Peoria is recognized as a local leader in sustainability, through its numerous sustainability programs for residents, businesses, and internal operations. For example, the City incorporates LEED building standards and has an internal “Green Team” that works to implement Peoria’s sustainability initiatives. A cornerstone of the city’s sustainability orientation is its Sustainability Action Plan (SAP). A thorough, informed, and accessible SAP can lay the framework for continued success in achieving sustainability goals.
In 2009, Peoria published its first SAP, then released an update, Sustainability Action Plan 2.0 (SAP2) in 2017. At the forefront of SAP2, Peoria makes commitments to decrease waste, pollution, and consumption, and in turn, increase air quality, recycling, and the number of LEED-certified buildings in the city. Contemporary sustainability practices are constantly evolving, as new technology is developed and as municipalities gain new insights into the impacts of their daily operations. Therefore, a successful municipal sustainability plan must evolve as well, so city personnel is looking down the road to prepare for the next update; for the purposes of this report, this future version will be referred to as Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (SAP3).
The City of Peoria sought the assistance of the ASU students in the SOS 321: Policy and Governance for Sustainable Systems class to research best practices in sustainable governance. Throughout the semester, students studied a selection of 23 municipal sustainability plans from communities across Arizona and across the US, to investigate best practices and lessons learned. Each group studied 2-3 sustainability plans, then presented their findings back to the group during class. Equipped with this pooled knowledge, students then examined Peoria’s current Sustainability Action Plan, SAP2, with the end goal of providing feasible recommendations for the City to implement in their future 3.0 rewrite.
Each team focused on one section or chapter of the plan, then utilized the combined findings from studying other communities’ sustainability planning efforts to develop their recommendations. Students identified several opportunities to improve the sustainability plan, such as better incorporating data, metrics, and graphics, as well as revising the document’s formatting and organization. One team also worked with Project Cities staff to develop a sample infographic intended as a visual example of the types of imagery Peoria could consider for SAP3.
The student research intends to provide the City of Peoria with useful ideas to expand and clarify their plan, while simultaneously making the new edition more interesting and engaging for multiple audiences and stakeholders. Students reiterated throughout their findings the importance of ensuring the document is easily understood and accessed by residents, businesses, and government officials.