ICSC was founded in 1993 as a non-profit partnership of public organizations, private sector interests and government agencies, in response to urban sustainability concerns identified at the Earth Summit. ICSC engages in projects that support urban sustainability in countries around the world, with past projects conducted in China, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Cuba. Project areas include green building, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, urban greening, water quality, waste management, social conflict, poverty, and sustainable tourism. Most recently, ICSC has engaged in networking and development of position papers on urban sustainability in anticipation of the World Urban Forum scheduled for 2006 in Vancouver.

ISCS has also worked on a number of programs in the Lower Mainland:

• Managing Switch Out BC, a program for the recovery of mercury switches from scrapped automobiles;
  
• Coordinating the Vancouver Sustainable High Rise project, which identified parameters and objectives for construction of a residential high rise using green building principles;
  
• Providing initial support for the development of a community centre for aboriginal mothers with young children in East Vancouver;
  
• Identifying and evaluating options for demand side management of liquid and solid waste for the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and
  
• Assisting with development of a Regional Growth Strategy for the Fraser Valley Regional District, with a focus on sustainable transportation planning and full cost accounting.