Taking Care of One Another Lawrence leads the way in Kansas by implementing economic, environmental and social sustainability practices and initiatives. by Bob Luder, photos courtesy City of Lawrence
Craig Owens gazes out the large pane-glass window on the fourth floor of the north side of City Hall. He wistfully watches the water of the Kansas River below him rushing through and ponders the past as it pertains to sustainability, more specifically, renewable energy. For many decades in the past and to this day, that water produces hydroelectricity, clean energy that’s purchased by public utilities in the area. Though Owens has only been at his job as Lawrence city manager for a few months, he says it hasn’t taken long to learn and appreciate the history and legacy of the city before him, particularly when it comes to progressive action the area has taken in sustainable practices and initiatives. “I’ve gotten to know the history of Lawrence in these first six months,” Owens says. “It’s history that’s telling us that how we manage resources affects our success as a population. “We’ve done things in 150-plus years as a city in different ways to accommodate our practical realities in how we’ve lived, settled and grown. History tells us people were occupying this land long before us and had ideas about how to take care of it. Now, it dawns on us that we probably haven’t minded the land as we should have.” Across the room, Owens’ colleague, Jasmin Moore, sustainability director of Lawrence and Douglas County, sees sustainability as a prism to the future. “Sustainability is about quality of life,” Moore says. “Not just now but into the future. It’s living today as though you believe there’s going to be a tomorrow. We feel like Lawrence is a great place to live and has a lot to offer, and we want it to be that for generations to come.”
To help ensure that, Owens, Moore and the rest of the city’s government and leadership have drawn both from past and future to come up with a plan they believe puts Lawrence at the forefront of sustainability. And, there is evidence that shows that these plans, which have been in place a few years now, are proving effective. In 2016, Lawrence was given a 4-STAR designation by the STAR Community Rating System, the first national certification program to recognize sustainable communities. Since the program’s launch in 2012, 51 communities nationwide have reached the 4-STAR designation, which integrates economic, environmental and social sustainability practices and initiatives. Lawrence was the first city in Kansas to receive the status. Owens credits Eileen Horn, who preceded Moore as the city’s sustainability director and now serves in the Kansas State Legislature, for starting Lawrence’s sustainability program, which encompasses everything from energy-saving projects in city structures to implementing a cleaner-energy public transportation fleet to creating financial incentives for companies to engage in sustainable practices.
Sustainability’s Beginnings Moore says the first proclamation revolving around sustainability to come out of Lawrence came in 2006. At that time, she was working in Arkansas for a metropolitan planning association and remembers sustainability becoming a buzzword sometime between 2008 and 2009. “Grants started to become available for energy efficiency and conservation,” she says. “Communities started appointing staff to handle these funds.” 21
