resilient cities in new york state: strategies &...

1

Resilient Cities in New York State: Strategies & Resources

Dazzle Ekblad (with content from Libby Zemaitis) DEC Office of Climate Change May 2017

2

Support for Local Climate Action

One of the few programs where local gov’ts can find:

Free technical support on energy and climate issues

Tools, guides, webinars, case studies, networking with peers

Assistance for each community to define their best strategies for:

Reducing emissions, cutting costs of energy use

Building resiliency in the face of climate change

Transitioning to a green economy

http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/76910.html

3

Full List of CSCs at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/56876.html

Since 2009: • 198 Registered communities • 10 Certified communities • One-third of New Yorkers (6.7 M) • Smallest: V. of Van Etten (537) • Largest: Suffolk County (1.5 M)

Diverse community types Diverse ecosystems

Climate Smart Communities


6 Focusing events: Hurricanes Irene and Sandy devastated waterfront communities

9.5 ft

5

• Used to identify vulnerable assets along coastlines and rivers

• Part of Sandy recovery planning process under the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program

• http://opdgig.dos.ny.gov/#/storyTemplate/10/1/1

NYS Dept. of State Risk Assessment Tool

http://opdgig.dos.ny.gov/%23/storyTemplate/10/1/1


9 Hudson Waterfront Flooding Task Forces: Helping communities adapt to climate risks

Hudson

Catskill

Kingston

Stony Point

Piermont Partners: NY DEC Hudson River Estuary Program, NY Dept. of State,

Scenic Hudson, Consensus Building Institute and others. Hudson River resilience case studies at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/93950.html


11

Climate Smart Resiliency Planning: checklist for identifying gaps at start of planning process

Section 1: Community Plan Checklist Plans, Ordinances, and Codes Yes No Adoption

Year Update

Frequency Notes

Municipal Master Plan X Although though the county haz. mit. plan says yes (table 4-1)

Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan X 2010 5 years Rockland County-level plan

Floodplain Management Plan X See A19- flood damage prevention ordinance

Evacuation Plan X Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

X According to county haz. mit. plan Piermont has an emergency response plan (table 4-1)- may be referring to FD procedures

Continuity of Operations Plan X Disaster Recovery Plan X According to county haz. mit. plan (table 4-1)

Long-term Recovery Plan X Capital Improvements Plan X Updated budget, but no plan. Economic Development Plan/Strategy X

Coastal Plan or Element X 1992 LWRP, currently in the process of being updated

Shoreline Restoration Plan X Open Space Plan X

12

CSRP process covers six key planning areas for climate resiliency: 1 – Community Plan Checklist 2 – Risk & Vulnerability Assessments 3 – Public Outreach and Engagement 4 – Integration of Municipal Plans 5 – Disaster Preparedness & Recovery 6 – Hazard Mitigation Implementation

11

Climate-Adaptive Design (CAD) Studio • Uses design to inspire & supports communities to envision future

possibilities for their waterfront w/ low-cost help from students • Partners: Cornell University Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Cornell

Water Resources Inst. & DEC Hudson River Estuary Program

More info about the CAD Studio at https://wri.cals.cornell.edu/hudson-river-estuary/climate-change-hudson-river-estuary/climate-adaptive-design

https://wri.cals.cornell.edu/hudson-river-estuary/climate-change-hudson-river-estuary/climate-adaptive-design


The semester culminates with an open house where students unveil their designs to community stakeholders.

Climate-Adaptive Design (CAD) Studio

11

• Interactive Mapper & ability to search by region: useful in identifying locally relevant data

• https://www.nyclimatescience.org/

NY Climate Change Science Clearinghouse

https://www.nyclimatescience.org/

24

• State-level strategies:

• Focus on process

• Provide planning support

• Online data & mappers

• Collaborate across silos

• Common interests / opportunities for communities: • Emergency mgmt. & evacuation routes

• Communicating about preparedness for floods & extreme weather

• Long-term plans for at-risk municipal infrastructure

• Zoning & building codes

Lessons from NYS

13

Thank You! • Dazzle Ekblad • Office of Climate Change • NYS Department of

Environmental Conservation • 625 Broadway Albany NY 12233-1030 • [email protected] • 518-402-8448

Info on Climate Smart COmmunities funding programs available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/10981.html Connect with DEC: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.facebook.com/NYSDEC

https://twitter.com/NYSDEC

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

A National Network of State-Local Sustainability

Organizations

Randall Solomon, Director, Sustainable Jersey

Local Government Matters

The kind of change required by sustainability implicates each community, each household, and each individual. Successful solutions to problems at this level of society will need to be rooted in the cultural specificity of the town or region if the people are to be supportive of and involved in such change.

UNESCO (1997) Educating for a Sustainable Future: A Transdisciplinary

Vision for Concerted Action

Activating Local Government Capacity

In order to meet the sustainability imperative, how can we best marshal local forces and scale them up to

achieve significant and timely impact?


• Local government: Key players in sustainability – Opportunities: - Tremendous authority at local level - Ability to act quickly - Ability to tailor solutions to local conditions - Decision making at a human scale (not internet/cable news scale) – Challenges: - Lack of capacity: both for decision making and implementation - Inefficiencies/reinventing the wheel - How to scale solutions rapidly among 10,000 locales - No community is an island: solutions must scale to problems

Municipal Certification and Networks

• National efforts exist to leverage local authority • Certification as a mechanism for advancing change

– STAR, Audubon, CDP, APA Certified Master Plans – Establish best practices, enables expertise to flow top down – Enables comparisons and virtuous competition – Set standards for what is needed locally to achieve national and global imperatives

• Networks support progress – ICLEI, Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Green Cities California – Enable peer to peer learning – Support coordinated action – Engage national resources, drive local agenda on national/state stage

The State Level Matters

• States are right scale for supporting local change: – Define powers and role of local government – Frontline implementers of major environmental, economic and social policy – Significant funders of local government – Major NGOs, public universities, and foundations organize at the State level

• Variability between states: policy environment; and ecological, cultural and economic conditions – limits utility of national approaches

• Right scale for coordinating collective impact – aligning state, regional and local actors to provide resources

• Potential challenge – lack economies of scale, lack national voice

• A new model for supporting and scaling local efforts • First Wave: Twelve collaborative statewide programs:

– Municipal certification/recognition – Set standards, track performance – Provide support:

o Technical assistance, grants, recognition

– Coordinate collective impact among various partners, public, private, state, regional, local national o Coordinate Priorities, Best Practices, and Resources

– Bottom-up meets top-down collaborative governance structure – Cover thousands of participating local governments

National Network of Statewide-Local Sustainability Organizations (N2S2O)

• Formed in 2015 • 12 full members, other observers • Peer to peer learning • Shared resources and collaborative projects • Developing new areas of practice • Educating funders and national policy makers • Building the movement • Working committees:

– 10,000 Resilient Cities – Energy: Developing Data Platform – Equity – National Engagement

Sustainable Jersey Resiliency Program


What is Sustainable Jersey?

Sustainable Jersey coordinates priorities, resources, and policy among public and private, state and local actors to help communities achieve their sustainability goals. Capped by prestigious certification, the program has three components.

Sustainable Jersey:

• Identifies actions to help municipalities and schools become more sustainable

• Provides tools, resources, and guidance to make progress

• Provides access to grants and funding for municipalities and schools

• Program start: February 2009

• 444 (80%) NJ municipalities participating

• 89% of NJ’s population lives in these • communities

• 198 municipalities certified:

o 153 towns at bronze level

o 45 towns at silver level

• Over 6,000 discrete actions implemented and documented

Sustainable Jersey

Assistance to Communities

o Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program provides over 1 million annually to over 100 municipalities and schools

o Grants aligned to Sustainable Jersey from numerous public and private partner organizations such as NJDEP, NJBPU, NJDOH, Gardinier Trust, Dodge Foundation, and New Jersey Resources

o Sustainable Jersey has phone hotline, extensive online resources, and conducts over 40 workshops and trainings annually

o Technical Assistance to implement Sustainable Jersey actions provided by a score of public and private partners including State Agencies, universities, and non-profits

Green Teams

• Mandatory program action • Formally body of local government

established by municipality • Hundreds of Green Teams formed

throughout the State, thousands of Green Team members

• Revolutionary model of community directed leadership for sustainability

• Composed of appointed officials and staff • Take the lead on sustainability and coordinate Sustainable Jersey

Certification activities

A Novel Governance Structure

• Task Forces on 22 different issues composed of 300 volunteer leaders from: • academia • non-profit sector • business community • state, local, federal, and county government

• Task Forces identify best practices, develop new models, coordinate assistance and allocation resources among State Agencies, private foundations, and the corporate sector

• Align standards and guidance with public and private partner organizations to create one-stop shopping

• Task Force Chairs serve on governing body of Sustainable Jersey Certification (Certification Standards Committee)

“To help municipalities strengthen their resiliency to the impacts of climate change.”

• Work directly with SJ Climate Adaptation Task Force • Develop/compile tools and resources • Network and collaborate w/partners • Develop and promote standards through Sustainable

Jersey Actions • Provide technical assistance to municipalities


Resiliency Related SJ Actions

Current Actions: o Climate Adaptation: Flooding Risk o Extreme Temperature Event Plan o Wildfire Protection and Planning o Emergency Communications Planning o Vulnerable Populations Identification and Outreach o Environmental Justice in Planning and Zoning o A score of related Actions

Under Development o Coastal Vulnerability Assessment/Inland Vulnerability Assessment o Managing Hazardous Materials in Flood Zones o Heat Island Mitigation and Planning o Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Water Management o Environmental Resources Inventory that includes future climate impacted

flood zones and wetlands as flood mitigation among others

Technical Assistance and Pilots:

o Coastal vulnerability assessments research and pilots

o Environmental justice (planning) pilots o Emergency preparedness outreach o Heat mitigation islands – identification/reduction o Reducing the risks of toxic hazards in right-to-know

flood risk businesses

Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA)

o Led efforts to develop CVA tool in collaboration with State of NJ and other NGOs

o Facilitated pilot CVA in 12 communities. Partners have used a similar format in 5-6 communities.



Coastal Vulnerability Assessment


o Living shoreline, green

infrastructure, protection of tidal wetlands

o Assisting 20 municipalities o Future Sustainable Jersey

“action”

Promoting ecological solutions to coastal hazards


Environmental Justice in Urban Communities o Providing technical assistance and pilots in select municipalities o Piloting use of EPA’s EJ Screen for planning exercises o Revised Sustainable Jersey actions


Environmental Justice Planning – Township of Irvington

o EJ Screen data - only relevant at macro level o C-FERST (EPA) – useful planning tool


Mitigating Heat Island Effects o Technical assistance to urban communities o Upcoming action, using mapping tools to help identify

heat islands and


Heat Island Mitigation – City of Paterson EnviroAtlas, an EPA mapping tool – but Paterson is the only NJ municipality with data iTree – will include thermal data o/a April 2017??


Reducing Toxic Materials in Small, Flood-Risk Businesses

o Technical assistance to Camden City,

Camden County and Woodbridge Township

o Protocol and training to store toxic materials safely and use less toxic alternatives o Future Sustainable Jersey action


Promoting Emergency Preparedness Outreach

Workshops, webinar and possible assistance in City of Newark

Resilient Cities Going from 100 to 10,000

American Planning Association

National Conference New York City May 6, 2017

Presenters Randy Solomon Sustainable Jersey Dazzle Ekblad New York Climate Smart Communities Brian Ross Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development

Agenda 1. 10,000 cities? The dilemmas of moving from

demonstration projects to new normal 2. Local, State, National. Network of State

initiatives transforming ordinary practice to sustainable practices,

3. Case studies in scaling resilience best practices:

a. Sustainable Jersey b. New York Climate Smart Communities c. Minnesota GreenStep Cities

Agenda 1. 10,000 cities? The dilemmas of

moving from demonstration projects to new normal

2. Local, State, National. Network of State initiatives transforming ordinary practice to sustainable practices,



100 Resilient Cities “Urban Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.” http://www.100resilientcities.org/resilience#/-_/

http://www.100resilientcities.org/about-us#/-_/

100 Resilient Cities

Atlanta, GA Berkeley, CA Boston, MA Boulder, CO Chicago, IL Dallas, TX El Paso, TX Honolulu, HI

Los Angeles, CA Louisville, KY Greater Miami, FL Minneapolis, MN Nashville, TN New Orleans, LA New York, NY Norfolk, VA

Oakland, CA Pittsburgh, PA San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA St. Louis, MO Tulsa, OK Washington, DC

Making Resilient Cities

Minneapolis Minnesota’s community in the 100 Resilient Cities


The Minneapolis dilemma. . . 400,000 people

• In a metro area of 3.3 million . . . • Distributed among 180 communities . . . • With another half million in cities outside the metro area


Atlanta. . .450,000 people

• 5.7 million people in the metropolitan area, • 75% of Georgia’s 10.3 million residents live in urban areas


Boulder. . .120,000 people

• 3.2 million people in the metropolitan area, • 86% of Colorado’s 5.5 million residents live in urban areas


New York City . . . 8.5 million people

• 20 million people in the metropolitan statistical area, • 88% of New York’s 19.7 million residents and 95% of

New Jersey’s 8.9 million residents live in urban areas, https://www.pexels.com/photo/skyline-buildings-new-york-skyscrapers-2324/

Making Resilient Cities The Leadership City problem . . . Taking the lessons learned and best practices proved in the leadership cities and applying them to: • 500 metropolitan areas with more than

50,000 people in the U.S. • Over 19,000 incorporated places.

Source: Bob King/Duluth News Tribune

Source: MPRNews, Courtesy of John Goodge

Most people live in small cities Statewide Population in Urban Areas & 10 Largest Cities

79.97%

41.65%

66.37%

58.00%

40.00%

65.31%

29.92%

55.80%

29.99% 29.01%

17.96%

24.09%

53.58%

20.61%

42.80%

25.23%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

% pop in Urban Areas % pop in 10 largest cities


Resilience is about addressing vulnerabilities, • Vulnerabilities vary by community • Capacity to address vulnerabilities varies by community

Making Resilient Cities 100 Resilient Cities provides a framework for understanding vulnerabilities and an infrastructure for change. • Capacity for change- What is the ability

of small and mid-size cities to apply the process?

• Resiliency staff - Who is the Chief Resiliency Officer for the 187 local governments in the metropolitan area that are not Minneapolis?

• Leadership & strategy

• Health & wellbeing

• Economy & society

• Infrastructure & environment

Developed by Arup and The Rockefeller Foundation http://www.100resilientcities.org/resilience

http://www.100resilientcities.org/resilience


demonstration projects to new normal

2. Local, State, National. Network of State initiatives transforming ordinary practice to sustainable practices



A National Network of State-Local Collaboratives


Local Government Matters

The kind of change required by sustainability implicates each community, each household, and each individual. Successful solutions to problems at this level of society will need to be rooted in the cultural specificity of the town or region if the people are to be supportive of and involved in such change.

UNESCO (1997) Educating for a Sustainable Future: A Transdisciplinary

Vision for Concerted Action


In order to meet the sustainability imperative, how can we best marshal local forces and scale them up to

achieve significant and timely impact?


• Local government: Key players in sustainability – Opportunities: - Tremendous authority at local level - Ability to act quickly - Ability to tailor solutions to local conditions - Decision making at a human scale (not internet/cable news scale) – Challenges: - Lack of capacity: both for decision making and implementation - Inefficiencies/reinventing the wheel - How to scale solutions rapidly among 10,000 locales - No community is an island: solutions must scale to problems

Municipal Certification and Networks

• Certification offers a mechanism for advancing change • STAR, Audubon, ICLEI, CDP, APA Certified Master Plans • Enables expertise to flow top down • Enables comparisons and virtuous competition • Set standards for what is needed locally to achieve national and global

imperatives

The State Level Matters

• States are right scale for advancing local change: – Define powers and role of local government – Frontline implementers of major environmental, economic and social policy – Significant funders of local government – Major NGOs, public universities, and foundations organize at the State level

• Variable policy environment among State, but similar ecological and economic conditions, allow for optimizing solutions

• Right scale for coordinating collective impact – aligning state, regional and local actors to provide resources

• Potential challenge – lack economies of scale, lack national voice

• A new model for supporting and scaling local efforts • First Wave: Twelve collaborative statewide programs:

– Municipal certification/recognition – Set standards, track performance – Provide support:

o Technical assistance, grants, reconition

– Coordinate collective impact among various partners, public, private, state, regional, local national o Coordinate Priorities, Best Practices, and Resources

– Bottom-up meets top-down collaborative governance structure – Cover thousands of participating local governments

National Network of Statewide-Local Sustainability Organizations (N2S2O)

• Formed in 2015 • 12 full members, other observers • Peer to peer learning • Educating funders and national policy makers • Shared resources and collaborative projects • Developing new areas of practice • Building the movement • Working committees:

– 10,000 Resilient Cities – Energy: Developing Data Platform – Equity – National Engagement


demonstration projects to new normal 2. Local, State, National. Network of State

initiatives transforming ordinary practice to sustainable practices



• Program start: February 2009

• 444 (80%) NJ municipalities participating

• 89% of NJ’s population lives in these • communities

• 198 municipalities certified:

o 159 towns at bronze level

o 33 towns at silver level

• Over 7,000 discrete actions implemented and documented

Sustainable Jersey

What is Sustainable Jersey?

Sustainable Jersey coordinates priorities, resources, and policy among public and private, state and local actors to help communities achieve their sustainability goals. Capped by prestigious certification, the program has three components.

•Sustainable Jersey:

• Identifies actions to help municipalities and schools become more sustainable

• Provides tools, resources, and guidance to make progress

• Provides access to grants and funding for municipalities and schools

Assistance to Communities

o Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program provides over 1 million annually to over 100 municipalities and schools

o Grants aligned to Sustainable Jersey from numerous public and private partner organizations such as NJDEP, NJBPU, NJDOH, Gardinier Trust, Dodge Foundation, and New Jersey Resources

o Sustainable Jersey has phone hotline, extensive online resources, and conducts over 40 workshops and trainings annually

o Technical Assistance to implement Sustainable Jersey actions provided by a score of public and private partners including State Agencies, universities, and non-profits

Green Teams

• Mandatory program action • Formally body of local government

established by municipality • Hundreds of Green Teams formed

throughout the State, thousands of Green Team members

• Revolutionary model of community directed leadership for sustainability

• Composed of appointed officials and staff • Take the lead on sustainability and coordinate Sustainable Jersey

Certification activities

A Novel Governance Structure

• Task Forces on 22 different issues composed of 300 volunteer leaders from: • academia • non-profit sector • business community • state, local, federal, and county government

• Task Forces identify best practices, develop new models, coordinate assistance and allocation resources among State Agencies, private foundations, and the corporate sector

• Align standards and guidance with public and private partner organizations to create one-stop shopping

• Task Force Chairs serve on governing body of Sustainable Jersey Certification (Certification Standards Committee)

“To help municipalities strengthen their resiliency to the impacts of climate change.”

• Work directly with SJ Climate Adaptation Task Force • Develop/compile tools and resources • Network and collaborate w/partners • Develop and promote standards through Sustainable

Jersey Actions • Provide technical assistance to municipalities


Resiliency Related SJ Actions

Current Actions: o Climate Adaptation: Flooding Risk o Extreme Temperature Event Plan o Wildfire Protection and Planning o Emergency Communications Planning o Vulnerable Populations Identification and Outreach o Environmental Justice in Planning and Zoning o A score of related Actions

Under Development o Coastal Vulnerability Assessment o Managing Hazardous Materials in Flood Zones o Heat Island Mitigation and Planning o Green Infrastructure and Water Management o Environmental Resources Inventory that includes future climate impacted

flood zones and wetlands as flood mitigation among others

Technical Assistance and Pilots:

o Coastal vulnerability assessments research and pilots

o Environmental justice (planning) pilots o Emergency preparedness outreach o Heat mitigation islands – identification/reduction o Reducing the risks of toxic hazards in right-to-know

flood risk businesses

Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA)

o Led efforts to develop CVA tool in collaboration with State of NJ and other NGOs

o Facilitated pilot CVA in 12 communities. Partners have used a similar format in 5-6 communities.



Coastal Vulnerability Assessment


o Living shoreline, green

infrastructure, protection of tidal wetlands

o Assisting 20 municipalities o Future Sustainable Jersey

“action”

Promoting ecological solutions to coastal hazards


Environmental Justice in Urban Communities o Providing technical assistance and pilots in select municipalities o Piloting use of EPA’s EJ Screen for planning exercises o Revised Sustainable Jersey actions


Environmental Justice Planning – Township of Irvington

o EJ Screen data - only relevant at macro level o C-FERST (EPA) – useful planning tool


Mitigating Heat Island Effects o Technical assistance to urban communities o Upcoming action, using mapping tools to help identify

heat islands and


Heat Island Mitigation – City of Paterson EnviroAtlas, an EPA mapping tool – but Paterson is the only NJ municipality with data iTree – will include thermal data o/a April 2017??


Reducing Toxic Materials in Small, Flood-Risk Businesses

o Technical assistance to Camden City,

Camden County and Woodbridge Township

o Protocol and training to store toxic materials safely and use less toxic alternatives o Future Sustainable Jersey action


Promoting Emergency Preparedness Outreach

Workshops, webinar and possible assistance in City of Newark

Case Studies Sustainable Jersey

49

Resilient Cities in New York State: Strategies & Resources

Dazzle Ekblad (with content from Libby Zemaitis) DEC Office of Climate Change May 2017

50

Support for Local Climate Action

One of the few programs where local gov’ts can find:

Free technical support on energy and climate issues

Tools, guides, webinars, case studies, networking with peers

Assistance for each community to define their best strategies for:

Reducing emissions, cutting costs of energy use

Building resiliency in the face of climate change

Transitioning to a green economy


51

Full List of CSCs at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/56876.html

Since 2009: • 198 Registered communities • 10 Certified communities • One-third of New Yorkers (6.7 M) • Smallest: V. of Van Etten (537) • Largest: Suffolk County (1.5 M)

Diverse community types Diverse ecosystems

Climate Smart Communities


6 Focusing events: Hurricanes Irene and Sandy devastated waterfront communities

9.5 ft

53

• Used to identify vulnerable assets along coastlines and rivers

• Part of Sandy recovery planning process under the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program

• http://opdgig.dos.ny.gov/#/storyTemplate/10/1/1

NYS Dept. of State Risk Assessment Tool



9 Hudson Waterfront Flooding Task Forces: Helping communities adapt to climate risks

Hudson

Catskill

Kingston

Stony Point

Piermont Partners: NY DEC Hudson River Estuary Program, NY Dept. of State,

Scenic Hudson, Consensus Building Institute and others. Hudson River resilience case studies at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/93950.html


11

Climate Smart Resiliency Planning: checklist for identifying gaps at start of planning process

Section 1: Community Plan Checklist Plans, Ordinances, and Codes Yes No Adoption

Year Update

Frequency Notes

Municipal Master Plan X Although though the county haz. mit. plan says yes (table 4-1)

Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan X 2010 5 years Rockland County-level plan

Floodplain Management Plan X See A19- flood damage prevention ordinance

Evacuation Plan X Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

X According to county haz. mit. plan Piermont has an emergency response plan (table 4-1)- may be referring to FD procedures

Continuity of Operations Plan X Disaster Recovery Plan X According to county haz. mit. plan (table 4-1)

Long-term Recovery Plan X Capital Improvements Plan X Updated budget, but no plan. Economic Development Plan/Strategy X

Coastal Plan or Element X 1992 LWRP, currently in the process of being updated

Shoreline Restoration Plan X Open Space Plan X

12

CSRP process covers six key planning areas for climate resiliency: 1 – Community Plan Checklist 2 – Risk & Vulnerability Assessments 3 – Public Outreach and Engagement 4 – Integration of Municipal Plans 5 – Disaster Preparedness & Recovery 6 – Hazard Mitigation Implementation

11

Climate-Adaptive Design (CAD) Studio • Uses design to inspire & supports communities to envision future

possibilities for their waterfront w/ low-cost help from students • Partners: Cornell University Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Cornell

Water Resources Inst. & DEC Hudson River Estuary Program

More info about the CAD Studio at https://wri.cals.cornell.edu/hudson-river-estuary/climate-change-hudson-river-estuary/climate-adaptive-design



The semester culminates with an open house where students unveil their designs to community stakeholders.

Climate-Adaptive Design (CAD) Studio

59

• Interactive Mapper & ability to search by region: useful in identifying locally relevant data

• https://www.nyclimatescience.org/

NY Climate Change Science Clearinghouse

https://www.nyclimatescience.org/

24

• State-level strategies:

• Focus on process

• Provide planning support

• Online data & mappers

• Collaborate across silos

• Common interests / opportunities for communities: • Emergency mgmt. & evacuation routes

• Communicating about preparedness for floods & extreme weather

• Long-term plans for at-risk municipal infrastructure

• Zoning & building codes

Lessons from NYS

61

Thank You! • Dazzle Ekblad • Office of Climate Change • NYS Department of

Environmental Conservation • 625 Broadway Albany NY 12233-1030 • [email protected] • 518-402-8448

Info on Climate Smart COmmunities funding programs available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/10981.html Connect with DEC: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.facebook.com/NYSDEC

https://twitter.com/NYSDEC

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

Creating a New Normal: Implementing Sustainability and Resilience Best Practices at Scale

National APA Conference 2017

Sustainable Communities Transforming the world through community action

1. GreenStep Cities 2. Metro Clean Energy

Resource Team (CERT) 3. Solar Partnerships 4. Sustainability and

Resilience Planning and Technical Assistance

Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development

GreenStep Vision: Environmental sustainability is the norm for all Minnesota Cities. GreenStep Mission: GreenStep Cities encourages and supports cities’ efforts for substantive action and achievement of their sustainability goals through the implementation of best practices.

Theory of Change

• Social norming & Tipping Point Theory – Build on expectations and actions of

peers – League of MN Cities – Assumes participation by 20% of

cities fosters a new norm (vision) – Based on the subset of small to

medium size cities in Minnesota, this is about 70 cities.

– Healthy competition; public website allows tracking of peer actions

www.MnGreenStep.org

GreenStep Has Broad Uptake

• 111 Participants

• Over 40% of MN Population

• Big & Small

• Liberal and Conservative

• Urban and Rural

www.MnGreenStep.org

> 25,000

City Participation

• GSC is a must have brand • Sustainability is on cities’ radar • At scale vis a vis participation and reach • Cities are using GSC to take action on both

policy and projects • Step 4 helps cities to track metrics • Framework for resilience that is attracting

cities

Position GSC Has Achieved Initial Program Goals

Resilience Aspirations

Use all our programmatic tools to translate the GSC success to climate resiliency Learn how by trying to drive specific actions Scale up to create the norm of resilient investment, management and action for all MN cities


Resilience/Sustainability Synergy


Resilience/Sustainability Synergy 29. Climate Adaptation and

Community Resilience

Plan and prepare for extreme weather, adapt to changing climatic conditions, and foster stronger community connectedness and social and economic vitality.

8 Resilience Best Practice Actions Actions

1. Prepare to maintain public health and safety during extreme weather and climate-change-related events, and take a preventive approach to reduce risk for community members.

2. Integrate climate resilience into city or tribal planning, policy, operations, and budgeting.

3. Increase social connectedness through engagement, capacity building, public investment, and opportunities for economically vulnerable residents to improve their prosperity.

4. Encourage private sector action and incentivize investment in preventive approaches that reduce risk and minimize impacts of extreme weather and the changing climate for human health and the built environment.

Actions 5. Protect public buildings and natural/

constructed infrastructure to reduce physical damage and sustain their function during extreme weather events.

6. Reduce the urban heat impacts of public buildings, sites, and infrastructure and provide resiliency co-benefits.

7. Protect water supply and wastewater treatment facilities to reduce physical damage and sustain their function during extreme weather events.

8. Improve local energy resilience by minimizing fuel poverty, installing distributed renewable energy systems, and developing microgrids to improve energy resiliency.


Making Best Practices “Local”

In 2014, the MN Department of Health completed a vulnerability assessment for climate change in Minnesota. This assessment identifies risk to vulnerable populations at the county level. We have supplemented this with city level metrics.

Vulnerable Population Assessment



Austin’s Elderly Population: 17.8% over 65; 10% over 75. Minnesota’s Elderly Population: 13.6% over 65; 6.3% over 75 Households with people 65 and older (%). Source: City-Data.com/city/Austin-Minnesota.html

Residents over 65, particularly those who are low-income, live alone, and/or lack air conditioning, can be particularly vulnerable to different climate events.

Extreme Heat

Poor Air Quality

Power Outages

Flooding



Prolonged heatwaves can be dangerous for anyone, but are especially hazardous for those with medical issues, the elderly, and people with limited or no access to air conditioning. Older adults have the highest rates of heat-related illnesses and deaths. The composite vulnerability score for Mower County included the following variables: income, age, older adults living alone, persons of color, and outdoor workers.

Extreme Heat

Mower County Risk Index: High = 17-19


Vision of our work Collaborating across these programs to move from 100 leadership cities, to 10,000 resilient cities

Resilient Cities Going from 100 to 10,000

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resilient cities in new york state: strategies &...

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