Clean energy policies can create jobs, support local business in green markets, and ensure residents have access to jobs created. This brief helps guide you on how to make the most of green investments. After reviewing the City of Oberlin’s energy use and emissions, several policy options and best practices were identified for five energy-using and emission-producing sectors: (1) upgrading the electricity system, (2) greening the commercial and industrial sector to reduce energy costs for firms, (3) enabling anchor institutions in the community to reduce energy use and cost, (4) making the transportation system more sustainable while promoting smart growth and complete street principles, and (5) promote energy savings for Oberlin residents in their homes. By adopting policy options and best practices, communities can spur local investments in the green economy.

Ohio communities need a better approach, one that fosters economic growth while also protecting the environment and supporting local businesses and workers. This is why the City of Oberlin, in partnership with Oberlin College and the city’s municipal utility have launched “The Oberlin Project” to make Oberlin the greenest little city in the U.S., grow the local economy in the process, and become a national model for sustainable economic development. This report is a policy blueprint to help Oberlin, and all Ohio communities, drive demand for clean energy while leveraging green investments to secure maximum value to the community. The four key components of this comprehensive strategy are designed to balance the three E’s of sustainable economic development—environment, economy, and equity.

In accordance with 2007 City Council Resolution # 20519, the City of Phoenix will purchase products and services that have a reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared to competing products or services that serve the same purpose, while remaining fiscally responsible. Being fiscally responsible requires the City to consider full life cycle analysis cost of materials.

By 2050, two out of every three people on the planet will live in a city. Urbanization and new ideas go hand in hand; by their very nature, cities have long served to create pockets of innovation, changing and improving the way we live our lives in the process. Historically this process was organic and somewhat serendipitous, but modern advances in technology mean that today\'s city administrations can play a more deliberate role in accelerating and nurturing innovation. The stories hidden in even the most routine city data sets give insights into how real people live their lives, enabling government to do more than simply clean the roads or provide clean water. Armed with these data points on what people do - not what they say they do or what they wish they did - government can create tailored solutions for their residents and discover what works, all without breaking the bank.

Government is often thought of as a place where good ideas go to die. We who work in local government know this is not true. We also know, however, that cities\' current set of approaches and solutions won\'t be enough to address our most pressing challenges. We need more and fundamentally different ways to deliver public value, and to understand and address wickedly complex problems. This guidebook is intended to give local leaders a practical, action-oriented framework for breakthrough innovation: a set of approaches and practices out of the startup and municipal innovation worlds that help practitioners break out of deeply embedded assumptions about how government is supposed to operate and open new possibilities for problem-solving and impact.

Europe\'s cities need entrepreneurship and innovation to secure their long-term economic, cultural and social prosperity. This report proposes a set of tools cities can use to stimulate the creativity and social innovation they need by drawing on external innovators and advisers.

Companies, governments, and institutions of all kinds purchase goods and services for their own use. But what they buy - and how they buy it - has a significant impact on local communities, the environment, and the economy - and in some unexpected ways, on the success of the business itself. When organizations choose to purchase goods and services that are sustainable, in a way that is transparent, they lower their risks, boost their public relations, and become more cost-effective. What\'s more, they help build a broadly sustainable economy - especially when they also require sustainability from their supply chains. By choosing sustainable procurement options, buyers enhance local economic growth, harness the potential of underutilized communities, reduce income inequality, and mitigate the damage of climate change - all while making purchases their operations need. Adding sustainability and transparency to purchasing specifications improves everyday operations and, at the same time, fosters a more sustainable economy for everyone.

Unlocking the potential of data and evidence to inform decision making is key to ensuring cities thrive in the 21st century. Through What Works Cities\' early efforts, we\'ve learned that cities across the country are sold on the value of using data and evidence to make informed decisions for their communities; the demand is robust. But a wide gap exists between cities\' desire and their ability to implement evidence-based practices. This brief quantifies cities\' current practices around the use of data, based on an analysis by The Bridgespan Group of What Works Cities applicants. The analysis is focused on information from the 39 cities visited by What Works Cities and supported by surveys from all 115 applicant cities. Consider that 81% of cities have engaged the public on a strategic goal, yet only 19% of cities publicly communicate their progress towards meeting that goal. And while 70% of cities are committed to using data and evidence to make decisions about city programs, only 28% modify existing programs based on the results of data and evaluations.

The Behavioural Insights Team now has a growing programme of work that seeks to understand better the impact of individual's and businesses' behaviours on the economy, in order to find new ways of improving policy in the UK and overseas. For example, the interventions we started in UK Jobcentres two years ago have now been rolled out nationwide and introduced by governments in Singapore and Australia.