10th Annual Southwestern PA Smart Growth Conference:
Regional Collaboration: Investing in Sustainable Communities

panoramic of downtown Pittsburgh facing the Mon River

Tipping Points for Sustainability Competition

Overview - What is a Tipping Point?

Use the nomination form (pdf) to submit your tipping points.  Per the 14 Sustainable Community Development Essentials,* identify and submit the significant tipping point(s) or game changing moments from the last ten years (2000-2010) you see as being a point of departure whereby the policy and practice of that given "Essential" was accelerated for the region.  And, please identify the systems change, the good, that has come from it -- what that tipping point put in motion; what we should have learned and how we should be applying this today.

*Tipping points can be: policies, acts of leadership, mishaps, demonstration projects, an event, etc.

A committee of judges will review the submissions to pick the top winners and award prizes.  The winning tipping points will be presented at the 10th Annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference on October 15, 2010.  They will be held up as lessons we can learn from in writing the next ten years of progress in sustainable community development around southwestern Pennsylvania.  A grand prize winner will receive a free iPad, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

*Sustainable Community Essentials
The 14 Sustainable Community Essentials were released at last year's 9th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference.  Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Development Network partnered with leading organizations in the region to produce a series of Resource Sheets on how to build sustainable communities.  They represent a starting point for moving along the path of sustainable development.  They are:

  • Air Quality
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Education
  • Energy Conservation and Green Building
  • Environmentally Sensitive, Civic, and Historic Places
  • Expanding Housing Choice and Addressing Blight
  • Food Security and Local Production
  • Governance
  • Healthy Communities
  • Land Use and Community Design
  • Local Economies and Main Street Revitalization
  • Mobility and Alternative Fuels
  • Waste Management and Recycling
  • Water and Stormwater Management

 

QUICK LINKS:
Competition entry instructions and criteria
Competition homepage
10th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference homepage


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