Peoria continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable development with the Livability Initiatives, which is comprised of six overarching goals for the city, including Economic Prosperity, Superior Public Services, Integrated Transportation, Arts and Cultural Enrichment, Smart Growth, and Healthy Neighborhoods. In 2009, the City of Peoria released its first Sustainability Action Plan (SAP), a guiding framework and action plan to support the city’s sustainable development. Since the first plan, the City of Peoria has continually revised its action plan, with the release of the Sustainability Action Plan 2.0 (SAP2).
As the City prepares for its next revision, Peoria seeks to gather community input to inform and develop metrics to measure success towards the goals. In a partnership with two ASU courses, graduate students continued to research best practices for community input and developing key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as research funding opportunities to support sustainable development initiatives. Students developed recommendations for the Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (SAP3).
Graduate students in the School of Sustainability’s Master of Sustainability Leadership (MSL) program conducted a series of listening sessions with Peoria residents, in addition to conducting a community Omnibus survey for their Capstone project. Students collected community input through the distribution of a sustainability-focused Omnibus survey, listening sessions with residents, the development of key performance indicators for the city’s goals, and the development of a public outreach campaign.
The following student reports and recommendations are intended to provide the City of Peoria with strategies and best practices, as it moves forward with its Sustainability Action Plan 3.0. With the community survey and coinciding listening sessions, the Peoria community supports sustainable development for the community, with an emphasis on city-wide increased connectivity and shaded streets. Students recommend additional community feedback, with an emphasis on additional surveys for the plan, and hybrid listening sessions to gather additional feedback.