Community Climate Resilience Menu
Introduction
The Community Climate Resilience Menu (CCRM) is an integrated tool to assist communities to become more resilient to the impacts and shocks from major weather changes that disrupt communities. We created the CCRM to provide a flexible approach for community decision-makers to select strategies for each community’s unique environment, culture, and economy.
The goal of the menu is to help communities identify critical elements that will increase their ability to mitigate the effects of extreme weather and adapt to changes cost-effectively and sustainably. Communities will need to do the work to identify their own strategies and projects and to assess local capacity and fiscal resources to become resilient to this challenge.
Equity & Environmental Justice
People are not equally impacted by the effects of the changing climate. Understanding societal inequities and ways to identify and address them will lead to greater resilience for the community as a whole. Inequities can be associated with poverty, age, race, gender, health, education, disabilities, and social status. For example, some households and businesses are located in settings that are more vulnerable to flooding, heat exposure, or pollutants. Some are not able to moderate their living space to reduce impacts from extreme temperatures, cool their homes with air conditioning and fans, or repair buildings that harbor mold following a flood. It is important to consider how different cultures are connected to different communities and species of animals and plants in decision-making processes. Learning about the breadth of views and perspectives associated with species or locations will enrich the entire community.
Identifying equitable policies and programs that are suitable to a community begins with garnering many perspectives among a diverse group of people who are gathered together for discussions about the problems and potential solutions. Because equity is such a critically important topic, the authors of this menu suggest considering equity and environmental justice with each item on this menu.
Who Should Use the Menu?
These tools are designed for use by local communities. The primary audience is local government staff, locally elected or appointed officials and the secondary audience includes interested residents, local groups, business councils, and schools.
Menu Format
We have developed menus for three themes: Agriculture & Local Food Systems, Built & Natural Environment, and Energy Efficiency & Renewables. Each menu is further divided into sub-sections. For example, the Agriculture & Local Food Systems theme is divided into climate-and-farm friendly food systems, food waste management, and on-farm energy subsections. Within each theme’s section and subsections is a series of topics. Each Menu has a definition or explanation and a series of strategies organized in a menu format (i.e., Equity & Environmental Justice, Education & Information, Low-Cost Strategies, Significant Resource Deployment, Celebrating Successes, and Grants & Funding) where links and resources (e.g., additional information, examples, case studies, best practices) are provided. Where appropriate, topics are cross-referenced between themes.
Equity & Environmental Justice
Equity & Environmental Justice – Equity and justice should be included with each part of the menu. As you explore each menu, consider the most vulnerable populations within your community. Be sure to include and prioritize these groups as you develop and plan your efforts.
Education & Information
Education & Information – provides education and information ideas and resources. These are intended to be some of the first steps a community can take to address certain subsections.
Low-Cost Strategies
Low-Cost Strategies – are focused on strategies and accompanying resources that usually will not require intensive staff capacity, fiscal resources, and may be done through staff decisions.
Significant Resource Deployment
Significant Resource Deployment – are strategies that may require more staff capacity, increased fiscal resources, or larger, possibly cohesive decisions.
Celebrating Successes
Celebrating Successes – are actions for communities to celebrate and keep momentum going. They will help address positive outcomes of previous strategies taken and inspire further action.
Grants & Funding
Grants & Funding – help communities support actions through financial means such as grants and other resources.
Explore Our Menus
The Community Resilience Menu is divided into three menus – (1) Agriculture & Local Food Systems, (2) Built & Natural Environment, and (3) Energy Efficiency & Renewables. Each menu follows a similar format with important definitions and detailed explanations and a series of strategies communities can pursue to become more resilient.
