluate initiatives; benchmark performance relative to peers; and educate and communicate progress to stakeholders."
• Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) - "National network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all."

State Organizations/Entities

• Legacy Community Alliance for Health (LCAH) - Providing "local Wisconsin leaders with the tools they need to incorporate health equity and the social determinants of health into all decision-making. The goal is to improve internal practices in order incorporate health equity into all policies, plans, and procedures."
• Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition - "The Coalition provides a platform for members to collaborate on overcoming barriers to decarbonization, accelerating local climate change solutions, and ensuring the benefits of the clean energy economy are distributed to everyone throughout the state."