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Examples of U.S.-International Partnerships
This section is a collection of partnership experiences that states, regions, and cities have had with foreign counterparts on sharing best practices and innovations in environmental policies and methods. Each of the following links below to information on the partnership background, resultant initiatives where applicable, and contacts or links to the partnership Web site. Many regions have also led exchanges with other countries that did not result in permanent partnerships; a selection of these experiences can be found on the Group Exchanges page of this Web site.
National Partnerships
U.S. EPA - German Bilateral Working Group on Brownfields Redevelopment (PDF, 113pp., 1.78MB) 
In 1990 the EPA and the German Federal Office of the Environment (Umweltbundesamt [UBA]) initiated a cooperative effort to share information and evaluate new solutions and tools for the redevelopment of contaminated sites. By using model projects to demonstrate exemplary approaches to site redevelopment, the agreement aims at evaluating new approaches and technologies and then transfer lessons learned throughout the U.S. and Germany.
This ongoing collaborative effort includes the partnership of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), a coalition of 40 states (see link below), the District of Columbia, multiple federal partners, industry participants, and other stakeholders. Together, they have developed the SMART Plan (Site-Specific Management Approach and Redevelopment Tools), a guidance document that addresses the environmental, economic, and social aspects of brownfields redevelopment. The SMART Guidance is an element of a larger international research and development program of EPA and German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). A January 2004 draft of the plan is linked above.
Link to the ITRC's 5-year program plan project proposal/fact sheet for brownfields redevelopment.
U.S. EPA's Brownfields Research Program Manager Ann Vega
State Involvement
Link to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Site Remediation Program article - "United States and Germany Brownfield Partnership - A Global Approach to the Sharing of Environmental Strategies on Brownfield Cleanup and Reuse"
Computer model of the proposed results in New Jersey:
State Partnerships
California
Certification Partnership
Cal/EPA has formed several international partnerships to exchange information about its award-winning environmental technology certification program and to promote environmental technologies, standards, and exports around the world. In particular, Cal/EPA worked in close consultation with Canada to launch the Canadian Environmental Technology Verification Program, modeled after California's program, in June 1997. Cal/EPA and Canada also initiated a "round-robin" evaluation of two of each other's certified technologies to compare the respective programs and explore the possibility for certification/verification reciprocity. Cal/EPA and its Canadian counterpart, Environment Canada, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MS Word, 8pp., 5.8 MB) in 1998 to recognize and accept one another's evaluation data.
New Hampshire
Sister Lakes Program
The Sister Lakes is a public/private and intercultural/international program supported by the state of New Hampshire and the nation of Israel. This partnership between Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, and the Sea of Galilee, Israel, was developed to advance international cooperation to help protect each lake's watersheds while promoting economic growth, tourism, and the exchange and sharing of information between local governments, communities and watershed management professionals. In 1997, the partners representing the two signed a memorandum of understanding. Most recently, New Hampshire is starting a "Sister Lakes Terrorism Victims Program" whereby they host a small group of Israeli terrorism victims for rest and relaxation by their sister lake. The Sister Lakes Environmental Resource Management Program is still in negotiation.
For more information, contact founder James Braver at (617) 244-1032.
New Jersey
These two regions share similar population densities, territorial size and geography, as well as economic staples. After then Governor Christine Whitman sent groups of government, business and NGO representatives to the Netherlands in 1993 and 1994 to study how Dutch best practices could be incorporated into New Jersey policy, the two regions signed an international partnership and Letter of Intent on Climate Change in 1998. New Jersey then enacted its Green and Gold Program (stressing environmental sustainability under economic growth), new regulatory agreements with business following Dutch "beyond compliance" and covenant models, and created an Office of Sustainability. More recently, the partnership has expanded to the areas of smart growth, domestic security and emissions trading. The Minister of the Netherlands is to visit New Jersey in early 2005.
Case Study: New Jersey: Learning from the Dutch Model (Resources Renewal Institute)
as well as the 1999 Press Release (NJDEP, 1998/1999) and Greenhouse Gas and Climate Change Activities
Oregon
Saving Salmon in Oregon and the NetherlandsIn Oregon, salmon stocks had witnessed a drastic decline, such that the federal government was on the verge of listing coho salmon as an endangered species. The Resources Renewal Institute (RRI) sponsored a delegation of Oregon representatives to visit the Dutch green plans in action. These plans are integrated, long-term strategies based on partnerships and stakeholder discussions that generate flexible, innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The team built upon the exchange and engaged farmers, fishermen, timber companies, miners, officials and environmentalists to draft a bill that would protect the populations more holistically. Timber, fishing and mining industries contributed millions of dollars to the endeavor, and the partnership endured even after the coho was listed as 'threatened' under the Endangered Species Act in 1998. Implementation fell mostly to local government, businesses, and communities, and 81 watershed councils have been established in this effort. As of 2001, the coho salmon have seen an improvement in spawning numbers.
For more information, see RRI's case study of Oregon: On the Green Plan Path
Wisconsin
Wisconsin-Bavaria Regulatory Reform Working Partnership
In 1998, the State of Wisconsin and the Free State of Bavaria, Germany, entered into a partnership to exchange innovative ideas, business-to-business technical information, creation of public policy on environmental management systems (EMS), and cooperative sharing of innovations on environmental results. In Phase Two of the project, the two states agreed to prepare, by 2004, a report on lessons on environmental policy innovations and to sponsor, by 2005, an international conference in Munich on the achievements of self-responsible environmental performance. This partnership also contributed significantly to Wisconsin's Green Tier program, a collaborative system of contracts and charters crafted by participating businesses and the Department of Natural Resources. Green Tier streamlines environmental requirements and encourages new environmental technologies.
City/Regional Partnerships
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago's Calumet Area Land Use Plan (Click on Calumet Design Guidelines & Land Use Plan)
Influenced by the International Brownfields Exchange, Chicago is redeveloping this section of town as a new industrial park. Guidelines require onsite stormwater management and native species landscape architecture to integrate the area into the Calumet Open Space Reserve. The guidelines were developed by the Department of Planning and Development and approved by the Chicago Plan Commission in March 2004.
Chicago Green Roofs (Click on Green Roofs under Initiatives and Programs)
After visiting Hamburg, Germany, one of Chicago's sister cities, Mayor Daley was so impressed by their rooftop gardens that he created one of his own on top of City Hall. Now one of the largest in the country at 33,000 square feet, the garden soaks up 75% of the rain that hits it, possibly doubles the lifespan of the roof and, on the hottest day in 2001, was 65ºF cooler than the blacktop roof next door, thereby mitigating the urban heat island effect. The 2002 Energy Conservation Ordinance has an Urban Heat Island Reduction Initiative that requires all new and refurbished roofs to install green roofs or reflective roofing.
Niagara Falls
The Waterfront Regeneration Trust is a Canadian organization that works to revitalize Lake Ontario and create a waterfront trail alongside. In 1998, it partnered with the U.S. EPA to co-sponsor the International Brownfields Exchange, which convened 1,000 professionals from around the world to discuss brownfields redevelopment as a whole, and design redevelopment for several U.S. sites in particular. In the U.S. Niagara Falls area, the Trust is helping redevelop brownfields by the Falls and in Buffalo, New York, and connect the trails in the two countries. Much of this redevelopment work follows the integrated development model set by Emscher Park, Germany.
Articles on:
The International Brownfields Exchange ( PDF , 26pp., 1.3MB)
The South Buffalo Design Workshop ( PDF , 8pp., 363KB)
The City of Niagara Falls, NY, Design Workshop ( PDF , 6pp., 389KB)
Links to Niagra Community Waterfront Projects:
City of Kingston, Canada
In spring 2002, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust partnered with the City of Kingston on a process to develop a vision for the spectacular 150km waterfront of the amalgamated City. The results of the workshop are available in an Update Report on the City of Kingston's website.
City of Belleville, Canada
A consultation guide, including initial concepts and a survey, was distributed to Belleville residents in October 2002. An open house and workshop to discuss the future of the East Bay shore were held on October 29th 2002.
Local Initiatives:
Burlington Vermont's New Waterfront Plan
With 23 kilometers of new waterfront trail, several mixed-use developments, and heritage and environmental restoration projects, Burlington's waterfront is a vital part of that city's quality-of-life, attracting corporate and individual investors and generating tangible local economic returns.
Northern Virginia Regional Commission
Partnership with Verband Region Stuttgart, Germany ( PDF , 31 pp., 1.42MB)
Regional government and planning officials of both regions conducted multiple cross-cultural, region-to-region exchanges since 1998. The two regions have an on-going partnership that will last at least until 2007. The sharing of information and experiences has influenced NVRC planning officials to include green roofs, LEED-certified architecture, bike lanes, and flex cars. NVRC Executive Director G. Mark Gibb wrote the EPA, "Other localities are implementing rooftop gardens, car sharing, new traffic calming techniques, open space planning, and town modeling as a result of our trip and information exchange. I think it is important to know that our international partnership is paying back with both interest and dividends."
Children's Environmental Art Competition with Lithuania
Several students from schools in Fairfax County, VA, and from a nature school in Panevezys, Lithuania, will submit artwork with an environmental theme as part of an international competition. As part of this effort, Apple Computer will donate a computer with video conferencing capabilities so that the two groups of children can continue to talk.
For more information on either of these projects, contact Mark Gibb , Director of the NVRC.
Portland, OR
Portland Climate Change Action PlanPortland's action plan on climate change grew largely out of exchanges with Stockholm, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark, through the International Council for Local Environmental Initiative's Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (see Case Highlight
on this Web site). More information on its climate and energy policies and results may be found Sustainable Portland's Web site.
Potomac River
Interstate Commission for the Potomac River Basin
The strategic plan of the ICPRB's calls upon it to serve as a national and international partner and facilitator with other regional basin groups in fostering cooperation. It has had a sister river partnership with the Arakawa River in Japan since 1996. The Japanese sought guidance on public involvement in watershed management; after visiting the ICPRB and other U.S. water agencies, they formed a citizen group that does cleanups and riparian planting (some of the species/trees are from along the Potomac).
The Arakawa River is the home watershed of the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.
In turn, the ICPRB was particularly interested in Japanese strategies driven by their high water stress. They have inter-basin transfers of drinking water, per capita calculations of water usage and need, and urban graywater recycling. The ICPRB has also had trouble getting people to stay maintain interest and care in riparian plantings after large public turnouts to plant the trees. The Japanese give their riparian trees to a family; trees have bracelets with the name of their family, who therefore don't want people to see their tree dying. While there are few large projects that derive specifically from this partnership, the ICPRB note that these exchanges have shared ideas and helped them "think outside the box."
Please contact Curtis Dalpra at (301) 984-1908, Ext. 107 for more information.
ICPRB Sister River Partnership with the Rhine Commission (ICPR)
The river commissions of the Potomac and Rhine drafted a sister river agreement to exchange information, hold future about exchanges, and apply for outside funds as projects arose. Soon thereafter, the Rhine was badly flooded, and most resources at the commission went towards flood control. The partnership is currently being reinvigorated; please contact Joseph Hoffman at (301) 984-1908, Ext. 126 for more information.