Year of Vibrant Green Space
Every year leading up to 2019, Cleveland will focus on one of the key areas fundamental to a sustainable city. The Sustainable Cleveland Celebration Years are designed to be accessible to all members of the community — households, neighborhoods, businesses, and institutions can all participate, either in collaboration or independently.
In 2017, we are celebrating the Year of Vibrant Green Space! There are many actions Clevelanders can take to help grow and support vibrant green spaces, including planting trees and rain gardens, purchasing local foods, visiting parks and much more!
Why Vibrant Green Space?
Vibrant green space can be defined as an accessible and active public space that benefits all and connects people to place, nature, and one another.
The diverse environmental, economic and social benefits of Cleveland’s green space support the sustainable development of the city. Green space improves the quality of place and quality of life for its residents, is a main driver in economic prosperity, and helps retain and attract residents.
Do More
Get involved in the Year of Vibrant Green Space at home, at work and in your community!
Sustainable Cleveland Summit: Save the date for the 9th annual Sustainable Cleveland Summit, to be held on September 27-28, 2017 at Cleveland Public Auditorium.
Cleveland Metroparks Centennial Celebration! Be sure to check out Cleveland Metroparks’ event calendar throughout the year. The calendar is packed with activities to celebrate their 100-year anniversary!
Forest City Working Group: The Forest City Working Group strives to provide resources and expertise to assist in the reforesting of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, to raise awareness about the benefits of trees, bringing a new appreciation for trees to residents.
GardenWalk Cleveland: Save the Date for GardenWalk Cleveland, a self-guided tour of gardens, urban farms, vineyards and orchards in several Cleveland neighborhoods on July 8 and 9, 2017. Contact Cathi Lehn if interested in volunteering for GardenWalk.
Potluck in the Park: Get to know your neighbors by attending Vital Neighborhood Working Group’s annual Potluck in the Park event (Date TBA). This community-wide potluck moves to a different location each year to bring growers, producers, cooks and eaters together over a healthy meal to celebrate local food.
ciCLEvia: Join the ciCLEvia movement this summer to be active, build community and engage in a culture of health.
Learn More
Cleveland Tree Coalition: A collaborative group of public, private, and community stakeholders that have partnered with the City of Cleveland to rebuild our urban forest. The Cleveland Tree Coalition is striving to create a healthy, vibrant, sustainable, and equitable urban forest by working collaboratively to implement the Cleveland Tree Plan.
Tree Steward Training: Western Reserve Land Conservancy and Holden Forests and Garden's Tree Steward Training teaches Clevelanders the basics of tree care.
Cleveland Tree Plan: Launched in 2015 and adopted by the Cleveland Planning Commission in 2016, the Cleveland Tree Plan is a community-wide collaboration to rebuild the urban forest so that Northeast Ohio residents can experience the benefits of reforesting our city, generating greater resiliency, health, prosperity and overall quality of life.
Resilient Cleveland: The Cleveland Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative includes a detailed assessment of the current and anticipated effects of climate change in the Midwest and identifies projects, programs, policies, engagement strategies, and future research to lessen overall energy demand, anticipate and prepare for climate changes and shocks, and foster social cohesion.
LEAP: Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership's mission is to identify, protect and restore biodiversity of the habitats in the LEAP ecoregion and to increase public awareness of biodiversity through the support of member organizations, including government agencies, universities, research centers and conservation organizations. Learn about the many benefits of native plants and where to find them on the LEAP Native Plants page.
Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative: Learn about the importance of pollinators and the habitat they need to survive in Ohio.
For an update from the Year of Vibrant Green Space Celebration Committee see here for the minutes from the last meeting and here for the slides to accompany the minutes.
