University of Louisville
IN-3: Innovation 3

The Partnership for a Green City (PGC) is an innovative sustainability collaboration of public partners – the University of Louisville (UofL), Jefferson Community & Technical College (JCTC), Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), and Louisville Metro government (LMG)– working to be sustainable stewards of the environment, society and the taxpayer’s money. It is the first public partnership of its kind in the country that focuses on public organization sustainability. Originally created in 2004 with a grant obtained by the College of Education and Human Development and the Kentucky Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development at UofL, the university has led the Partnership in a number of ways. When the Partnership hired a full-time director in 2007, UofL offered to host the position within the university given the focus the administration has on sustainability. A memorandum of agreement among the partners, created by university counsel, funds the position and PGC operations. The Director of the Partnership reports directly to the Executive Vice President of Research and Innovation (EVPRI) and works with a Steering Committee of eight people – two from each partner organization – on day-to-day operations of the PGC. Business operations also function through the EVPRI. The premise of the Partnership is that working together; the whole is greater than the sum of our parts. The partner agencies employ over 27,500 people, enroll over 135,000 students, own more than 531 buildings with over 30 million square feet of space, operate and maintain 7,000 vehicles, and manage 25,135 acres, or 1/10th of the land in Louisville Metro. Through the coordination of efforts and cooperation, the Partnership has been able to realize real results that will have long-term impact on the health, education, and well-being of our citizens while improving and institutionalizing environmental practices within the organizations themselves. The Partnership has achieved a number of successes, starting with a Climate Action Report in 2009 with 175 recommendations. To date, we have seen collaborative work on 140 of the recommendations with the remaining 35 pending. UofL has been the leader in this area, implementing many applicable recommendations through its Climate Action Plan and the university is the only partner that has maintained an ongoing greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The University of Louisville has been truly innovative and supportive of the Partnership as a public collaboration – and a model easily replicated elsewhere.