The Ferguson Group Blog

Is Your City as Resilient as You Think?

If your city is preparing now to withstand any number of potential natural and manmade catastrophes in the future, then it’s time to think about competing in the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge.  This competition is open to municipal governments with a population of over 50,000 people and will provide technical support and resources for developing and implementing urban resilience plans. 

The Rockefeller Foundation's partners will choose 100 cities to work with on establishing a suite of financial and technical assistance support to develop and implement the resilience plan. Each selected community is expected to be an integrated member of the 100 Resilient Cities Network and create or expand the role of a Chief Resilience Officer within the municipal government.

 

Registration is required by Sept. 23, 2013 in order to receive the application.

  

For more information, visit the Centennial Challenge webpage.

 

Climate Leaders, Take Some Credit!

The  September 13, 2013 deadline for the EPA’s 2013 Climate Leadership Awards gives you plenty of lead time to pull together a solid application and make sure that your organization and organizational leadership get some recognition for your good work. Last year’s awardees included several municipalities and public agencies -_  Boulder County, Colorado;the City of Austin, Texas; and the Port of San Diego.

Particularly notable was the award received by the Sonoma County Water Agency  (SCWA) which is a member of the North Bay water Reuse Authority, a TFG client. The EPA recognized SCWA for “leading a county-wide local government electric vehicle effort; initiating Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program financing for clean energy projects; and  developing a Community Choice Aggregation program as a means to facilitate distribution and development of renewable energy county-wide.”  Nationally, SCWA also  initiated, helped establish, and supports Applied Solutions—a non-profit network of counties and cities that identify and share innovative clean energy projects, programs, and financial mechanisms.

To learn more about the application process, eligibility, and evaluation criteria for the 2014 award categories, please go to EPA’s Climate Leadership Awards webpage.

Calling Local Climate Preparedness Leaders: The White House Wants YOU!

Last month, when the President released his “Climate Action Plan,” he did so with a good deal of recognition for the local impact of climate change and the potential for local influence in policy development and implementation. His announcement included the creation a local government task force will help the government identify challenges and opportunities related to federal efforts to address climate impacts.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality let us know that they welcome suggestions on currently sitting State, Local, or Tribal elected officials who bring experience in building climate preparedness and resilience in their communities, and a strong commitment to strengthening the Nation in the face of climate change. Local officials should send recommendations – including title, organization, contact information and reason for nominating – to [email protected] by July 26, 2013. The White House will formally announce Task Force members once appointments are made.

And If you’re following this issue, you may be interested coverage of one of the most significant impacts of climate change on coastal communities, rising sea levels, which was captured in a Washington Post article this week entitled “Vulnerable Maryland Weighs Threat of Sea-Level Rise. ” 

Interested in Federal Assistance for Sustainable Development Planning?

Tomorrow, Climate Communities will host a webinar on HUD’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants. The webinar will feature HUD representatives who will describe the grant opportunity and be available to answer questions. Click here to register.

As a reminder HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants can be used to support the preparation of regional plans for sustainable development and to support efforts to modify existing regional plans so that they are in accordance with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ six Livability Principles.  Funds also may be used to prepare more detailed execution plans for an adopted regional plan for sustainable development and limited predevelopment planning activities for catalytic projects.