Sustainability Leaders Collaborative

The Sustainability Leaders Collaborative (SLC) is a partnership of cities, towns, villages, and school districts across the county focused on climate change. The purpose is to facilitate collaboration, enabling all Dane County communities to achieve their sustainability goals by sharing resources and working together to reduce emissions and increase resiliency. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway created the SLC in 2019.

Initiallly, the SLC's priorities were largely focused on internal operations at each municipality--adding solar, greening fleets, energy efficiency for facilities and green infrastructure.

In 2023 SLC members updated their priorities based on the progress members had made in their own operations as well as
the substantive opportunities associated with new federal funding. The updated priorities are:

1. Building energy efficiency, electrification and renewable energy
2. Reducing community-wide emissions associated with transportation
3. Increasing climate resilience
4. Mobilizing action across all sectors of the economy

The SLC holds virtual and in-person events on topics of interest to local communities. If you are part of a local government and have a topic you would like to see addressed, let us know.

SLC Accomplishments

Already SLC members have made enormous strides in their sustainability and resiliency efforts and are are actively working together to meet their emissions and resiliency goals. Accomplishments include:

• The Oregon School District built first net-zero energy public school in Wisconsin, Forest Edge Elementary
• The Village of McFarland is in the process of building the first net-zero energy public safety building in the state
• The City of Middleton has integrated sustainability into its Comprehensive Plan and other city documents
• Over 75 solar photovolatic installations at school and local government facilities across Dane County
• More than two dozen Climate Champion awards in a variety of categories, demonstrating how local schools and governments are leading by example 

All of these accomplishments illustrate how local school districts and municipalities are leading by example. 

Learn more about what SLC members have accomplished across Dane County via the annual meeting summaries for 2021 and 2022. 

SLC Activities

SLC members join together formally and informally to collaborate on climate action. The Office of Energy & Climate Change produces a monthly newsletter to keep members informed about upcoming activities and links to resources. In addition, some area municipal staff with sustainability-related job responsibilities convene monthly to share informal updates. 

Past SLC activities include:

• A webinar called Elective Pay 101: We Did It & You Can Too, featuring staff from McFarland, Sun Prairie and Dane County, talking about their experiences filing Elective Pay registration forms. 
• Two SolSmart trainings that we hosted in conjunction with the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) to support our communities that are seeking SolSmart designations. Those trainings were:
  • January 2024 training on best practices in solar permitting and inspection practices, led by NREL experts
  • November 2023 training on planning and zoning considerations associated with solar
• Webinar on Dane County's EV infrastructure, detailing the Greater Madison MPO's study
• Webinar on green infrastructure, highlighting the collaborative work in the Black Earth Creek Watershed
• Webinar on food waste and composting initiatives in the County
• Let's Talk Trees webinar about the Tree Canopy Working group and opportunities for community tree planting efforts
• Webinar on accelerating solar adoption, both within operations and across communities
• CARPC-hosted webinar on meeting regional climate targets
• Several hands-on events for fleet managers to explore electric and RNG vehicle options
• Webinars about opportunities for federal funding
• Annual meetings to celebrate progress in 2021 and 2022

Resources for SLC Members

• SolSmart resources: The Office of Energy & Climate Change partnered with the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) to pursue SolSmart designations for both organizations and interested local municipalities.
  • OECC and CARPC hosted an Introduction to SolSmart webinar that featured SolSmart staff as well as Phil Grupe from Fitchburg (a SolSmart community).
  • CARPC hosted a training on solar-friendly planning and zoning. See the video of the solar-friendly planning and zoning workshop or the slide deck for more details.
  • OECC will host webinars on permitting and inspections in early 2024.
  • Currently McFarland, Middleton, Mount Horeb, and Sun Prairie are pursuing designation in addition to OECC and CARPC. 
  • Fitchburg and Madison are already SolSmart communities.
  • Email us to learn more about joining the local municipalities pursuing SolSmart. 
• Federal Funding Opportunities: With the passage of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, local municipalities have unprecedented opportunities to pursue climate action and clean energy projects in their operations and across their communities. Learn more about how your community can leverage federal funding to accelerate action. 
• School District Sustainability Profiles: The Office of Energy & Climate Change created these profiles of sustainability efforts at local school districts in response to requests from students and other climate activists. 
• Clean Energy Plans: With funding from the Office of Energy Innovation, seven Dane County communities collaborated with Slipstream to conduct clean energy planning; review the final report as a starting point for other communities interested in clean energy planning. 
• Solar Group Buys: The MadiSUN Group Buy is available to all Dane County residents. Learn more about how local communities can leverage group buy resources to grow accelerate solar installations.