For far too long, neighborhood development has been primarily about brick-and-mortar solutions to building and rehabilitating neighborhoods. The world of city building has drastically changed, and it requires a more diverse and more integrated range of solutions to empower social vibrancy and restore ecological health. Success hinges on building robust public-private-civic partnerships to align leadership, improve cross-sector collaboration, and build new models of inclusive governance to drive effective planning and project delivery.

To foster a new model and era of urban regeneration, EcoDistricts has created the Protocol: a rigorous, sustainable urban development framework for achieving people-centered, economically vibrant, planet-loving, neighborhood- and district-scale sustainability.

THE ECODISTRICTS PROTOCOL IS:

• A TOOL FOR FOSTERING NEIGHBORHOOD- AND DISTRICT-SCALE SUSTAINABILITY. The Protocol is available for free digitally and EcoDistricts encourages those who are interested in advancing comprehensive and meaningful sustainability strategies to use it.

• A RIGOROUS CERTIFICATION STANDARD. EcoDistrict Certified recognizes the achievement of Protocol requirements, marks industry leadership, and connects certified districts with a global peer-to-peer learning network pursuing continuous improvement.

The Protocol puts a comprehensive lens on every urban regeneration decision, drives the delivery of meaningful performance outcomes, and sets the conditions for sustainable, collective impact. And above all, the Protocol is designed as a flexible performance framework rather than a prescriptive standard, recognizing that every community has the ability and need to advance a place-based sustainability agenda. District teams tailor the Protocol to local circumstances, set performance targets based on local conditions and aspirations, and measure progress against the Protocol’s Imperatives and Priorities.