11
also began in early 2015. In large part as a
response to the civil unrest that erupted in
Baltimore in April of that year, the Baltimore
Office of Sustainability (BOS) and Sustainability
Commission were committed to ensuring local
voices and particularly marginalized communities were included during the planning process
for a more inclusive and equitable plan. In 2016,
BOS launched the “Every Story Counts” campaign that gathered stories from residents who
helped improve sustainability through their dayto- day actions in neighborhoods throughout
Baltimore. The Sustainable Plan update also
signed on and trained Sustainability Ambassadors
to serve as outreach partners to collect more stories through the campaign as well as test and disseminate a survey that reached 1200
respondents.
In many respects, given the time and the subject matter, the SCI-Baltimore process and the
Baltimore Sustainable Plan update should have
been highly complementary if not fully integrated. Instead, the tension between local and
global initiatives became acute rendering the
need for more nuanced and deliberative approach
by the SCI-Baltimore team to broker any kind of
alignment. By way of example, below was one of
the unforeseen initial reactions by BOS to the
SCI-Baltimore process:
The Sustainability Goals for our office are a bit different than the Sustainable Development Goals.
We are incorporating elements of the STAR
Community Rating System
4 into the structure of
our plan and moving forward with extensive community outreach and input sessions over the next
few months. I don’t know if it makes sense to
[incorporate] the SDG’s … because it might confuse the process we’re doing with the Baltimore
City Plan update (Communication with the
Baltimore Office of Sustainability, April 2016).
4 Many US cities like Baltimore have been part of the partnership that includes ICLEI – Local Governments for
Sustainability, the US Green Building Council, the Center
for American Progress, and the National League of Cities
to address the needs of US cities, towns, and counties
seeking a common framework for sustainability. The
STAR Community Rating System was initially released in
the fall of 2012 and not updated to respond to the UN
SDGs until June 2016.
In response to this hesitation to combine
efforts, BNIA and SDSN staff made back-of-theenvelope mapping between the STAR Community
Rating System and the SDGs in 2016. This informal exercise and ongoing conversations between
BNIA and the Baltimore Office of Sustainability
spurred the Baltimore Community Foundation
(BCF) to support efforts to identify alignment
between the strategies in the new Sustainability
Plan and the localization of the SDGs. After the
SCI-Baltimore localization process had ended, in
2017, BCF provided a grant to BNIA to ensure
clear linkages in terms of language, SDGs, and
indicators to the city’s Sustainability Plan which
was ultimately adopted in January 2019.
5
In the final version of the plan, the relevant
SDGs are highlighted at the beginning of each
chapter for each of the local goals (see Fig. 2.1).
While this incorporation does send a clear signal
to anyone reading the plan about the policy- and
action-related connections to the SDGs, no further linkages were featured between the quantitative targets in the local plan to the global goals.
2.4
Stocktaking of Sustainable
Development Plans,
Initiatives, Goals,
and Targets
One of the main objectives of the SCI-Baltimore
process was to take stock of existing plans and
initiatives in the city relating to sustainable development. With research assistance from SDSN
and based on input from the local stakeholder
convenings, a broad range of plans and documents were reviewed to assess whether their targets and goals were already aligned with the
SDGs. Certainly, the city’s 2009 Sustainability
Plan figured prominently in the review, but several other city and statewide plans were also relevant such as the Baltimore Climate Action Plan,
the Journey Home Plan (Homelessness), and
Maryland Port Administration Environmental
5 “The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan” https://www.
baltimoresustainability.org/plans/sustainability-plan/
2 Localizing the SDGs in Baltimore: Challenges and Opportunities of the USA Sustainable Cities Initiative
also began in early 2015. In large part as a
response to the civil unrest that erupted in
Baltimore in April of that year, the Baltimore
Office of Sustainability (BOS) and Sustainability
Commission were committed to ensuring local
voices and particularly marginalized communities were included during the planning process
for a more inclusive and equitable plan. In 2016,
BOS launched the “Every Story Counts” campaign that gathered stories from residents who
helped improve sustainability through their dayto- day actions in neighborhoods throughout
Baltimore. The Sustainable Plan update also
signed on and trained Sustainability Ambassadors
to serve as outreach partners to collect more stories through the campaign as well as test and disseminate a survey that reached 1200
respondents.
In many respects, given the time and the subject matter, the SCI-Baltimore process and the
Baltimore Sustainable Plan update should have
been highly complementary if not fully integrated. Instead, the tension between local and
global initiatives became acute rendering the
need for more nuanced and deliberative approach
by the SCI-Baltimore team to broker any kind of
alignment. By way of example, below was one of
the unforeseen initial reactions by BOS to the
SCI-Baltimore process:
The Sustainability Goals for our office are a bit different than the Sustainable Development Goals.
We are incorporating elements of the STAR
Community Rating System
4 into the structure of
our plan and moving forward with extensive community outreach and input sessions over the next
few months. I don’t know if it makes sense to
[incorporate] the SDG’s … because it might confuse the process we’re doing with the Baltimore
City Plan update (Communication with the
Baltimore Office of Sustainability, April 2016).
4 Many US cities like Baltimore have been part of the partnership that includes ICLEI – Local Governments for
Sustainability, the US Green Building Council, the Center
for American Progress, and the National League of Cities
to address the needs of US cities, towns, and counties
seeking a common framework for sustainability. The
STAR Community Rating System was initially released in
the fall of 2012 and not updated to respond to the UN
SDGs until June 2016.
In response to this hesitation to combine
efforts, BNIA and SDSN staff made back-of-theenvelope mapping between the STAR Community
Rating System and the SDGs in 2016. This informal exercise and ongoing conversations between
BNIA and the Baltimore Office of Sustainability
spurred the Baltimore Community Foundation
(BCF) to support efforts to identify alignment
between the strategies in the new Sustainability
Plan and the localization of the SDGs. After the
SCI-Baltimore localization process had ended, in
2017, BCF provided a grant to BNIA to ensure
clear linkages in terms of language, SDGs, and
indicators to the city’s Sustainability Plan which
was ultimately adopted in January 2019.
5
In the final version of the plan, the relevant
SDGs are highlighted at the beginning of each
chapter for each of the local goals (see Fig. 2.1).
While this incorporation does send a clear signal
to anyone reading the plan about the policy- and
action-related connections to the SDGs, no further linkages were featured between the quantitative targets in the local plan to the global goals.
2.4
Stocktaking of Sustainable
Development Plans,
Initiatives, Goals,
and Targets
One of the main objectives of the SCI-Baltimore
process was to take stock of existing plans and
initiatives in the city relating to sustainable development. With research assistance from SDSN
and based on input from the local stakeholder
convenings, a broad range of plans and documents were reviewed to assess whether their targets and goals were already aligned with the
SDGs. Certainly, the city’s 2009 Sustainability
Plan figured prominently in the review, but several other city and statewide plans were also relevant such as the Baltimore Climate Action Plan,
the Journey Home Plan (Homelessness), and
Maryland Port Administration Environmental
5 “The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan” https://www.
baltimoresustainability.org/plans/sustainability-plan/
2 Localizing the SDGs in Baltimore: Challenges and Opportunities of the USA Sustainable Cities Initiative