The City of Tallahassee has a longstanding history of implementing innovative, cutting-edge initiatives and programs that foster the development of a more sustainable community.  Over the years, these efforts have enhanced our residents' quality of life, saved money, protected our natural environments and garnered the City state, national and international recognition as a leader in the field of sustainability.  Whether it's the Smart Metering System, the City's award-winning park system, the Neighborhood Leadership Academy, the Think About Personal Pollution (TAPP) program, the Community Human Services Partnership, or the Mayor's Local Business Saturday Campaign... all of these initiatives share a common core: sustainability.

Sustainability is a community's ability to thrive over the long term while meeting the needs of today without compromising its ability to meet the needs of the future through the proper stewardship of its environmental, economic, and social resources. The Tallahassee GreenPrint lays out a strategic pathway for the City to become more sustainable.

Tallahassee GreenPrint is a broad, inclusive, and community-responsive strategic sustainability plan that brings a coordinated and strategic focus to the City's efforts to create a sustainable and livable community. The GreenPrint complements existing plans and planning efforts such as the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan, the City's Mobility District, and the Placemaking Projects. The Plan also leverages and enhances existing programs and identifies new initiatives to achieve greater sustainability within City government operations and the Tallahassee-Leon community. The GreenPrint seeks to lay out a framework to support and further the City's plans for economic resiliency, environmental protection and social equity. The Plan covers a planning horizon of five years.

Citizen Leadership and Involvement

The Tallahassee GreenPrint was developed under the guidance of the City Manager-appointed citizen advisory board, the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). Members of the EAB represented various community interests and stakeholder groups. Throughout the plan development process, various community stakeholder groups and individual citizens provided input and commented on the draft plan. The final plan reflects the collaborative efforts of our residents, City staff and our elected officials.

Framework

The EAB and City staff used the American Planning Association's (APA) Sustainability Framework to guide their work in developing the GreenPrint. This framework advocates four basic objectives.

Objectives:

• Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels, extracted underground metals and minerals.
• Reduce dependence on chemicals / manufactured substances that can accumulate in nature.
• Reduce dependence on activities that harm life-sustaining ecosystems.
• Meet the hierarchy of present and future human needs fairly and efficiently.