ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the importance of studying sustainability-minded groups in understanding urban sustainability governance. The sustainability-minded groups used here emerged inductively analysis on strategic plans and sustainability indicators. Sustainability-minded groups are defined here as organizations that seek to define sustainability and engage in the transition to sustainability at the local level. Berlin is a civil society organization created by the Berlin Senate to help guide the city's Local Agenda. The Zukunftsrat Hamburg is the main organization devoted to sustainability in Hamburg. It was created by the Hamburg Senate to help coordinate civil society Agenda activities; the Zukunftsrat was originally intended as an extra-governmental counterpart to the city's environmental agency. Cities like Berlin, Hamburg, and Seattle, New York has no major nonprofit institutions working to define sustainability within the city. Sustainable Seattle and the Sightline Institute have both made significant efforts in promoting sustainability in Seattle, both by defining the term itself and highlighting its importance in considering local policy issues.
