Best Practice Action Detail

Sustainability Coordinators: 

• Find a list of Sustainability Coordinators or positions that directly include sustainability work in Minnesota communities - currently 47 positions in 26 communities!  
• Hiring!? See this example for a sustainability position job description, researched from 10 positions in Minnesota communities. 
• Consider a shared position through a joint powers agreement with neighboring communities, such as the Recycling Coordinator for the cities for West St. Paul, South St. Paul, Mendota Heights, Lilydale, and Sunfish Lake. 
• Learn more about sustainability coordinators play a role in city planning, implementation, and research in Dedicated City Staff Crucial to Setting and Implementing Energy Goals (2018, GPI) 
• You don’t have to be a big or medium size city to have employees tasked to lead sustainability-related initiatives! La Crescent, Northfield, and Grand Marais - Small cities add staff to manage sustainability initiatives (2020, CERTs)

Budgeting: 

• Learn about Taking (and Paying For!) Climate Action (LMC Conference, 2025) with examples from Saint Anthony Village and La Crescent such as: 
  • General funds
  • Municipal bonds 
  • State grants
  • Energy Savings Performance Contracts 
  • CERTs Seed Grants 
  • Direct Pay/Elective Pay 
  • Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority (MnCIFA)
  • Franchise fees 
• See how Rural Minnesota Counties Work Together to Simplify Clean Energy Development and Maximize Local Benefits (Energy News Network, 2025) using collaboration to funnel wind and solar production taxes for local projects. 

Interns, Fellows, Service Members and Volunteers: 

• Communities interested in using a college student intern to assist with one or more tasks - joining the GreenStep program, creating a green team, reporting on GreenStep actions completed, and working on new actions - should approach their local educational institution and use the GreenStep Intern Manual. 
• Communities that need help in connecting with a local post-secondary school should contact their regional CERTs director. Some cities have worked with a local high school, whose students often can assist a city under a school-required service learning agreement.
• The MN Association for Volunteer Administration has trainings and other resources to help a city engage citizens through the use of volunteers.

Training: 

• The Blandin Community Leadership Program trains leaders from rural Minnesota communities. 
• The Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) is a national network of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.
• See the International City and County Managers Association (ICMA) Sustainability Through an Equity Lens, an Introduction (2021), and Governing for Equity: implementing an equity lens in local governments (2020). 
• Community Energy Ambassadors, a program of CERTs, is a certification program to advance clean energy projects within communities. 
• Community Climate Leaders, a program of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, teaches participants how to take climate action in their community and connect with peers doing similar work. 

Mentorship and Networking:  

• The GreenStep Peer Exchange Pods program was designed to help connect City and Tribal Nation GreenStep Coordinators in order to support each other’s work across the state. The pods include 3-4 people from different communities. Join any time! 
• The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) is a membership-based nation-wide network to help communities advance local government sustainability and equip practitioners as catalysts of transformative change. Currently 14 members participate across Minnesota (as of Sept. 2025)
• The Minnesota Community Energy Network (CEN) is a peer learning network of local government staff working on clean energy in Minnesota that aims to advance action in communities across the state. 
• The Minnesota TA Collaborative is a statewide network of over 90 technical assistance providers and organizations focused on helping Minnesota local governments, Tribes, and NGOs plan, fund, and implement climate and clean energy projects. 
• Resilient Cities & Communities (RCC) connects cities, other governmental authorities and residents to foster resilience to environmental, economic and social stresses across Minnesota. RCC provides resources on climate action, behavior change campaigns, and collaborative climate implementation through the City-County Climate Action Conference and Regional Climate Collaboratives.