The Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification, a municipal performance program jointly managed by the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pittsburgh, is now formally recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). The sustainable municipality certification, a free and voluntary self-assessment for municipalities, is a platform for demonstrating excellence, accelerating the policy and practice of good government, and gaining recognition.
Municipal applicants applying for grant funds from DCED through the online single application process are now invited to indicate whether their community is Sustainable Pennsylvania certified and at what level of achievement. There are five performance levels: Associate, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. DCED acknowledges the top four in the application.
The Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification is comprised of 131 criteria spanning 9 broad topic areas relevant to high performing local governments across economic, social, environmental, and civic engagement values.
The process of obtaining certification engages municipal leaders to comprehensively review their policies and practices and to consider where performance can be enhanced. As of July 25, 2016, 57 municipalities had completed the certification process and 16 more were pledged to complete it.
Is your community certified? View the complete list of Sustainable Pennsylvania Certified Communities. More information on how your municipality can get certified or how it can reach for a higher level of achievement is available on the Sustainable PA Community Certification website or by contacting Jim Price at (412) 259-5331 or jprice@sustainablepittsburgh.org.
