The City of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan's Business School will host the Michigan Green Communities Leadership Academy July 16 & 17. The Academy, facilitated by the Institute for Sustainable Communities and sponsored by the Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Ann Arbor SPARK, will be an opportunity for local government leaders and their regional partners to learn and develop strategies to further green economic development. 18 cities, from Marquette to Detroit, are sending teams of three or four individuals to participate in the event. Those teams will learn about sustainability initiatives in Michigan and across the country that can be adapted and implemented locally. They will learn valuable strategies for engaging the public and communicating about the economic and community benefits of sustainability. And they will build leadership capacity and skills to advance sustainability initiatives together when they return home. 

The Michigan Green Communities network is dedicated to bringing unique peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities, such as this Leadership Academy, to its members. Mark your calendars now for the third annual Green Communities conference November 2 in Lansing. To join the network, contact Laura Matson.

Luke Forrest is Project Coordinator for the Center for 21st Century Communities. Contact him by email or Twitter.

The third annual Michigan Green Communities conference is scheduled for November 2, 2012, at the Michigan Municipal League's Capital Office in Lansing. Staff and elected/appointed officials from local government, colleges and universities, or other organizations partnering with local government are invited to submit a proposal to present at the conference. Initial presentations to the entire audience of 75 will last 10 minutes. Presenters will then have the opportunity to lead break-out discussion sessions with 10-30 attendees to continue a more in-depth conversation about the presentation topic. Submit your proposal here by July 27.

Contact Laura Matson with the City of Ann Arbor with any questions. Visit the Green Communities webpage for presentations and videos from the previous two conferences.

In late 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission a $3 million grant to support the Mid-Michigan Program for Greater Sustainability, a collaborative effort involving partners from Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties. This regional planning grant supports initiatives that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, environmental and infrastructure investments. June 20, a Michigan Green Communities webinar will feature Harmony Gmazel, AICP, Land Use Planner with the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission and Julie Powers, Executive Director of the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council. Harmony and Julie will provide an overview of the grant and the region’s emerging sustainability planning efforts.

Wednesday, June 20

10 am Eastern

Call in: 734-794-6099

Access code: 43720

Link to access presentation materials during the call

A message from the League's Chief Operations Officer:

The Michigan Municipal League has received numerous inquiries about the status of the League’s proposed natural gas purchasing program. We are pleased to report that we are continuing to make progress, and are targeting a summer 2012 launch of the program. At the present time we are assembling our consulting team, and will be seeking proposals from gas suppliers in the near future. Please watch our website (mml.org) for further updates as we will be seeking to collect additional information from members that are ready to participate in the program and save money on their energy purchases.

Anthony Minghine
Associate Executive Director & COO
Ph: 734-669-6360
www.mml.org

Posted by League communications director Matt Bach on behalf of Anthony Minghine.