In May 2021, Centralina Regional Council held its annual Region of Excellence Awards ceremony to recognize important achievements in the areas of cross-community collaboration, local government innovation, leadership and improvements to quality of life, clean fuels and older adult advocacy. The Clean Cities Award was presented to the Charlotte Department of Transportation for implementing fleet improvements as part of the Strategic Energy Action Plan.

What began as a small 100th anniversary event celebrating Cheerwine’s 1917 beginning in Salisbury has evolved through the years into the annual Cheerwine Festival. Within the past three years, the springtime festival has welcomed over 100,000 visitors, provided business opportunities for regional sponsors such as food, beer, arts and crafts vendors and brought a strong day of sales for downtown Salisbury merchants. Cheerwine, the event partner, also ties the festival to a charitable-giving opportunity for non-profit organizations in Rowan County. But when life began to shift due to COVID-19 after the first of 2020, festival planners were faced with a big decision: cancel the beloved festival or adapt to the circumstances.

As Earth Day approaches, Centralina is thinking about how we can help promote sustainability in our region. We sat down with Sarah Hazel, City of Charlotte’s Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer, to discuss the benefits of setting and accomplishing sustainability goals.

In 2016, Centralina’s Family Caregiver Program Coordinator Sara Maloney and Ashley Stevens aka “The Dementia Guru” convened community stakeholders to start the area’s very own chapter of Dementia Friendly America. With help from Centralina Area Agency on Aging, UNC Charlotte’s Gerontology Program and members from local government aging programs, the volunteer-based organization became known as Dementia Friendly Charlotte Mecklenburg (DFCM).

The perception that innovation costs money or requires technology often deters local governments from pursuing new practices. Sometimes innovation is merely using a new or creative method. That’s exactly what the City of Charlotte sought to accomplish with the Placemaking Grant Program. It puts innovation in the hands of the community.

The South Fork Sewer Regional Utility Consolidation Project was a 12-year effort to eliminate antiquated wastewater infrastructure at multiple Gaston County sewer utilities, improve water quality in the Catawba River Basin and spur development by providing sewer to a large undeveloped area.

In addition to addressing known community issues, the initiative took a holistic approach to educate and empower the community to become advocates for themselves. These are a few steps Vincent Wong and the association took to foster a model of shared governance.

Shirley Wiggins serves as a volunteer with Centralina Area Agency on Aging with the Senior Tar Heel Legislators (STHL) and the Region F Aging Advisory Committee.