About 2022 Commonwealth Awards - Volunteers Needed!

Volunteers are needed to assist in the planning, sponsorship, conference, and awards nomination processes for planning the 2022 Commonwealth Awards.

The Commonwealth Awards is 10,000 Friends’ signature recognition program that honors and celebrates great development projects and the people who make them happen. Through the Commonwealth Awards, 10,000 Friends recognizes leading and innovative development projects that utilize best practices creating great walkable, sustainable, equitable, healthy communities. We welcome and encourage submissions from developers, architects, designers, planners and public and private institutions that have significant projects that may be underway or completed.

Over the years, we have recognized a wide array of great projects – mixed-use, residential, commercial, industrial, public infrastructure, recreational/ green space, schools and other community institutions, and municipal planning projects – that demonstrate urban infill, historic rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, brownfield redevelopment, and other revitalization techniques. A panel of jurors from across a range of relevant professional disciplines is enlisted to choose the award winners from among the project submissions. The panel reviews projects utilizing metrics based on sound land use, smart transportation and smart growth principles. The Commonwealth Awards remain the only statewide smart growth award program in Pennsylvania.

In addition to the project awards, 10,000 Friends also honors individuals with Commonwealth Awards for outstanding volunteer or professional service to improving their local built environments and creating great neighborhoods to live and work in Pennsylvania. Individuals selected for Commonwealth Awards are chosen from among those nominated through our public Call-for-Entries process.

The Commonwealth Awards reflect 10,000 Friends’ commitment to improving the quality of life for all Pennsylvania residents. 10,000 Friends’ approach is to build consensus among many diverse constituencies and to take effective action in support of responsible land use and policy reforms that will revitalize cities, boroughs and older suburbs; preserve agricultural and rural lands; and conserve natural, heritage and fiscal resources. Smart and innovative projects can and do serve as catalysts for more sustainable development. By recognizing these efforts through the Commonwealth Awards, we hope to encourage civic leadership at all levels and encourage local developers to make more such projects a reality.