Community Climate Planning and Action Toolbox

Certification Maintenance

Course Details

This course will showcase local climate planning processes and overview tools and strategies for communities to advance climate mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. Presenters will share success stories of effective climate solutions from across the country, highlighting work that centers on equity and climate justice.

The course will outline several approaches to local climate action. The primary researcher for Minnesota's Regional Indicators Initiative will share findings from over a decade of greenhouse gas emissions data for dozens of Minnesota cities — both modeling an approach for understanding existing conditions and identifying high-impact mitigation strategies with immediate scalability across the country.

The clean energy manager for a global climate non-profit will delve into the varied regulatory frameworks that impact local action, including land use conflicts and community impacts, discussion on community designation as disadvantaged, and implications of strategies on energy and climate justice.

Additionally, the host of the podcast City Climate Corner will share stories of leading communities that are applying these tools in practice and innovating the local planning space.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand how tracking community-wide key performance indicators helps a community define a baseline for greenhouse gas emissions, estimate a business-as-usual trajectory, and chart a pathway to meeting science-based targets.
• Understand the breadth of climate actions and strategies available to communities within their spheres of influence, considerate of external influences like regulatory context and jurisdictional authority.
• Describe through examples, case studies for effective, inclusive, and equitable climate action planning and implementation at the city, county, or regional scale.