Through SustainPHX, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has called for the PHX Innovation Games, a challenge for city residents, entrepreneurs, innovators, students, businesses, and other organizations to find innovative ways to make the city more sustainable. To directly solicit help in this area the City’s Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) issued “A Call for Innovators” to propose policies, projects, and programs that advance one or all of the

City’s seven sustainability goals.

The PHX Innovation Games goals are as follows:

• Transportation: Make walking, cycling, and transit commonly used and enjoyed in every Phoenix neighborhood.
• Waste: Create Zero Waste through participation in the circular economy.
• Water Stewardship: Maintain a clean and reliable 100-year supply of water.
• Buildings and Land Use: Achieve an 80%-90% reduction in community carbon emissions from buildings, transportation and waste with the potential to become a carbon-neutral city by 2050, and have all buildings constructed after 2050 to be “net positive” in terms of energy and materials use.
• Parks, Preserves, and Open Spaces: All residents live within a five-minute walk of a park or open space.
• Local Food Systems: Maintain a sustainable, healthy, equitable, thriving local food system.
• Clean Air: Achieve a level of air quality that is healthy for all residents and the natural environment.

Spencer Schreff, Vice-Chair of the EQC stopped by the School of Sustainability to invite undergraduate and graduate level sustainability students to collaborate and submit their ideas for the PHX Innovation Games, however the call is open to all students. Submission evaluation criteria include: Innovativeness and Impact; Viability and Feasibility, and; Quality of Presentation and Clarity of Idea.

Three finalists will be selected from submissions due at 5 PM November 1, 2016. The EQC will then recommend one or more of the submissions for adoption and implementation to the full City Council. For more information download the call for entry.