Sustainable Communities Division
We are a group of empowered planners creating sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
Welcome
Welcome to the American Planning Association (APA) Sustainable Communities Division (SCD) website! Our division supports a broad range of sustainability-related programs and initiatives for planners and our allied professionals. Please participate in our events and collaborative discussions, utilize our available resources, and join us in our cause to advance sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
Hello SCD members and supporters!
It’s my honor to oversee SCD’s top-notch programs and make division participation ever more rewarding! SCD’s twin goals - to advance social equity and respond effectively to climate change through planning work - challenge me to take our efforts further in every way. I invite you to be part of that challenge and take advantage of the many resources and opportunities at your fingertips through SCD along the way! Let’s rise to this challenge together.
- Karla Ebenbach, AICP, LEED Green Associate
Planner Perspectives on Climate:
Report on Survey Results
Nearly 1,000 planners answered the Planner Perspectives on Climate Survey in late 2023 as part of the Divisions Council Initiative, providing key insights on how planners respond to climate change in their professional practice and about what tools and resources are needed to be more effective. Learn more here.
SCD is seeking new and returning sponsors and we’d love to have you. Explore the Levels and Benefits of Sponsoring.
Recent SCD Initiatives
Sustainability & Resilience is the newest mandatory AICP CM credit, initiated during the 2022-2023 CM credit cycle. SCD members, in association with the AICP Commission, led and participated in the Task Force which developed the new credit framework and criteria. SCD webinars and educational opportunities are an excellent resource for meeting your AICP Sustainability and Resilience requirements!
To ensure comprehensiveness and synergy with other APA efforts, the polices in the new guide are grouped and organized by the six (6) APA Sustainability Comprehensive Plan Standards categories: the Livable Built Environment; Harmony with Nature; Resilient Economy; Interwoven Equity; Healthy Communities; and Responsible Regionalism. There is also a separate category focused on needed federal and state climate change policies.
SCD members under the leadership of APA’s Legislative and Policy Committee worked collaboratively to draft a comprehensive update to the 2011 APA Climate Change Policy Guide. The new Climate Change Policy Guide has been approved by the Chapter Delegate Assembly is pending publication in 2021.
SCD led efforts to prepare a comprehensive update to the 2010 Planner Advisory Service (PAS) Report related to Climate Change. This new Climate Change PAS Report is published and is a comprehensive resource for planners to better understand climate issues, and access best practices and case studies as it relates to climate readiness planning for resilient communities.
Our Sponsors
