Summit 2015 Report
Together, We’re Building a Thriving Green City on a Blue Lake
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Summit 2015
The 7th Annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit was September 16-17, 2015 at Cleveland Public Auditorium in
downtown Cleveland. Participants recognized accomplishments and challenges, gauged progress, and charted the
course for the next four years leading up to 2019. The summit highlighted the current celebration year – Clean Water, with
a look ahead to 2016 - the Year of Sustainable Transportation. Summit materials included a participant book and
worksheets which you can view online or download to dig deeper into the summit experience.
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Summit Agenda
Renew, Engage, Celebrate, Innovate, Achieve
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
WELCOME FROM MAYOR FRANK G. JACKSON
PERFORMANCE
Dee Jay Doc and students
STATE OF SUSTAINABLE CLEVELAND
Jenita McGowan, Chief of Sustainability
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
OPENING DISCOVERY
Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry
Naomi Davis, Blacks in Green
DESIGN CONTINUED
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Dr. Marcus Eriksen, 5 Gyres Institute
Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry
DISCOVERY into DREAM
Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry
ACTION PLANNING (DEPLOY)
Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry
CLEAN WATER INNOVATION PANEL
REPORT OUTS
Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry
Moderated by Bryan Stubbs, Cleveland Water
Alliance
DREAM into DESIGN
FINAL THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
Breakout Rooms: Innovation Session #1
~ Break ~ Sponsored by Nash Daniels, LLC.
CLOSING REMARKS
DREAM into DESIGN
POST-SUMMIT BIKE RIDE
Breakout Rooms: Innovation Session #2
Led by Ohio City Bicycle Cooperative
SUMMIT RECEPTION & SPONSOR RECOGNITION
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History and Background of Sustainable Cleveland 2019
The First Summit, 2009
In August 2009 nearly 700 people from across Greater Cleveland gathered at Public Auditorium for a three-day summit
focused on “Building an Economic Engine to Empower a Green City on a Blue Lake. The event focused on supporting
business growth, protecting the environment and creating opportunities for individuals to prosper.
Conceived by Mayor Frank G. Jackson as a key initiative to position Cleveland for the future, the first summit was a
watershed moment in Cleveland history as a diverse group–from CEOs to high school students–shared their dreams of a
sustainable city. Through a process known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) the participants focused on 20 areas including
food, water, land, and transportation to work on prototypes of that brighter future. The summit was facilitated by Case
Western Reserve University, Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit faculty David Cooperrider and Ron
Fry, who pioneered AI, and the city of Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability.
At the first summit, Mayor Jackson committed to hosting an annual sustainability summit every year until 2019, the 50 th
year anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River Fire. 2019 is a deadline, an inspiration and a year during which
Cleveland will be in the national spotlight and able to tell a story of dramatic transformation.
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Sustainable Cleveland Today
Sustainable Cleveland is:
 A community of people from every walk of life working together to reshape Cleveland into a vibrant livable city with
thriving businesses and a flourishing natural environment.
 A resource that offers information and actionable tools so you can make smart, sustainable choices at home, at
work and in your community.
Mission: Sustainable Cleveland is a 10-year initiative that engages people from all walks of life, working together to
design and develop a thriving and resilient Cleveland region that leverages its wealth of assets to build economic, social
and environmental well-being for all.
Vision: Cleveland will surprise, amaze, and inspire the world with its transformation to a bright green city on a blue lake.
Determined people from every walk of life will work together to shape vibrant livable communities, innovative businesses,
and a flourishing natural environment that will result in health, wealth, creativity, and economic opportunities for all.
Values:
 Dynamic and cumulative
 Combines a sense of urgency for action with positivity and kindness
 Inclusive, accessible, and welcoming
 Encourages persistence, determination, courage, and boldness
 Promotes creativity, innovation, and execution
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Appreciative Inquiry Summit
The WHOLE SYSTEM participates—a cross-section of stakeholders
in academia, business, civil society, and government—people and
groups that care about and have a stake in Cleveland’s economy
and future. This means more diversity and less hierarchy than is
usual in a working meeting, and a chance for each person and
stakeholder group to be heard and to learn other ways of looking at
the task at hand.
TASK FOCUSED — a summit is task focused, not simply an
educational event or a conference. We are here to leverage all the
strengths and talents that exist within our community in order to build
our vision and plan of action for accomplishing our summit task—to
build a thriving green city on a blue lake.
Future scenarios are put into HISTORICAL and GLOBAL
perspective. That means thinking globally together before acting
locally. This enhances shared understanding and greater
commitment to act. It also increases the range of potential actions.
People SELF-MANAGE their work, and use DIALOGUE and
INQUIRY—not “problem-solving”—as the main tool. That means
helping each other do the tasks and taking responsibility for our
perceptions and actions.
COMMON GROUND rather than “conflict management” is the frame
of reference. That means honoring our differences and then
discovering areas for action where we have strong common ground.
COMMITMENT TO ACTION — Because the “whole system” is
involved, it is easier to make rapid decisions, and to make
commitments to action in an open way that everyone can support.
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Appreciative Inquiry
(“AI”) — To appreciate means to value, to understand those things
worth valuing. To inquire means to study, to ask questions, to search.
AI is, therefore, a collaborative search to identify and understand an
organization’s or a region’s strengths, the greatest opportunities, and
people’s aspirations and hopes for the future.
2015 Summit Task and Objectives
Cleveland is becoming a greener, healthier and more vibrant city. Downtown development is booming, the number of
green buildings is increasing, local renewable energy is on the rise and bike paths are starting to connect our residents to
greenspace and other amenities. Waste reduction and local foods are now drivers for neighborhood redevelopment.
Cleveland’s businesses and organizations are being recognized as leaders in the green economy and entrepreneurs and
social enterprises are finding opportunities in sustainable solutions.
The annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit is a way to
engage new participants, and work toward our goals.
renew our efforts, celebrate progress, spark new ideas,
This Summit’s objective is to chart the course for the next four years of the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative. We will
engage together in designing actionable plans around the Celebration Year topics: Energy Efficiency, Local Foods,
Renewable Energy, Zero Waste, Clean Water, Sustainable Transportation, Vibrant Greenspace, Vital Neighborhoods and
People. We will do this by:
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Learning from local and global innovations to inspire our vision, design and development of a thriving and
resilient Cleveland
Celebrating and recognizing the progress and success of individuals, organizations and businesses in making
measurable and meaningful progress
Valuing our freshwater resources and leveraging our natural advantages in the blue economy
Building upon our assets in sustainable transportation and benefiting from the quality of life that comes from
creating walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly cities
Recognizing the strengths and resilience of Cleveland’s neighborhoods as we continue to improve the quality of
life for every Cleveland resident, worker and visitor
Building off of our competitive advantage in the local food sector by connecting our regional assets through B2B
matchmaking activities that also increase health and wellness
Finding new ways to turn waste into value and creating a more generative economy
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Welcome and State of Sustainable Cleveland
Mayor Frank G. Jackson
Mayor Jackson welcomed Summit
participants and focused his remarks
on the need to transform Cleveland’s
economy into a sustainable economy
that positions Cleveland for the
future.
“We can make profit. We can be
friendly to the environment. We can
create healthier people. We can
eliminate the social disparities that
exist in our current condition.”
Mayor Frank G. Jackson
Jenita McGowan,
Chief of Sustainability
Chief McGowan gave an overview of the Sustainable Cleveland initiative, highlights from
the Year of Clean Water and other points of progress in energy efficiency, renewable
energy, waste reduction, local foods, vibrant greenspace, vital neighborhoods,
sustainable transportation and people and equity.
Mayor Jackson’s and Chief McGowan’s full remarks are available on video here.
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Wholepower + Willpower + Waypower
Dr. Cooperider and Dr. Fry led the opening Discovery by sharing global examples of a sustainable economy and
confirming that this is the “absolute right direction for our economy”.
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Mirai Co. in Japan Creates 100-fold Increase in Farm Output With Zero Toxicity
Global Vehicle-to-Grid Market to Reach $26.6 B by 2020
Conenergy Helps Germany Reach 78% Renewable Energy and Now Sets Aim at 100%
Honda Plants Achieve Zero Waste Masdar is the World’s 1st Carbon Free City
Tesla Nominated for Nobel Prize
Royal Dutch Shell Cuts Ties with Alec Over Group’s Climate Denial
GE: Eco-imagination Revenues Reach $200 Billion
Kingfisher Achieves Carbon Neutral and Sets Net Positive Goals
Green Building Materials Market To Hit $235.5 Billion by 2019
Cleveland Clinic is Top in Energy Efficiency in Health Care
Green Investments Go Exponential and Top $5.2 Trillion since 2007
They spoke about combining hope with impatience and shared this equation for empowered change: An Experience of
Elevation and Positive Change = W 3/D
Wholepower + Willpower + Waypower
__________________________________ = Positive Change
Experience of Deficit and Despair
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Opening Discovery
Dr. Cooperider and Dr. Fry led participants in the opening Discovery through table conversations:
What calls you here to this 2019 mission where we say: “Together, we’re building a thriving green city on a blue lake.”
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What most attracts you to this work, this summit, and this community—what calls you, and why are you so
committed to Cleveland, this community, and our whole region?
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In the last year, what is the freshest, newest, or most hopeful for you in your own learning journey as it
relates to sustainability or sustainable innovations? Any new books or thought leaders? Any new
sustainability initiatives you are proud about—in your family, your work, or our world? Any new models or
breakthroughs happening anywhere in the world that inspires you?
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Clean Water Keynote
Marcus Eriksen, Ph.D., 5 Gyres Institute
Marcus Eriksen embarked on a 2,000-mile, 5-month, journey down the
Mississippi River on a homemade raft. His experience on the river led to a
career studying the ecological impacts of plastic marine pollution, which has
included expeditions sailing 35,000 miles through all 5 subtropical gyres to
discover new garbage patches of plastic pollution in the Southern
Hemisphere. His first book, titled “My River Home” chronicled his Mississippi
River experience paralleled with his tour as a Marine in the 1991 Gulf War.
Marcus researches and educates on plastic pollution in our waterways,
including in our own Lake Erie
A video of Dr. Eriksen’s speech is here.
“With the metaphor of plastic
smog, I think we should look at
cities as having horizontal
smokestacks that pump that smog
into the aquatic environment.”
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Discovery into Dream: Tour de Cleveland 2019
Dr. Cooperider and Dr. Fry led summit participants in the second D of the 4D Cycle, Dream.
To imagine the Tour we want to give to guests from all over the world when they join us again in 2019.
When you look at our 9 celebration themes—our focus areas for action—and if you had to choose just one to focus on at
this moment for this activity, which theme interests you most or would you want single out? Be ready to go to one of the
color coded tables in a few minutes:
Indeed, so much is happening that delegations and teams are coming from around the world. One delegation here today
and tomorrow, coming all the way from Sweden, has eight people in it and one of the leaders Daniel Richardsson told us:
in this age of collaboration Cleveland has much to share with the whole world…we are so inspired by your initiative’s
vision which states: Cleveland is surprising, amazing, and inspiring the world with its transformation to a bright green city
on a blue lake.” Daniel continued: we can’t wait to return in 2019 and we want you to promise us a tour of the great
changes, the achievements and breakthroughs, and the examples and people.”
Delegation from Mid Sweden University and the Regional Government of Jamtland, Sweden
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Tour de Cleveland 2019
Celebration Year
Topic:_____________
1. Inspirational Tour Sites: Achievements, Insights
Each table can list or draw as many as it wants.
2. The Value Benefits and Impacts
For the Economy:
For the Environment:
For Life in
Community, People,
Equity:
3. Key Challenges and Solutions
The Core Challenges:
The Remedies and Opportunities:
4. Stakeholders Involved?
5. The Gift of New Eyes
What will our guests say
about Cleveland in 2019?
Their experiences, their
story?
The full Tour de Cleveland 2019 can be found here. This vision
for Cleveland in four years was used to inform the Design and
Action Planning work that happened on the second day of the
summit.
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Clean Water Innovation Panel
Summit participants heard from a panel of innovators who are giving Cleveland an edge in the Blue Economy. Facilitated
by Bryan Stubbs, Executive Director of the Cleveland Water Alliance, panelists discussed their role in positioning
Cleveland for our clean water future. Panelists included:
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Ebie Holst from Splash Link, a one-stop resource for water funding and expertise
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Jim Wong of TLC Products on cleaning water with beneficial bacteria
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Sebastian Engelhardt from the University of Akron, on the role of biomimicry in water innovation
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Mark Citriglia of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District on the role of wastewater analysis
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Alex Margevicius of Cleveland Water, helping customers reduce their water use with data and automated meter
readings.
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Dream Into Design: Innovation Sessions
Summit Innovation Sessions focused on key opportunities to position Cleveland for the future and informed the creation of
design questions for the second day of the summit. These sessions were interactive workshops developed and hosted by
working groups, community members and organizations looking to advance our transformation to a thriving green city on
a blue lake.
Green Building
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Raising CLE's Sustainability Roof: Stop, Start, and Continue (HLMS Sustainability Solutions)
Green Building Guts and Community Heart & Soul - mainstreaming sustainability in Cleveland (NEO Green Building Council)
Stormwater
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Understanding & Protecting Our Region's Waters: Urban Spaces, Combined Sewer Overflows, Harmful Algae Blooms and
Lake Erie (NEO Regional Sewer District)
Green Lawns, Blue Water (Good Nature Lawn Care)
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Water and Waste
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Scrubbing Lake Erie Clean of Plastics (University Hospitals)
Revolutionizing Sediment Management & the Beneficial Re-use (Kurtz Bros.)
Education
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Education! The Missing Link Between connecting Local Foods with Local Buyers (Spice Companies, Food Cluster B2B)
Connecting sustainability with education curriculum-bringing SC2019 examples to the classroom (Tri-C, CMSD)
Water & Quality of Life
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Why Water Should Come First for Your Thirst (Healthy Cleveland Initiative)
A New Vision for the Lakefront: Building Connections Between People and the Waterfront (Cleveland Lakefront Conservancy)
Trees and Climate Resilience
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Climate Resilience in Cleveland (Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Univ. of Buffalo)
Rebuilding The Forest City - Implementing the Cleveland Tree Plan (Forest City Working Group, Davey Tree)
Transportation
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Mode Shift: Goals and strategies for big increases in transit and biking (GreenCityBlueLake Institute)
Engaging Businesses and Neighborhoods in Biking (Bike Cleveland, CiCLEvia, Squire Patton Boggs, MCPc)
Energy
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Let's Bring Energy Efficiency to Renters (Empower Gas & Electric)
Clean Energy Financing HUB (County Sustainability)
Vital Neighborhoods
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Upcycle Parts Shop: Creative Reuse in Cleveland! (Upcycle Parts Shop)
The Designing Community: Collaborating to Access our Hidden Neighborhood Potentials (Vital Neighborhoods Working
Group)
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How Might We?
During the innovation sessions, hosts introduced an action or opportunity area, provided inspiration, progress to date and
ideas for accelerating or scaling up. They hosted dialogue and exploration of interests, reactions and related ideas with
their session participants. Then they generated “How Might We” questions to inform the design topics during the second
day of the summit. How Might We . . .
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compare Cleveland’s green building programs and incentives for renovations, new construction, affordable
housing, market-rate housing, multi-family and commercial buildings with other cities and document challenges and
successes to create usable data for use by the City of Cleveland departments that can inform future policy?
create a list of replacements for toxic building materials and take action on 9 hands-on projects we discussed in the
session?
create an online resource to let people know what is in season and how to prepare it as “slow food made fast” and
focus on inputs and develop a plan to distribute it and empower people to use it across the region?
create a multi-dimensional learning community to connect real world examples with curriculum through experiential
learning opportunities?
encourage more participation and more people using those practices green stormwater practices?
reduce plastic pollutants in our waterways before it gets to the lake by taking action on microbeads and plastic
cigar tips and make it fun and engaging.?
continue to innovate around intercepting Cuyahoga River sediment before it is deposited and recycling it and
turning it into something positive?
deeply engage with community to define “what is needed now” to connect people to the Lakefront?
create a canopy goal, messaging, outreach plan and planting at the local level to advance our urban forest?
shift to less driving and more sustainable measures to achieve a lot of other good things for the community.
host an open street movement in Cleveland?
bring Energy Efficiency to renters? Renters need energy efficiency the most, spend the highest % on power as a
portion of household budget.
connect peopled and projects to the Clean Energy Financing Hub?
take it to the streets to create further opportunities for communities to get together to become idea seeking
designing communities.
engage policy makers for school children and general population around water access and perceptions of tap water
and water fountains?
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Reception and Sponsor Recognition
We ended the first day of the Summit with a reception at the Cleveland Convention Center. The sponsors of the
summit were recognized and Chef Matt Delregno gave tours of the beehives, chickens and gardens used in the
kitchens of the convention center.
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Day Two: Opening Performance
Day two of the Summit opened with a rousing performance of Drip Drop, an original rap song written by MC2 STEM High
School Students for the year of Clean Water during a residency with Deejay Doc Harris. Summit participants showed their
participation by keeping the beat with a raised arm. Drip Drop can be heard here.
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Awards and Recognition
The annual sustainability summit has become a chance to publicly recognize sustainability achievements. During the
morning of the second day of the summit we recognized Cleveland Climate Action Fund grant awardees, the winners of
the City of Cleveland’s employee waste reduction challenge and we presented the annual Sustainable Cleveland Awards.
Cleveland Climate Action Fund Grantees
In 2015, The Cleveland Climate Action Fund awarded funds to thirteen
projects that will reduce carbon emissions and help build thriving and
healthy neighborhoods. The Fund provides free educational climate
action workshops and competitive grant opportunities for projects that
advance neighborhood priorities while also furthering Cleveland’s
climate action goals. The fund is a key strategy in advancing the City
of Cleveland’s Climate Action Plan, which emphasizes that a citizencentered approach is needed to align climate action with the assets,
capacities and priorities of Cleveland residents. The Mayor’s Office of
Sustainability received grants from the Cleveland Foundation, The
George Gund Foundation and Partners For Places to revitalize, rebrand and align the CCAF with the city’s Climate Action Plan. These
projects were recognized:
• Potluck in the Park, Hough: A community wellness event at Historic League Park to engage attendees from the
neighborhood with Sustainable Cleveland working groups and provide walking tours of the Hough Vineyard. Individuals
bring dishes to the potluck, but the event is supplemented by restaurants/caterers that use local food and healthful
options. This year’s partner is the Fatima Center.
• Airport Composting Local Farm, Clark Fulton: Cleveland Hopkins Airport will provide used Starbucks coffee grounds
to Maggie’s Farm in the Clark Fulton neighborhood to be composted. Approximately 80 pounds of coffee grounds will be
diverted from the landfill every day. Landfills generate greenhouse gases as organic material breaks down.
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• Pollinator and Habitat, Old Brooklyn: Old Brooklyn will install five pollinator gardens and two demonstration beehives.
Residents participating in educational workshops will receive seeds, garden designs and planting information. Residents
that host a beehive will also have an opportunity to earn supplemental income.
• Nursery Rhymes Doin’ Dirt, Detroit Shoreway: Development of a community garden that engages residents from all
age groups. Residents will plant trees, remediate soil, create walking paths and develop a rain barrel system.
• Possibilitarian Urban Homestead, Buckeye: Reforestation of an urban lot with trees, berry bushes, herbs and
medicinal plants. Demonstration rain gardens will be created to retain and remediate water on site. The project will
alleviate blight, produce food, and strengthen community cohesion.
• Collinwood Painted Rain Barrel Project, Collinwood: Rain barrel workshops to raise awareness of water quality
through creative repurposing of old hardware. This project engages people from all ages and offers them a functional way
to reuse water while beautifying their homes and gardens.
• Greentopia, Hough: This is a three part project: (1) community planting day to create a fall garden, (2) a community
zero waste event called Greentopia that focuses on sustainability/climate action, and (3) creating a youth workforce to
landscape and learn horticulture skills.
• EcoVillage Gateway, Detroit Shoreway: Purchase and install four bike racks and create a public bike repair station.
Encouraging biking reduces emissions and fuel usage, improves community wellness, and generates connectivity to
nearby recreational centers and the future RedLine GreenWay.
• Cleveland Youth Landscaping, Glenville: Cleveland youth will be hired and trained to provide landscaping and snow
removal services to the Glenville neighborhood. Funds will be used to purchase landscaping equipment that does not
produce emissions, such as non-gasoline mowers, to reduce air pollution and use of fossil fuels.
• Community Composting, Detroit Shoreway: Pilot project for a comprehensive, community-wide composting initiative
with the Gordon Square Farmers Market and Rust Belt Riders. This project will engage business owners and residents to
better understand the impact of food waste and provide participation vouchers. Compost will be collected and dropped off
via bicycles and will be used in community gardens. Funds will be used for vouchers for businesses and residents as well
as additional equipment thereby reducing landfill waste and increasing fertile soil.
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• The Grocery, Ohio City: This project will support monthly educational community workshops, materials for community
gardens, purchase of seeds and chickens, and materials for a chicken coop and a hoop-house to enable food to be
produced year round to encourage eating local, healthy foods free of packaging and preservatives. Local food reduces the
emissions from food transportation and logistics.
• Hough Biocellar, Hough: This project will fund the installation of a solar panel array to power the Biocellar and vineyard
at Chateau Hough. The Biocellar is a learning environment for people interested in crop propagation, local food production
and healthy eating in the Hough neighborhood.
• Urban Community School: Funding for this project will be used to install a set of 10 solar panels that will provide
approximately 3,120 kWh/year of energy at the school’s satellite location providing 96% of annual energy costs. UCS will
also build a hoop-house to be used as part of its new Learning Garden and Production Farm that is being created in
partnership with the Cleveland Botanical Garden and The Refugee Response.
50 Simple Acts Winning Team
“Team CLE Media” was recognized for completing all 50 Acts to reduce waste in the City of Cleveland’s employee waste
reduction challenge. The team, consisting of TV 20 and the Photo Bureau was also “caught in the act” more than 30 times
on social media using the hashtag #CaughtInTheActCleveland.
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Sustainable Cleveland Awards
We announced ten winners of the 2015 Sustainable Cleveland Awards. Nominees were assessed in three main areas:
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How projects from the last year have helped meet the goals of the Climate Action Plan
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Social and community impact
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replicability
Winners were announced in the following categories: Individuals, Institutions & Government, Business, and Non-Profit.
The award plaques produced by Rust Belt Reclamation are from salvaged southern yellow pine from a former retail
building in the Central Neighborhood of Cleveland.
Individuals
Gene Matthews: Gene served as Case Western’s Director of Facilities for 17 years and retired last month. Gene came to
Case from Oberlin College where he rose from electrician to facilities director.
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Gene helped lead a 15% reduction in carbon emissions since 2009, even while Case has grown. During these 6
years, Gene’s team implemented more than 60 energy conservation projects, touching every building on campus
and saving over 1 million dollars annually.
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He oversaw the installation of a solar array and wind turbine on campus
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Gene participated on teams that designed the University’s first 4 LEED certified projects
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He was also on the leadership team that created Case’s Climate Action Plan to be climate neutral by 2050
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Bryan Stubbs received an individual award
for his work at the Cleveland Water Alliance.
Bryan Stubbs: Since his election as the Executive Director of the Cleveland Water Alliance, Bryan has literally put
Cleveland on the map in terms of water-related economic development. In just one year, the CWA has become
recognized as a thought leader in this field. His work to connect industry with higher education and the public sector is
unprecedented.
Kai Wingo leads a mushroom workshop.
Kai Wingo: Kai Wingo has established Kultured Mushrooms Farm in the Buckeye neighborhood, near Shaker Square.
Her dedication to rehabbing a vacant lot into a productive piece of land that also serves her community is incredibly
inspiring. As the nomination says, “I believe mushrooms can help change the world, and I’ve seen them transform lives
because of Kai Wingo.
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Institutions & Government
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District: The Sewer District treats approximately 230 million gallons of wastewater
each day, before returning the water to the Cuyahoga River or Lake Erie. In addition, the Sewer District manages
approximately 44,000 dry U.S. tons of biosolids (a.k.a. sewage “sludge”) each year, and must do so in an
environmentally-responsible and cost-effective manner.
Faced with the challenges of aging equipment, rising operational costs, changing environmental regulations and
increasing energy demands, the Sewer District began construction of the $170 million Renewable Energy Facility (REF) in
2009. This facility began operation in 2014 and features many environmentally-friendly practices, leading to an estimated
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 28,000 metric tons.
University Hospitals: In the past year, University Hospitals completed their 1st Annual Employee Energy Challenge. This
two-phase challenge was created to inspire employees to adopt energy saving “actions” at home and at work, while also
inspiring long-term behavior change. In Phase One, employees pledged to take energy saving actions over a 3 month
period, such as taking stairs, using LEDs, posting energy education at work, etc. Employees also tracked their home
energy usage. In Phase two, participants took a follow-up survey that captured actions taken, energy usage, and lessons
learned. In total, 459 employees from across UH participated in Phase One and 97 participated in Phase Two, all in all
reporting almost 1,200 energy actions at work alone that they would continue beyond the Challenge.
Business
Pure Water Technology: Pure Water Ohio not only creates green jobs in Northeast Ohio, but also helps make
organizations throughout the region meet their own sustainability goals. Their Cleveland Go Green, Kick the Bottle Project
has two components:
1. Placement of bottleless drinking water systems to business and industry in the Cleveland area, replacing 5 gallon
coolers and small bottles of water. Pure Water has installed over 2,000 bottleless water purifiers, eliminating the
use of approximately 400,000 5-gallon jugs and 350,000 individual water bottles.
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2. Large scale sponsorship of community events to eliminate plastic and waste, including EarthFest, Gay Games,
Cleveland World Festival, 4 Miles 4 Water. Through these sponsorships, they eliminated the use of approximately
30,000 disposable water bottles.
Spice Companies won an award for its
innovative food waste-to-pig project.
The Spice Companies: The Spice Companies are working together to capture food waste before it goes to the landfill by
utilizing it at as livestock feed. This spring Spice Acres was awarded a grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education program (SARE), which is a nationwide grant and education program, to advance sustainable innovation to
American agriculture. The idea… “Let Pigs Eat Waste”.
Spice Acres will collect local restaurant non-meat food waste within a 150-mile radius to supplement its pig feed. They are
reducing restaurant landfill waste and reducing pig feed costs, as well as creating a replicable food collection method that
can be shared with other area farmers. They are removing approximately 200 lbs. per week that would otherwise go to the
landfill.
Horseshoe Casino: The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland implemented an organic waste recycling program in April 2015
that takes all food scraps and leftovers generated by the casino and helps convert it to clean energy. Using Grind2Energy
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technology, the program has been even more successful than originally predicted, saving the casino approximately
$5,000/month. Horseshoe has transformed about 120,000 pounds of food scraps into clean energy at the Collinwood
BioEnergy site. All of this waste would have gone into a landfill in Elyria. As a result, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland now
recycles 90% of all of its waste. This has made Horseshoe Cleveland the leading waste recycler throughout the Caesars
Entertainment company – by far.
Non-Profit
Representatives from Cleveland Public Theatre staff and board.
Cleveland Public Theatre: Cleveland Public Theatre’s Performing Water series was a season-long performing arts
series that produced six original plays inspired by the theme of water, in response to the City’s Year of Clean Water. The
series was created to re-connect people in a meaningful way to Water, while commemorating the recovery of Cleveland
waterways and honoring NEO’s water assets. CPT engaged over 300 youth through the theatre’s Brick City and STEP
education programs. Art, especially theatre, transforms both the maker and the observer. In addition to CPT’s onstage
efforts, the staff embarked on a waste reduction plan, phasing out the sale of plastic water bottles at concessions and
initiating composting in the main venue.
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Cynthia Cicigoi and Don Rerko of the
Cleveland 2030 District receive their award.
Cleveland 2030 District: Cleveland 2030 District is a unique public/private/non-profit collaboration with the goal of
creating high performance building districts. Cleveland 2030 actually started as a working group, beginning at the 2010
Annual Summit. The working group was tasked with looking at ways commercial buildings in the downtown area could
reduce their energy consumption. In the downtown and University Circle areas, Cleveland 2030 has engaged 38 Property
Owners and Managers committed to significantly reducing their energy use, water use, and emissions from transportation
by 2030. Over 150 buildings are participating, representing 31 million square feet of commercial building space. Finally,
16 local Professional Partners help these properties succeed in achieving their goals.
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Walkable Neighborhoods Keynote
Naomi Davis, Blacks in Green (BIG)
Naomi Davis is the Founder of Blacks in Green, an award-winning economic
development organization based in West Woodlawn, Chicago with a national
network. This organization serves as a bridge and catalyst for engaging the
community and its stakeholders in the design and development of, “walk-to-work,
walk-to-shop, walk-to-learn, and walk-to-play villages” to promote economic
development.
Ms. Davis’ full remarks are available on video here.
“The eight principles of green
village building might be part of an
infrastructure where top-down
and bottom-up can meet in the
middle.”
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Design Continued: Ideation and Design Phase
During the second day of the summit, participants used their “How Might We topics to move into the Design phase.
People chose their topic and went into break-out sessions focused on 103 specific and actionable projects or initiatives to
brainstorm around. Instructions were to brainstorm as many ideas as possible related to the group’s opportunity area.
Think of ideas that can further move Sustainable Cleveland 2019 in the direction of our future aspirations and deliver on
the Tour de Cleveland Visions for 2019 that we generated yesterday. After brainstorming the ideas were sorted into
themes and prioritized based on the most attractive ideas to take action around. Once groups prioritized, they took the
most promising ideas from the brainstorming to build a prototype of it.
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Action Planning & Report-Outs
After creating prototypes, participants used a report-out form to refine the prototype and build an action plan to find the
quickest, cheapest, and lowest-risk ways to put the prototype into practice. These report-out forms were submitted to the
Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and will be used to follow up with the groups to see if any of the ideas can be adopted by
existing working groups, used to form new working groups or used to inform policies or programs in sustainability.
Action Plans and Report-Outs were created for the following ideas:
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Sustainable Curriculum including field experience inside and outside
the classroom
Green Buildings: Green Incentives Force Task (GIFT)
Housing Efficiency Leadership Program (HELP)
Plastic Pollution: Nurdles, Cigar Tips and Microbeads
Climate Resilience
Urban Tree Campaign
Vital Neighborhoods: CLE-Coin, Community Storytelling, Crosspollination, Dream Wall, United Minds, Dream Together
Water First For Thirst
Sustainable Transportation: Open Streets Event, Mode-Shift Vision
and Goals
The Action Plans templates can be viewed here.
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Acknowledgements
Stewardship Council
In 2009, Mayor Jackson created the Sustainable Cleveland Stewardship Council to advise the City on strategies to
achieve the recommendations of the first Summit. The Council has helped to set priorities and to develop the Action and
Resources Guide, the Performance Indicators and the Communications Strategy.
Harriet Applegate, Executive Secretary, North Shore AFL-CIO
David Beach. Executive Director, GreenCityBlueLake Institute
Aparna Bole. Sustainability Director, University Hospitals
Paul Clark, Regional President Northern Ohio, PNC Bank
John Colm, Executive Director, WIRE-NET
Stephanie Corbett, Sustainability Director, Case Western Reserve University
Margaret (Margie) Flynn, Principal and Co-Owner, BrownFlynn
Grace Gallucci, Executive Director, NOACA
Fred Geis, Co-owner, Geis Companies
Eric Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
The Very Reverend Tracey Lind, Dean, Trinity Cathedral
Mark McDermott, Executive Director, Enterprise Community Partners
John Mitterholzer, Senior Program Officer, George Gund Foundation
David Nash, Founder, Corporate Sustainability Network
David November, Sustainability Manager, Cuyahoga Community College
Julian Rogers, Director of Community Partnerships, Cleveland State University
Nicole Schiro, Vice President Brand Manager, PNC Bank
Morgan Taggart, AgRECulture Director, St. Clair Superior Development Corporation
Rick Taylor, Corporate Vice President Environment, Health, Safety & Energy, Parker Hannifin
Jon Utech, Senior Director, The Cleveland Clinic Office for a Healthy Environment
Byron White, Vice President for Community Engagement, Cleveland State University
Brian Zimmerman, Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland Metroparks
Ann Zoller, Executive Director, LAND Studio
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Summit Facilitators
A special thank you to Dr. David Cooperider and Dr. Ron Fry for their generous gift to the Cleveland in the form of
facilitating the Sustainability Summit. Thank you to the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Case
Western Reserve University.
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Green City Sponsor
Blue Lake Sponsors
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Insulator Sponsors
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Conserver Sponsors
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Additional Sponsors
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Zero Waste Partners
Partners in Sustainability
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Prepared by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
www.SustainableCleveland.org
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