Guiding Principles

From Edgewater 2020

Mission Statement: Turn Edgewater into the model green community within Chicago. *[The Edgewater Community is located between Foster Ave (5200N) & Devon Ave (6400N), and between Lake Michigan & Ravenswood Ave (1800W)]

Purpose: Provide an attractive haven for humans and nature and to have each coexist within a sustainable urban environment.

Guiding Principles:

1. The Edgewater Community Council(ECC) and Edgewater Beautiful(EB) are firm in the belief that collaboration with Edgewater residents, the block clubs in our community, its businesses, its institutions and public officials, is a key component in meeting the goal of the Mission Statement.

2. The ultimate goal is to turn Edgewater, an established urban neighborhood, into the leading energy and environmentally friendly community within Chicago.

3. The process will include analysis and planning, followed by a clear strategy which outlines the implementation of the Environmental Sustainability Project within Edgewater.

4. The Chicago Action Climate Plan and LEED ND Certification Process will be used as guides. Further, the Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project (EESP), will work with both entities to help develop a procedure that can be utilized by existing urban neighborhoods and communities to provide measurements and tools for implementation of sustainable urban environmental practices and identify progress.

5. The Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project (EESP) will set forth baseline statistics and goals and publish them on this website:

• Baseline as of 2008.
• The Core Committee will establish Target Areas and with community input begin the planning process during year 2009.
• A formal comprehensive plan to implement those goals will be part of a benchmark year report released in 2010, the 50th Anniversary of ECC.
• An action plan with goals targeted for the five year period from 2010 to 2015 will be established, and longer term strategies will also be identified, with target years between 2015 and 2020. (These long term strategic goals will be evaluated annually as environmental insights evolve and change.)

6. The Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project (EESP) will be quantifiable and the broad categories for implementation of the project will be identified in those situations in which they are known.

7. In documentation of the EESP, we wish to maximize community education and involvement in order to expand commitment to environmental concerns. This will not only help our shared environment, but should encourage unification within the Edgewater community.

8. We will consult with neighboring communities and Loyola University in the EESP's development and will share the document with these and other interested groups in order establish ongoing partnerships.

9. A website has been established (www.edgewater2020.org), so the working draft of the EESP was available on line during the interim development process (2008-2009). The site has evolved and now houses the guidelines which outline the EESP's Implementation and Action Phase(2010-2020).

10. The Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project (EESP) will foster those changes that will create the development of environmentally sound and sustainable practices.