However, rather than analyzing individual, one-off city programs, or regional and national scale frameworks, this paper demonstrates the benefits of local-level partnerships in two main ways: First, by utilizing a three pillar model of sustainability based on the environment, economy, and society, and second, by identifying latent or active intra-regional partnerships between Danusertib in vitro municipalities that could address (and perhaps amplify and extend) mutual sustainability goals. While municipal sustainability initiatives date back to the late 1990s (Dernbach 2000), cities continue to contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions: 30–40 % of global

CO2 emissions originate within the geographic S63845 nmr boundaries of cities (Satterthwaite 2008), and 78 % of anthropogenic carbon emissions are attributable to urban areas when electricity and other goods imported into cities are considered (Stern 2007). Consequently, the expansion of urban population growth in cities throughout the world has placed great strains on the quality of the environment (i.e., air, water, and land) in these areas (Fan and Qi 2010). In the face of ever-increasing rates of urbanization throughout AMN-107 purchase the world, many cities have sought to address these global problems by devising sustainability

targets focused on local conservation policies and efforts. While these efforts might constitute a down payment on sustainable growth, they tend to be limited in scope and path also dependent, and emphasize

singular issues such as retrofitting buildings for higher energy efficiencies (e.g., lighting), incorporating solid waste management schemes, or expanding public transportation infrastructure (Bulkeley and Betsill 2003; Betsill 2001). Equally problematic is the fact that local sustainability initiatives and policies can vary widely not only across regions and nations but even among neighboring communities. For instance, the Illinois cities of Urbana and Champaign, which are separate municipalities but together comprise a single geographically contiguous urban area, have vastly different sustainability programs. Urbana has developed its own farmers markets and residential energy reduction programs, while Champaign has focused primarily on integrating global economic sustainability programs (Kambuj 2013). Likewise, many regional-level sustainability collaborations such as SCAG (Southern California Area Governments) and MWCOG (Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments), which operate across municipal and county lines to set regional sustainability goals, rarely create binding commitments and often fail to effectively maximize the natural and human resources encompassed within their respective regions (Benfield 2012).