Ajax, ON, June 14, 2018 – At the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative annual conference in Ajax, Canadian and US mayors celebrated the strong, integrated relationship on environment and economy that binds our two countries and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence region as a whole... “As mayors in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence region, we represent a community of common interest, dedicated to the protection of our shared waters and our integrated economic prosperity,” said incoming Cities Initiative chair Sandra Cooper, Mayor of Collingwood (population 21,793). ...At the conference, civic leaders announced the creation of the Mayors’ Council on Nature and Communities, an exciting new venture to create natural spaces in urbanized areas and contribute to national efforts to reach the UN Convention on Biodiversity 17% natural spaces target by 2020. The initiative will begin in Ontario as a regional pilot, chaired by Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, with vice-chair Mitch Twolan, mayor of Huron-Kinloss.
See the member cities here, they include Sheboygan, Port Washington, Kenosha, Superior, and Washburn, WI (population 2,098).
Among their initiatives is Green CiTTS (Cities Transforming Towards Sustainability). "This program showcases the actions of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities in moving the entire region towards a sustainable future and provides support to cities to go even further down the path towards sustainability. The Cities Initiative provides information and financial support for cities who would like to improve their green infrastructure projects. The objectives of the Green CiTTS program are to:
- Protect Water Resources and Coastal Areas
- Promote Low-Carbon Energy Generation and Consumption
- Adopt Green Land Use and Building Design
- Encourage Green Economic Development".
Perhaps Sturgeon Bay can join and commit to the initiative. So many common interests, in towns big and small, that share the Great Lakes. Sign up for their newsletter here. Thank you for your consideration.
Submitted by Nancy Aten
