Sustainability in the Suburbs: The Eco City Studio and the Story of Eco City Alexandria, VA

Speaker: Joe Schilling, Eco City Studio

A growing number of compact, inner-ring suburban cities are taking sustainability seriously by adopting sustainability charters and climate change action plans. However, small communities also present their own set of challenges in adapting model programs to cities with less capacity and greater fiscal, policy and legal barriers.

Through the lens of collaborative problem solving and policy diffusion, Schilling will survey a few sustainability charters and policy plans, identify core elements, and outline the players and the processes engaged in creating Alexandria’s Eco City Charter. He will also highlight the challenges that planners, design professionals, and professors face in their efforts to translate sustainability to communities that are embarking on their sustainability journeys.