Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Office encourages residents to participate in regional climate action plan as it re-evaluates local process due to COVID-19

The Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Office planned to publicly launch the “Lawrence and Douglas County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan” this month with a highly-engaged community input process. However, those plans have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health orders.

The Sustainability Office is currently re-evaluating its process because meaningful public engagement is a guiding value for the “Lawrence and Douglas County Climate Action and Adaption Plan.” Sustainability Director Jasmin Moore said, “We are working to reimagine outreach, guided by principles of equity and creativity, on a slightly revised schedule in the coming months.”

In the meantime, Lawrence and Douglas County residents and stakeholders are encouraged to participate in a six-week online community dialogue at https://climateactionkc.mindmixer.com as part of a regional planning effort called Climate Action KC Plan. The online conversation, May 4-June 15, features different topics each week such as transportation, food and built environment.

The Kansas City greater metropolitan area, which includes nine counties, is developing the Climate Action KC Plan. The Climate Action KC Plan process is similar to previous climate planning efforts in Lawrence and they are looking to our plans as examples. “Because of our climate leadership, we were invited to collaborate with the KC area effort. We are glad to be a part of this larger collective effort which will demonstrate that the Midwest can be a national leader on climate change,” Moore said.

The Climate Action KC Plan will provide high-level regional guidance for climate action, which will be used as a reference to develop the “Lawrence and Douglas County Climate Action and Adaption Plan.” The local plan will be tailored to our community’s values, account for our assets and vulnerabilities, and include specific short-term and longer-term action items and strategies.

“We recognize that the conditions that allow the COVID-19 pandemic to be as harmful and terrifying as it is are the same conditions that allow for ecological collapse and climate change. The people who are most vulnerable in these times are the same people who get hit first and worst by the impacts of climate change,” Moore said.