The Borough of Etna in Allegheny County was certified in November as the world's first EcoDistrict and celebrated Etna EcoDistrict Day on December 11.
EcoDistricts are neighborhoods or districts where neighbors, community institutions and businesses join with city leaders and utility providers to meet ambitious sustainability goals and co-develop innovative district-scale projects.
The Etna EcoDistrict engaged evolveEA in 2018 to lead a year-long Education Series featuring community dinners, speakers, activities, and education centered around six ecodistrict quality of life areas: water, mobility, air, energy, food, and equity.
The Education Series resulted in a collection of information booklets that summarize Etna’s key issues and opportunities, which are available online and to borrow from the Etna Little Library.
The Education Series was followed by a year of community planning, where evolveEA engaged residents to co-create an action plan of policies, programs, and catalytic projects that contribute to the achievement of Etna’s EcoDistrict goals.
Empowered volunteers embraced the responsibility of envisioning Etna’s future, and have used the planning process to continue building capacity for implementing their shared vision.
While the Etna EcoDistrict was established more recently, Etna’s history of environmental stewardship began years ago with the Borough’s national leadership in green infrastructure and stormwater management.
The Etna EcoDistrict initiative began in 2016 as a collaboration between the Borough, the Etna Economic Development Corporation (EEDC), Triboro Ecodistrict with the neighboring boroughs of Millvale and Sharpsburg, and community volunteers, with the newly formed Etna Community Organization (ECO) as the primary steward of the initiative.
The EcoDistrict launched with a year of fact-finding and collaborative learning, laying the groundwork for the two-year education and planning process.
Focusing their planning and strategic action on six quality of life issue areas, the Etna EcoDistrict follows an approach that was pioneered locally by Millvale, Sharpsburg, and evolveEA prior to the establishment of the certification program by the national EcoDistricts organization.
As a result of this collaboration, the three communities formed the Triboro Ecodistrict in 2016 to share knowledge and resources, and scale up their impact.
The annual EcoDistricts Summit, an event organized by the nonprofit of the same name, will take place in Pittsburgh on November 4th and 5th.
Using the locally-developed ecodistrict planning methodology, Etna met the requirements for EcoDistricts™ certification, and certified as the first community in the world to become certified during the Summit.
Communities are eligible for certification when they have fulfilled the rigorous requirements outlined in the EcoDistricts Protocol, a framework to guide neighborhood development that prioritizes climate protection, resilience, and equity.
Funding for the Etna EcoDistrict is provided through the Triboro Ecodistrict grant by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation in Pittsburgh.
(Reprinted in part from the EvolveEA News webpage.)
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[Posted: December 17, 2019] www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com
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