Sustainability

The EPA defines sustainability as the intention "to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations."

Simply put, this means using our community's resources well in the present so we can plan well for the future.

Our Office 

The Athens-Clarke County Sustainability Office was established July 2017. The Office works with ACCGov staff and community members to improve environmental stewardship, enhance economy, and advance social responsibility. The Sustainability Office helps to coordinate inter-departmental efforts within the Athens-Clarke County government and community.

One of the main responsibilities of the office is to complete and help to implement the Sustainability Plan. This plan will pair long-term goals with short-term actions to provide a framework of how the community can continue to progress in a sustainable manner. Athens-Clarke County Unified Government staff from eleven different departments have collaborated to establish the goals of the community and an action plan to meet these goals.

Our Mission

The Sustainability Office works as a steward of public resources by promoting innovative practices and policies to reduce the Unified Government's environmental footprint, grow the local economy, and foster a thriving community by networking staff, ideas, and resources across departments and throughout the community to achieve outcomes supported by a long-term sustainability plan.

The Sustainability Office aims to achieve strategic innovation though the collection and analysis of information, piloting of new practices, and development of long-term collaborative efforts. This will also involve land management of Unified Government green space, ecological planning and project management, and education as it pertains to Unified Government green space and ecology.