Exploring Strategies & Opportunities for Developing Municipal Green Teams

The City of Mesa and City of Glendale are fast-growing municipalities located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in central Arizona. While Mesa is located in the East Valley and Glendale is located in the West Valley, both communities share a commitment to advancing sustainability throughout the region and state. Currently, sustainability leaders from both cities are interested in exploring strategies and opportunities for developing and implementing Green Teams to bolster sustainability efforts and initiatives across departments. Green Teams provide an opportunity to better connect staff and leadership throughout each municipality, creating new and innovative pathways for sustainability action within municipal operations as well as in the surrounding community. Therefore, the City of Mesa and City of Glendale collaborated with graduate Master of Sustainability Leadership students to explore opportunities provided by the development and implementation of Green Teams, as well as identify best practices and lessons learned from municipalities and other relevant organizations locally and globally. Leveraging these findings, MSL students will determine the benefits and drawbacks of implementation, then propose structures, policies, and processes that may be used to support, implement, and evaluate a successful Green Team in these communities, as well as in other communities in the state and region.