Community Consultants joined City staff on an interdisciplinary working group that was formed to work towards the vision of all Fort Collins community members having a healthy, energy efficient and resilient home environment.

The group aimed to do this through updating the Healthy Homes, indoor air quality, program based on community feedback. The Community Consultants were integral in the development of a program that upholds the community values of accessibility, practicality and trust. 

Quotes: 

• Chris: "A lo largo de las semanas que trabaje en el proyecto de EJEPA de Healthy Homes me sentí parte de un grupo muy completo de personas profesionales y sobre todo dispuestos a escuchar no solo las necesidades de las comunidades de Fort Collins sino en específico las necesidades de la comunidad hispana a la que represento, participar cada sesión y cada reunión de zoom fue enriquecedor por amabas partes, cada tarea cada trabajo a realizar me entusiasmaba, por el simple echo de saber que el proyecto estaba avanzando tal cual los grupos de enfoque y peticiones recomendaron, esto me llena de orgullo por haber participado todas estas semanas en un proyecto que nos escuchan  a nosotros los hispanos!!"
• Indigo: "The most valuable part of my work on the EJEPA project was having a seat at the table— to participate in how the program was designed to fit actual community needs and wants. The team that I worked with regarded myself and the other community representative as real collaborators, listening to and incorporating our perspectives and feedback."

In the past, climate work has been represented using a single, quantitative metric of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but with the OCF systems-approach of centering equity and climate resilience in addition to mitigation (reduction of GHGs), assessment and reporting must transform into increased understanding of the day-to-day experiences, perspectives and needs of our community, paired with cycles of communication and improvements. A group of City staff and community volunteers began gathering in 2022 to tackle this work and are continuing to meet in 2023.  

Quotes: 

• Jim: "I have worked with many municipal and citizen action groups who have initiated programs to address improving the environment and community resiliency due to the climate emergency.  Traditionally, these efforts evaluate success by using metrics and measurements that fail to fully consider the financial and social impacts to the most vulnerable and marginalized in the community. It is exciting to be working with a team of citizen volunteers and municipal employees who have decided to prioritize the use of equity, inclusion and sustainability over those measurements generally used like pounds of CO2 or tons of waste reduced. Our work intends to meet climate goals while improving the lives of all our community members."
• Bruno: "I have enjoyed building relationships with diverse people coming from variety backgrounds in this group, sharing the attention to and intention of comprehending the why of equity and the how to achieve an ongoing understanding of the journey of equity through forms of assessment. I am excited about the future of this work, especially when it supports increasing democratic processes and participation in Our Climate Future."

The OCF framework supports achieving community and Council environmental priorities using a data-informed, systems-based approach. This is especially true for carbon mitigation strategies. OCF uses a robust modeling tool to organize and track strategies and outcomes with connections to important decision points and milestones for Council or community actions along the way. 

The Next Moves articulated below support reaching the following goals with quantifiable outcomes:  

• Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 50% by 2026, 80% by 2030 and (below 2005 baseline levels) and carbon neutral by 2050 
• Provide 100% renewable electricity by 2030 with grid and local sources 

Pathways are groups of Next Moves with results that drive towards a specific outcome. Current Pathways are summarized for electricity, buildings, transportation, industrial manufacturing, waste and land use. They are high-impact strategies that include, though are not limited to, Council actions. The current total estimated potential from all the quantified Pathways is a 70% GHG emissions reduction by 2030. See Figure 1. The gap between this projection and the 80% by 2030 target will primarily need to be addressed by additional community/partner action and will also be influenced by external factors. 

To prepare the community for the paper bag fees at grocery stores in 2022, the project team partnered with the Community Connectors to distribute three free reusable bags to 300 households and share the bag ban/fee community handouts. The Community Connectors were essential in bridging the gap for the City to reach Spanish-speaking community members. In addition, their work was part of the City's efforts to distribute over 10,000 free reusable bags to support the transition for community members to reusable. 

Quote:  

• The Group: “As Community Connectors and members of the Hispanic community, working on this sustainable project was an enriching experience. There was a great acceptance when receiving the information that was provided about the changes on the new dynamics in the use of sustainable bags. It is important to highlight the empowerment that was achieved because we, as residents of their community, sent the information and reusable bags to their homes.” 
• The Group: “Como Community Connectors y miembros de la comunidad hispana, trabajar en este proyecto sustentable fue una experiencia enriquecedora. Hubo una gran aceptación al recibir la información que se les proporcionó acerca de los cambios sobre la nueva dinámica en el uso de las bolsas sustentables. Es importante resaltar el empoderamiento que se logró debido a que nosotros cómo vecinos de su comunidad  les hicimos llegar  hasta sus hogares la información y las bolsas reusable.”