Toledo Seeks International Award for Most Livable Communities

As the rest of sit down for Thanksgiving day turkey and hours of football this weekend, a delegation from Toledo, Ohio will travel to London. Toledo is one of many communities competing for a LivCom Award, which is endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme. As one of seven finalists, the Glass City will be competing with Edogawa, Japan; Lyon, France; Malmo, Sweden; Manukau, New Zealand; Niagara, Canada; and Wenjiang, China.

Launched in 1997, the LivCom Awards are designed to improve the quality of life for citizens through the creation of "liveable communities." Communities will gather to exchange Best Practice and their own experiences with environmental management, and they will attempt to address mutual challenges. More than 50 countries are represented within the awards, including the United States, Germany, Italy, and Poland.

A "liveable community" is judged based on how it performs in its own cultural, political, economic, geographic, and climate, not compared other communities in its population category. The judging criteria includes enhancement of the landscape, heritage management, environmentally sensitive practices, community sustainability, healthy lifestyles, and planning for the future.

Within the context of the LivCom Awards, judges will evaluate how the community uses landscaping to enhance its environment using horticultural and infrastructure designs. Judges will also look at how the community has brought together historic property, green spaces, and its industrial heritage to contribute positively to the quality of life of residents, both current and future.

Each community will also be judged on how the community has adopted innovative, environmentally sensitive practices and initiatives resulting in sustainable management of the environment and the enhancement of air, water and land quality. Likewise, the community will be judged on how local individuals, groups, and organizations participate in community development.

Finally, judges will examine whether the community members live healthy lifestyles and whether the community is planning for a sustainable, livable future.

According to the University of Toledo, Paul Casmus, a records technician in the UT Medical Center Department of Radiology, will be traveling with the Toledo delegation to London. Casmus won the honor by competing in an essay competition sponsored by UT's Office of the President in conjunction with University Communications.

Casmus came to Toledo 12 years ago from his hometown of Houston, Texas. "In Houston, you don't have these kinds of opportunities," said Casmus. "It's not often you get to write an essay and represent the city. It's not often, either, you get the chance to audition singing the national anthem for a baseball team, but I did that, singing for the Mud Hens for the last three seasons."

The Toledo delegation will be in London Thursday through Monday, Nov. 22-26. Presentations by the finalists will take place before the judging panel from November 23-25 at the Thistle Hotel, Hyde Park. The results will be announced at the awards ceremony November 26, 2007.

Sources:

City of Toledo, "Toledo to Compete for the International Awards for Liveable Communities."

The LivCom Awards, "Whole City Awards 2007."

The University of Toledo, "UT Employee Traveling to London to Help Publicize Toledo," Cynthia Nowak.