SUSTAINABLE MARYLAND CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF MUNICIPAL CERTIFICATION AWARDS
The Environmental Finance Center honored 12 Maryland municipalities at the Maryland Municipal League’s annual Fall Conference on October 12. This Awards Ceremony marks Sustainable Maryland's 10th year of helping communities build a more sustainable future. To date, 85 municipalities, or 54% of the state's towns and cities, participate in the program, and 26% have achieved the "Sustainable Maryland Certified" designation. Maryland State Senator Sarah Elfreth was on hand to present the awards to the 10th anniversary class of certified and re-certified communities.

Congratulations to this year's 10th anniversary class of Sustainable Maryland Certified communities!

Berlin (first certified in 2012, re-certified in 2015 and 2018)
Brunswick (first certified in 2015)
Cheverly (first certified in 2014, re-certified in 2017)
Cottage City (first certified in 2018)
Emittsburg (first certified in 2015; re-certified 2018)
Glen Echo (NEW)
La Plata (NEW)
Laurel (first certified 2015; re-certified 2018)
Mount Rainier (first certified in 2012, re-certified in 2015 and 2018)
North Beach (first certified in 2017)
Poolesville (first certified in 2015, re-certified in 2018)
Rockville (2021 Sustainability Champion - highest point total; first certified 2012, re-certified in 2015 and 2018)

For more information about Sustainable Maryland's 10th anniversary, please check out this recent article in Maryland Today: Electric Cars, Community Gardens and Hungry Goats.
And check out the certification reports of all of our Sustainable Maryland Certified municipalities on the map on our home page here.
NEW EFC PROJECT ASSISTANTS
Jack Taylor
Jack graduated with a bachelor's degree in Geography and a minor in GIS/Geosciences from Virginia Tech in 2020. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Geospatial Information Science (GIS) at UMD - College Park. Last year he was a member of the Chesapeake Conservation Corps and worked with the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD, where he conducted field work with common and least terns (nest monitoring and chick banding) over the summer on Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Jack hails from Davidsonville, MD and in his free time enjoys camping, rock climbing, kayaking, and reading.
Teju Kadam
Teju has a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and an Urban Geographic Information Systems certificate from Cleveland State University. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Geospatial Information Science (GIS) from UMD - College Park. Her research interests mainly evolve around climate change factors and studying its impact on communities. In her spare time, she likes to hike, practice calligraphy, swim and try different cuisines. Teju is fluent in 3 languages - Marathi, English and Hindi - and is currently learning Spanish.
Dominique Gebru
Dominique is pursuing Master of Community Planning and Master of Information Management degrees at UMD - College Park. She is particularly interested in the intersection of data and housing policy and hopes to make a positive impact on housing affordability and the housing crisis at large upon graduation. Outside of school, Dominique is a social media influencer in the interior design space and runs a design consulting business for millennials. Prior to joining UMD, Dominique was a Peace Corps Volunteer and spent five years working in communications for the federal government. 
FINANCE STRATEGY FOR THE
ELIZABETH RIVER WATERSHED ACTION PLAN
On September 30th, dozens of agencies and organizations dedicated to the restoration of the Elizabeth River watershed gathered at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk to provide input on the fifth iteration of the Elizabeth River Watershed Action Plan. This effort, led by the Elizabeth River Project, will create a consensus-driven plan for restoring the health of the river. This meeting focused on prioritizing goals to address the top challenges facing the river including sea level rise, water quality, habitat quality, sediment quality, environmental justice, and outreach and education needs. The Environmental Finance Center is developing a finance strategy that will support implementation of the plan once it is finalized later this year.
FOLLOW EFC ON SOCIAL MEDIA
You can follow EFC and some of our programs on social media: EFC is on Twitter @EFCUMD, Sustainable Maryland is on Facebook, and the Municipal Online Stormwater Center (MOST) is on Twitter @TheMOSTCenter
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Jennifer Cotting, Director

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 "Biodiversity loss is just as catastrophic as climate change, but the solutions are linked. Stopping further damage to the planet requires big change, but we can do it if we act now, together...Governments possess the power - economic, political and legal - to address the planetary emergency, and there may still be time, but they must act now."


Prof. Andrew Purvis, Imperial College London, speaking ahead of this month's 2021 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15)
 
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