Sustainability is best advanced when the Town and its citizens work in concert. On the Town side, we are always striving to adopt and implement and programs that integrate sustainability into municipal decision-making across all our departments.  We also know that individuals can more readily make choices in their everyday lives that will conserve natural resources, protect ecosystems, and improve human health when the local policy environment supports sustainable options for housing, transportation, food, energy, food, and waste diversion.

Meaningful citizen engagement is also key to the Town’s ethic of governance.  There are a number of committees and working groups that advise staff and Town Council on sustainability-related topics including the Climate Action Plan Working Group, the Climate Vulnerability Assessment Advisory Team, the Greenway/Bikeway/Sidewalk Corridor Committee, the Recreation Advisory Board, and Planning Commission. If you are interested in serving on one of these Council-appointed advisory committees, please visit the Council Appointed Boards and Committees page.

Citizens can also support community sustainability efforts by joining the planning teams for Sustainability Week and Sustainability through the Seasons, a longstanding partnership between the Town, Virginia Tech and Sustainable Blacksburg, a local citizen-led group. 

Beyond that, there are numerous opportunities to join or volunteer (pdf) with organizations that work to advance a wide range of sustainability goals in Blacksburg and throughout the wider New River Valley. We encourage citizens to reach out directly to these organizations to learn more about their work and ways they can get involved.