The Local Government Commission (LGC) has just released its 2021 Impact Report! This report highlights some of the work that LGC did throughout 2021 to support local leaders committed to thriving, climate-resilient communities. View the report here.

The 2021 Impact Report for the Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative was published last month! This report includes updates from many of our members, as well as a recap of CRCRC events from 2021. If you have not already done so, you can view the CRCRC Impact Report and other CRCRC resources here. 

As a member of The Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative, all staff and affiliates of your organization are available to participate in, and benefit from, joining a working group!

CRCRC operates both Extreme Heat and Building Electrification working groups. These sessions provide an opportunity to coordinate and collaborate with members of other organizations on upcoming projects and opportunities surrounding the topics of Extreme Heat and Building Electrification. More information on these groups is available here.

If you are interested in joining or leading a working group please complete this interest form.

Does your organization have updates you would like to have promoted through this newsletter? Utilize this form to submit any updates, upcoming projects, or opportunities for collaboration that you would like to share with the CRCRC network!

The CivicSpark and Climate Action Corps Partner Application is Now Open!

CivicSpark and the California Climate Action Corps are national service programs implemented by the Local Government Commission, dedicated to supporting organizations and local public agencies to address community resilience issues. Together, they have recruited over 400 Fellows directly supporting local governments and organizations with over 600 community and climate resilience projects all across California while serving as a career accelerator for emerging leaders.

If you are interested in hosting a CivicSpark fellow to support your organization's climate resilience needs, submit the application found here by 3/31/2022.

EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards (OAQPS) is announcing the availability of funds and soliciting applications from eligible entities to conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with environmental and health outcome disparities stemming from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. EPA will award funds to support community and local efforts to monitor their own air quality and to promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and tribal, state, and local governments. The deadline to apply for this opportunity is 2/25/2022. Find more information on this opportunity here.

For more funding and grant opportunities please visit fundingresource.org/

Experts from the field will share how Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are helping economically disadvantaged communities build their resilience. Learn how CDFI's are creating equitable access to prosperity and financing community resilience. To help guide the discussion, participants will be encouraged tot ask questions and talk about their funding and financing challenges. Register here.

Join the Maryland Department of Planning and Smart Growth Network at 10 a.m. PST, Thursday, February 3, as planners from the Michigan Department of Transportation and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments share a set of tools – one GIS tool for the network analysis and another for analyzing the multimodal performance of individual streets – they have built to evolve the state of the practice for complete streets planning and design. Register here.

Understanding risk is a key component for initiatives focused on helping communities prepare for and respond to weather and climate hazards. This interactive webinar introduces participants to seven best practices, numerous techniques, and examples for communicating about coastal hazards. Whether beginning a new effort or trying to keep people motivated to better prepare for future hazards, applying risk communication principles will lead to more effective results. Please note that this training focuses on improving risk communication skills for coastal hazards planning and preparedness, not crisis communication. Register here.

Climate change and associated extreme disaster events threaten agricultural productivity, food stability, and rural community resilience around the world. This workshop builds upon the 2020 Fall Webinar Series and brings together diverse perspectives -- from climate scientists and social scientists to crop biologists and ecologists -- to address the multi-dimensional challenges and opportunities associated with developing climate adaptive and resilient food systems in California, the US, and beyond. Register here.

With most of the state gripped by extreme dryness, some conditions are better, some worse, than the last record-breaking drought. Over-pumping of wells hasn’t stopped. But urban residents haven’t lapsed back into water-wasting lifestyles. Read the full article here.

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced the award of over $14 million in grant funding for projects in the greater Sacramento area that advance drought and climate resiliency. Read more here.

The California Natural Resources Agency and Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, together with state agency partners, has released a draft Extreme Heat Action Plan to protect communities around the state. This action plan outlines a strategic and comprehensive set of state actions to adapt and build resilience to extreme heat. Read more here.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently allocated $22.5 billion to addressing the current climate crisis, in his $286.4 billion budget proposal that was released earlier this month. Newsom’s proposal, called the California Blueprint, contains an abundance of funding for zero-emission short-haul trucks and transit buses, projects focused on advancing high-speed rail systems, and efforts related to transportation in California, and much more. Read more on the California Blueprint here.

This fact sheet details the measures that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken over the past year to increase access to, and lower the cost of, clean energy in the United States. In this fact sheet you will find information on plans to continue implementing measures laid forth by the Build Back Better Act as well as priorities of the Administration moving into 2022. Read the full fact sheet here.

Sacramento area students and residents, ages 14 to 24, with a passion for art and fighting climate change are invited by city officials to participate in the Carbon Zero Art Contest. Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s office, the Office of Climate Action and Sustainability and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District are sponsoring the contest. Submissions will be accepted until February 24. Read more about this opportunity here.

The Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative is a membership based collaborative network designed to promote greater climate change resilience planning coordination in the six-county Sacramento Region. The purpose of this collaborative network is to create a forum where leaders from government, academia, environmental and community groups, the business community, and labor can come together to exchange information, identify vulnerabilities and data gaps, leverage resources, and advance comprehensive solutions in an effort to create stronger, sustainable, and economically viable communities in the Capital Region.

CRC is a program of the Local Government Commission.