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LeBron James and the Cavs were not able to bring a championship to Cleveland. And no other major sports team in Cleveland has been able to do it for 50 years. Maybe professional sports is not really the way forward.
Some in Cleveland are putting a lot of faith in sustainability – engaging the region’s 1.6 million people in “building an economic engine to create a green city on a blue lake.”
For more information on what’s going on in Cleveland – non-sports-wise – check out:
New video from Sustainable Cleveland 2019
The Cleveland Commitment, available for download and signature by individuals and families
City of Cleveland’s new sustainability Web site
Sustainable Cleveland 2019 blog
Sustainability – can it make us a winner? What’s more important – the journey or the destination?
Cleveland sports teams are not known for finishing in first place. But, when it comes to being a sustainable city, Mayor Frank Jackson insists that “Cleveland can and will be the first and we will do it best.”
The mayor, who is just starting his second term, envisions a 10-year effort to create “Sustainable Cleveland 2019: Building an Economic Engine to Empower a Green City on a Blue Lake.” It’s catchy and the ThreePs are well represented: People (city), Planet (green city on a blue lake), and Profit (economic engine).
The playbook has been written and it’s now available online in the form of the final report from this year’s first Cleveland sustainability summit. Here, you’ll find 28 key initiatives (think of them as offensive plays), covering everything from advanced energy, green building and communications, to local foods, transportation and “waste to profit.”
By putting out such a complete report, it’s open for all to see, evaluate and use. This, of course, means that even competing cities have the benefit of the same playbook – call it leveling the playing the field or sharing the wealth.
Quality of ideas is important, but it only gets you so far. At some point – in Cleveland’s case, that’s the next nine and a half years – the winner is decided by the determination of the players and the excellence in execution. In a city where “wait ‘til next year” is a familiar refrain, the building and rebuilding begin immediately, and we have until 2019 to get it right.
