Dear Friend
Stay tuned for the upcoming announcement of this year's Sustainable Maryland Certified municipalities! Our latest group of certified municipalities will be announced at the SM Awards Ceremony at the Maryland Municipal League Fall Conference on Sept. 12 in Annapolis.
Check out our regular monthly sampling of news, resources, events and other items from across the sustainability spectrum in Maryland.
 | 1.1 Megawatt Municipal Solar Array, Emmitsburg, MD
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GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
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Watershed Assistance Grant ProgramDeadline: September 5 More infoCharles County Forestry Grant ProgramDeadline: Rolling More infoCommunity Engagement & Restoration Mini-grantsDeadline: Rolling More infoPrince Georges County Weatherization Program Deadline: Rolling
Prince Georges County Raincheck Rebate
Deadline: Rolling More info
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EVENTS CALENDAR
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Maryland Municipal League Fall Conference
Location: Annapolis
Dates: September 10-12
Link
Park(ing) Day
Location: anywhere!
Date: September 19
Link
Eco-Districts Summit Location: Washington, DC
Dates: September 24-26
Link
LOOKING AHEAD...
Maryland Clean Energy Summit
Location: Hyattsville
Dates: October 14-15
Link
Maryland Multi-City Environmental Boards and Commissions
Date: October 14
LinkAmerican Planning Association DE/MD Regional Conference
Location: Newark, DE
Dates: October 28-29
Link
American Conservation Film Festival
Location: Shepherdstown Dates: Oct. 30-November 2 Link
Eastern Shore Planning Conference - "The Future of Eastern Shore Agriculture"Location: Easton Date: November 20 Link |
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NEW SM STAFF MEMBER: Nick Ryugo
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We are pleased to welcome aboard
Nick Ryugo as our new Chesapeake Conservation Corps volunteer, a program that provides career and leadership training for young people interested in environmental careers and Chesapeake Bay protection. and funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Nick is a recent graduate of St. Lawrence University, where he dual-majored in Government and Environmental Science, with an emphasis on environmental economics and restoration ecology. He will be assisting SM with a variety of our programs in the coming year, with a focus on energy issues, and will be working with a community on a capstone project. Many thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Trust for their support of this program. You can reach Nick at nryugo@umd.edu
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ON-LINE COURSE: Sustainable Community Development
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The online class Sustainable Community Development, offered by the University of Maryland's Environmental Finance Center (EFC) and Institute for Governmental Service and Research (IGSR), is designed for people who want to engage with neighbors and fellow residents through their local government to make their community a more sustainable place in which future generations can enjoy living, working, and playing. The class emphasizes community-level decisions to solve sustainability problems. It suggests practical, grassroots methods to plan, organize, evaluate, and adjust actions to advance community sustainability. And it provides a path for Maryland's municipalities to become certified as sustainable jurisdictions. More info
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Sustainable Maryland Certified and DHCD Sustainable Communities: Two Different Programs That Complement Each Other
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 Our staff are often asked whether the Sustainable Maryland Certified program is the same as the MD Dept. of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) Sustainable Communities program. They are not, but the similar names do cause confusion sometimes. Sustainable Maryland is housed at the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland, and supports MD's 157 municipalities in their efforts to "go green". We certify communities that create Green Teams and demonstrate having achieved a broad range of sustainability Actions. The State's Sustainable Communities program offers its designated communities access to a range of State grants and incentives that primarily promote redevelopment and revitalization of town centers. Both programs offer excellent assistance to communities, and we overlap in one specific way: under the Planning and Land Use category, Sustainable Maryland offers 20 points to communities that participate in the Sustainable Communities program.
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COMING SOON: New Sustainable Maryland Website
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and searchable grants portal, sustainability events calendar, photo database searchable by topic, and many more features - stay tuned!
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QUOTE
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"Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it."
-Henry David Thoreau, author, philosopher, naturalist
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For more information about how your municipality can register in the Sustainable Maryland Certified program, plus customized Green Team training and access to student resources that are available to provide consultancy services for municipal planning, please call 301 405-7956 or email mikeh75@umd.edu
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Mike Hunninghake
Program Manager
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