WELCOME TO THE GREAT LAKES AND ST. LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a multinational coalition of municipal and Indigenous government executives representing communities in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region. Together, they are working to promote economic prosperity in their communities and protect fresh water for the benefit of current and future generations. The Cities Initiative and local officials integrate environmental, economic and social agendas and sustain a resource that represents approximately 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater supply, provides drinking water for 40 million people, and is the foundation upon which a strong regional economy is based.
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September Municipal Innovation Exchange Events
Join us this September for two Municipal Innovation Exchange events in Waterloo and Kingston, supported by the Local Blue Economy Growth Fund. Municipal leaders, stormwater and wastewater managers, innovators, and researchers will come together for two half-day events exploring the circular blue economy, greywater reuse, wastewater resource recovery, and new pollution capture technologies and approaches.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative 2026 U.S. Water Leaders Summit is taking place November 12, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. This summit brings together 100+ public officials, tribal leaders, entrepreneurs, business and nonprofit leaders, and environmental stakeholders to explore community-based strategies to transform the Great Lakes economy, steward our freshwater resources, and prepare for future challenges and opportunities.
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View All InitiativesResilient Coastal Projects Initiative (RCPI)
With funding through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Fund for Lake Michigan and the Erb Family Foundation, the Cities Initiative has established a $6 million coastal resilience technical assistance program. The Resilient Coastal Project Initiative (RCPI) provides support to municipalities to increase local resilience to climate change using nature-based solutions that will connect people to nature and protect water quality. Partners for the RCPI include regional planning agencies, local non-profit organizations, state coastal programs and provincial conservation authorities, regulatory partners, and engineering partners, including Stantec and LimnoTech. By 2027, the RCPI will assist 86 communities in the United States in developing project plans and pursuing funding opportunities.
Economic Transformation Action Plan (ETAP)
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative has released the Economic Transformation Action Plan: A Blueprint for Economic Growth and Freshwater Stewardship in the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence River Region, which provides a 10-year blueprint to help the region’s communities prepare for and capitalize on the historic opportunity to transform the regional economy into a world-renowned Fresh Coast Economic Corridor.
Local Blue Economy Growth Fund (LBEGF)
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (“Cities Initiative”) has launched the Local Blue Economy Growth Fund Program (LBEGF) to support Cities Initiative member municipalities and First Nations communities in Ontario with project-based funding for green infrastructure, innovative water management technologies, and low impact development solutions to stormwater and wastewater management. This program will lay the foundation for advancing the Cities Initiative’s Economic Transformation Action Plan to build a stronger, more resilient Fresh Coast Economic Corridor.