Sustainable Communities Division
We are a group of empowered planners creating sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
Welcome
Welcome to the American Planning Association (APA) Sustainable Communities Division (SCD) website! Our division supports a broad range of sustainability-related programs and initiatives for planners and our allied professionals. Please participate in our events and collaborative discussions, utilize our available resources, and join us in our cause to advance sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
Hello, and welcome to the American Planning Association's Sustainable Communities Division!
Whether you're a longtime member or discovering us for the first time, I'm so glad you're here. SCD is a community of planners and allied professionals dedicated to a shared purpose: creating communities that are sustainable, resilient, and equitable. That work has never felt more urgent — or more possible — and I'm honored to help lead this division as we take it on together.
Our division exists to support you in that work. Through our Annual Symposium and Sustainability & Resilience Webinar Series, we offer education that helps you meet your AICP Sustainability and Resilience credit requirements while sharpening your practice. Through resources like our Climate Ordinance Database, Climate Action Policy Guide, and Papers, Policies & Guides library, we put practical tools directly in your hands. And through programs like our Scholar Program, Climate Champions, and our Students + Emerging Professionals group, we're investing in the next generation of leaders in this field.
We also believe good planning starts with listening. Our recent Planner Perspectives on Climate Survey gathered insights from nearly 1,000 planners on how climate change is shaping practice today — and what tools our members need to respond effectively. It's exactly the kind of collaboration that makes this division stronger.
I'd love for you to get involved — attend an event, dig into our resources, connect with a committee, or simply join our mailing list to stay in the loop. Sustainable communities aren't built alone, and I'm looking forward to building them with you.
Welcome aboard,
Kristen Nyht
Chair, APA Sustainable Communities Division
Planner Perspectives on Climate:
Report on Survey Results
Nearly 1,000 planners answered the Planner Perspectives on Climate Survey in late 2023 as part of the Divisions Council Initiative, providing key insights on how planners respond to climate change in their professional practice and about what tools and resources are needed to be more effective. Learn more here.
Become an SCD Sponsor!
SCD is seeking new and returning sponsors and we’d love to have you. Explore the Levels and Benefits of Sponsoring.
Recent SCD Initiatives
Sustainability & Resilience is the newest mandatory AICP CM credit, initiated during the 2022-2023 CM credit cycle. SCD members, in association with the AICP Commission, led and participated in the Task Force which developed the new credit framework and criteria. SCD webinars and educational opportunities are an excellent resource for meeting your AICP Sustainability and Resilience requirements!
To ensure comprehensiveness and synergy with other APA efforts, the polices in the new guide are grouped and organized by the six (6) APA Sustainability Comprehensive Plan Standards categories: the Livable Built Environment; Harmony with Nature; Resilient Economy; Interwoven Equity; Healthy Communities; and Responsible Regionalism. There is also a separate category focused on needed federal and state climate change policies.
SCD members under the leadership of APA’s Legislative and Policy Committee worked collaboratively to draft a comprehensive update to the 2011 APA Climate Change Policy Guide. The new Climate Change Policy Guide has been approved by the Chapter Delegate Assembly is pending publication in 2021.
SCD led efforts to prepare a comprehensive update to the 2010 Planner Advisory Service (PAS) Report related to Climate Change. This new Climate Change PAS Report is published and is a comprehensive resource for planners to better understand climate issues, and access best practices and case studies as it relates to climate readiness planning for resilient communities.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
