by jbs081110 d3 — August 13, 2010—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on July 31, 2010 recognized some of the most effective international city-to-city partnerships that advance the use of clean energy and drive innovations in sustainability. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Brookhaven National Laboratory announced the cities of Riverside, California and Sarasota, Florida as the winners of the 2010 Lou Wozar Annual Awards for Sustainable Development—Energy.
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that forges and strengthens partnerships between U.S. and international “sister” communities to promote collaborative clean energy projects. This sister city network now includes more than 700 U.S. communities working with more than 2,000 sister cities, spanning 134 countries on six continents.
This year’s winners built exemplary sister city sustainability projects that boosted their communities toward a clean-energy future. The mayors of Riverside, California and Sendai, Japan established the Southern California Research Initiative, a joint solar innovation center in partnership with public, academic, and private institutions from both cities. The Riverside-Sendai agreement also includes an academic research and student exchange program between the University of California—Riverside and Sendai’s Tohoku University.
The Conservation and Renewable Energy Exchange between Sarasota, Florida and Perpignan, France reportedly created a mutually beneficial experience between local high school students. Sarasota students hosted a class of 24 students from Perpignan who visited the Florida Power and Light solar energy field, Myakka State Park and the University of South Florida extension service office to learn about renewable energy and conservation measures. This November, students from Sarasota will visit Perpignan for a week.
