ICLEI USA Releases STAR Community Index Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles for Communities

ICLEI USA has released the STAR Community Index Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles. These 81 goals and ten guiding principles are designed to collectively define community-scale sustainability and set a national standard for local governments.

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (originally known as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations who have made a commitment to sustainable development.

The STAR Community Index is a national, consensus-based framework for gauging the sustainability and livability of U.S. communities. STAR is scheduled to be launched in 2011 and is currently being developed through a partnership between ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, U.S. Green Building Council, National League of Cities, and the Center for American Progress. Intended to serve as a rating system (not a ranking system), STAR is being designed to change the way local governments and communities approach sustainability goals and how they manage and measure their long-term progress, as well as to provide them with a system to evaluate their own progress and recognize their achievements through a continuous improvement process.

For more information about the STAR Community Index, please visit:

      ICLEI USA: STAR Community Index

The STAR Goals and Guiding Principles are designed to serve as a resource to help local governments:

• create or revise a sustainability plan,
• conduct a sustainability assessment,
• establish local sustainability priorities, and
• focus ongoing sustainability initiatives.

To access the STAR Goals and Guiding Principles, please visit:

      STAR Community Index: Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles