Making Chicago neighbourhoods sustainable

The ICA would like to celebrate its 50th anniversary by helping to highlight how communities in Chicago are trying to become sustainable neighborhoods. It is sponsoring a 9 month initiative to research and document successful sustainable projects found in each of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods and the surrounding suburbs. The research will culminate in a one-day ‘Sharing Approaches that Work’ conference that will highlight neighborhood innovations in clean energy, waste reduction, green jobs, recycling and local food production involving community groups, the private sector, and local, state and national governments.

The Conference

The conference will take place on June 21, 2012. The morning will provide an opportunity for communities to share innovative projects and initiatives; lunch will include a speech from a prominent leader in the environmental movement; and in the afternoon there will be seminar presentations and dialogues about resources available to neighborhoods. The conference will showcase resources including those from the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, the Federal Government, Illinois Clean Energy Community Fund, Growing Power, Faith in Place, The Delta Institute, ComEd, Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), Transition Chicago and others. The conference will be an opportunity to look at creating a path forward in Chicago’s neighborhoods and the policies that will make this possible. A report on the 77 neighborhood sustainable projects will be presented. It will document the projects that have been engaging communities, and how they were created and implemented. These documents will be shared electronically to neighborhoods and non-profit organizations across Chicago.

The preparation for the “Sharing Approaches that Work” conference will catalyze new local efforts and encourage movements within the 77 Chicago communities to hold their own sustainability training

workshops, share fairs, and bring together
neighborhood sustainability groups to build a common future vision. It is this local effort that will contribute to the success of the Chicago Climate Action Plan by 2020. The ICA is the organizing sponsor. Current co-sponsors are Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, Millennia Consulting, LLC, Faith in Place and Transition USA. Over the next six months we envision creating many alliances to build sustainable resilient Chic ago communities.

Social justice program for
college students

ICA-USA launched a pilot three-week social justice based service learning program on July 25. The action-reflection methodology integrates contextual study with civic engagement and life in an intentional community. The civic engagement component of the program was run in conjunction with Transitions Chicago, and ICA’s 50th anniversary celebration. The students split into teams of two to do action-research on community development and sustainable development projects in two different Chicago neighborhoods: Pilsen and Bronzeville. They produced asset maps, learned some community organizing tools and methodology, and wrestled with the practical hardships of going green in the urban context. For every hour spent in academic study, two hours were spent in neighborhood engagement. Enjoying Chicago was a key piece of the learning experience for the students. Although their schedule was full during the week, Friday evenings and weekends were free for exploring the city. Upon completing the course, the students received three college credit hours. They also gave presentations to ICA staff and students in Northwestern University’s Design for American program. The program was quite successful, and new relationships with other universities are expected to bloom due to its success.