MARQUETTE — The Michigan Green Communities program has recognized 48 counties, cities, townships and villages that took part in the annual MGC Challenge for their environmental leadership.

The city of Marquette received a gold certification, while Marquette County received a bronze certification, the Michigan Municipal League said in a news release.

These communities logged the actions they took through 2022 related to energy efficiency, climate adaptation and resilience, recycling, environmental justice and more. Nine communities received bronze certification, 14 received silver certification and 25 received gold certification.

The Michigan Green Communities program is open to all local governments in Michigan at no cost. MGC is a sustainability networking, benchmarking and technical assistance program. It guides and supports municipalities and counties in adapting to a changing climate, protecting infrastructure, improving the quality of life for residents, and creating a more environmentally and economically sustainable future for the state of Michigan.

In January, the MGC program, funded by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, launched the Accelerator Cohort, a free networking and technical assistance program for bronze- and silver-certified MGC communities. This cohort helps municipalities and counties accelerate their progress in embedding environmental sustainability in their operations, practices and policies and move toward Gold-level MGC Challenge certification.