Community Engagement for Climate Action

The Mayor’s Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO) Ad Hoc Work Group

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy called for the creation of the Mayor’s Climate Recovery Ordinance Ad Hoc Work Group during her last year in office and incoming Mayor Lucy Vinis advanced the Work Group in 2017. The Work Group brought together a diverse set of stakeholders, including youth voices, businesses, non-profits, and public sector leaders. 

Mayor's CRO Ad Hoc Work Group, 2018

This group set a vision for the CAP2.0 to be the roadmap of actions the community will take to help Eugene reach the community climate goals in the CRO. Several work group members were veterans of previous city-wide policy efforts and directed the project team to not create something new, but focus on developing an integrated approach that built on existing policies and plans, drawing connections between climate with topics like housing, transportation, equity and resiliency.

Mayor's CRO Ad Hoc Work Group, 2020

 In February 2020, the City reconvened the Mayor’s CRO Ad Hoc Work Group to provide input on additional action ideas generated from the community for the CAP 2.0 and provide recommendations on broad community engagement. The Work Group evaluated over 300 community-submitted ideas for new actions which are summarized in Chapter 10 of the CAP 2.0. 

2019 CAP 2.0 Equity Panel

National research and local experience have shown that the impacts of climate change tend to disproportionately impact marginalized communities, such as communities of color, the elderly, low-income communities and people experiencing disabilities. To help address this disparity within Eugene, the City convened the Equity Panel to elevate the concerns of marginalized communities and develop an equity lens for Eugene's Climate Action Plan 2.0.

Participants

• Sapsik’ʷałá
• Huerto de la Familia
• Eugene Springfield NAACP
• Lane Independent Living Alliance
• FOOD for Lane County
• National Alliance on Mental Illness Lane County

Six local organizations participated in the City of Eugene’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.0 Equity Panel. The panel’s goal was to capture and elevate the concerns of marginalized communities as they relate to the CAP 2.0, and it met 10 times between February and June 2019. Each organization on the panel received a $3,000 grant to support their work on the project.

Tasks of the Equity Panel 

1. Revise the Climate Action Plan’s Project Equity Lens, which is a tool to help elevate opportunities and concerns around equity issues throughout the project.
2. Identify general opportunities and challenges for marginalized communities as it relates to climate change in six different topic areas.
3. Provide specific feedback on actions included in the CAP 2.0 as applicable.  

Recommendations and Case Study

The Equity Panel's recommendations are included in chapters 4-6 of the CAP 2.0. Their full recommendation can be found in Appendix 4. 

An Equity Panel Case Study was written to summarize recruitment, meeting topics, and lessons learned.

For the video of the Equity Panel Work Session Presentation to City Council on June 17, 2019 click here. 

2021 Equity Panel

Once the Climate Action Plan 2.0 was complete, the City stood up a new equity panel to  ensure that new sustainability-focused projects in areas including transportation, climate action, and housing are sensitive to the needs of marginalized communities. Eight local organizations participated in the City of Eugene’s Sustainability Equity Panel. The panel met twice a month from June 2021 to May 2022.

Participants

• Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC)
• Community Outreach through Radical Empowerment (CORE)
• Eugene – Springfield NAACP
• Lane Independent Living Alliance (LILA)
• Lane East Asian Network (LEAN)
• UO Sapsik'ʷałá (Teacher) Education Program
• St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County
• The Arc of Lane County

Recommendations

The recommendations and overview of the 2021 Equity Panel can be found here. 

Public Meetings

Beyond the collaboratives, work groups and equity panels, more than 140 people provided their thoughts on the CAP 2.0 document through the following processes. 

Public Open Houses

The City held three open houses in partnership with community events:

• Planning Fair at the Eugene Library
• Washington Park Community Center
• Sheldon High School Multicultural Room

Focus Groups

The City held 6 focus groups to seek recommendations and input from stakeholder groups:

• Students and youth (under 25 years old)
• Business owners and operators
• Environmental justice advocates
• Environmental expertise groups
• Sustainability Commission
• Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce

Community Survey

The survey was intended to provide an opportunity for the public to feedback to staff and council.

Outcomes

This portion of the community engagement process is summarized here and resulted in 12 Additional Strategies included in Appendix 7 of the CAP 2.0, with the recognition that they each require additional research, policy decisions or funding as next steps.