Portland State University’s Urban Sustainability Accelerator, which helps mid-size to small urban areas implement sustainability projects, has selected its first “class” of areas from around the country to participate in the Accelerator program. The inaugural 2013-14 accelerator class will include the cities of Waco, Texas; Wichita, Kan.; Portland, Maine; Louisville, Ky.; El Paso, Texas; and the Sacramento Council of Governments and member cities Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Teams from participating cities will travel to Portland in July for a three-day workshop where experts in sustainable urban development, green building and green transportation will help them start shaping the initiatives and projects they want to work on over the next year.

The eight local governments selected for the program will be able to take advantage of several benefits, centered around a year’s worth of advice from those with sustainability expertise. The Accelerator consists of a mix of factors that make it unique including a hard focus on implementation, an emphasis on peer-to-peer advising, strategic advice to complement technical advice for implementation and more.

To learn more about Portland State University’s Urban Sustainability Accelerator, click here.