The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan

This plan serves as an update to the 2009 Baltimore Sustainability Plan. The 2009 Baltimore Sustainability Plan was a successful umbrella document, providing a citywide vision complete with strategies, actions, and metrics. The 2009 Plan had seven chapters, 29 goals, and 132 strategies — 93% of which have been advanced or completed by residents, faith-based institutions, nonprofits, city agencies, and businesses. In the nine years since the City's first plan was adopted, we have achieved valuable successes. But climate change is becoming an increasing threat, and many socioeconomic and public health challenges persist, threatening our city's residents and weakening the sustainability ecosystem. 

The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan articulates strategies, actions and measures of success across 5 core themes and 23 topic areas. Three of the topic areas under the Nature in the City theme include Trees & Forests, People & Nature, and Nature for Nature's Sake. Like the 2009 plan, the 2019 Plan is an umbrella document, offering a cohesive vision for the city. Since it is a city-wide Sustainability Plan with over 200 actions included, it's impossible to implement all of the actions at once. With limited resources, it will be challenging to advance or fully implement all of the actions identified. Where strong partnerships already exist, some actions have advanced, but in areas without existing partnerships or sufficient resources, some actions are still pending.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• A roadmap for a healthier, more equitable Baltimore, relying on all sectors of the community, not just city government, to bring it to fruition.
• A thoughtful explanation of the intersection of equity, racial justice, and sustainability, and how it relates to city-wide goals.
• Strategies to achieve greater biodiversity, tree canopy cover, and restoration outcomes with clearly-defined success metrics.

How to use this resource:

• An example of a city-wide plan that approaches analysis and recommendations through an equity lens.
• An approach to community surveying, based on a collaborative and resident-led process.
• Ways to contextualize and incorporate natural areas and trees into a larger-scale city plan.

Author: Baltimore Office of Sustainability

Date published: 2019

Point of contact: Amy Gilder-Busatti, Environmental Planner, Baltimore Office of Sustainability, amy.gilder-busatti@baltimorecity.gov 

Citation: Baltimore Office of Sustainability. 2019. The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan. Baltimore, MD.

Resource available online here.