Sustainability
The Growing Green Plan
In early 2011, the Village of Park Forest was selected to participate in a Local Technical Assistance Program funded by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to develop a Sustainability Plan. The Growing Green Plan was completed in early 2012 and adopted by the Village Board of Trustees in May 2012.
The Growing Green Plan addresses the following three E’s of sustainability:
- Economy
- Environment
- Equity
True sustainability is achieved when there is a healthy interrelationship among these three areas. To that end, the plan addresses 14 key topic areas, including the following:
- Arts and culture
- Community health and wellness
- Development patterns
- Education
- Energy
- Green economy
- Greenhouse gases
- Housing diversity
- Local food systems
- Municipal policies and practices
- Open space and ecosystems
- Transportation and mobility
- Waste
- Water
In order to address these topic areas appropriately, the Growing Green Plan includes:
- A detailed implementation strategy is provided for each key topic area that includes a recommendation for the lead village department(s), the phasing, and additional resources for each strategy
- A sustainability assessment to establish baseline conditions and inventory existing programs and initiatives
- Goals, indicators, and strategies established for each key topic area
- Monitoring and reporting guidelines to ensure that the goals of the plan are realized
In October 2012, the village hired a sustainability coordinator, funded by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust, to initiate implementation of the Growing Green Plan.