Impact by the Numbers: 2015-16 Service Year
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In the 2015-2016 service year, CivicSpark fellows assisted 96 public entities and helped complete mitigation and adaptation projects focused on sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, solar procurement, urban forestry, sea level rise, implementing climate action plans, GHG inventories and benchmarking. Over the course of their eleven months, the previous CivicSpark cohort provided over 69,000 hours of service to California communities and successfully implemented a wide range climate actions including:
- Outreach to over 3,500 community members through in-person events
- Saving 36 million gallons per year through leak detections
- Organizing 56 community events
- Completing 48 Energy Assessments
- Developing 7 Request for Proposals (RFPs)
- Implementing 5 recycling programs
Thank you to our 2015-16 cohort for making a difference in communities throughout California!
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Climate Action Planning in Chico
Climate fellow Bryce Goldstein is helping the City of Chico achieve its climate action plan goals by designing and implementing a Community Sustainability Challenge. The challenge, a comprehensive outreach campaign to engage and challenge community members to reduce energy and water use, waste, and vehicle miles traveled, will be launched in Spring of 2017. In the meantime, Bryce is using social media to increase awareness of sustainability efforts, planning out the challenge structure, and researching ways to quantify participants' actions. She is also performing outreach, education, and volunteer engagement alongside the Butte Environmental Council, GRID Alternatives, and other nonprofits.
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Greenhouse Gases in SLO
For the next ten months, Climate fellow Ryan Silber will be working in the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (SLO APCD) on a greenhouse gas credit exchange (GHG Rx) protocol and to address climate resiliency. The GHG Rx protocol will quantify GHG reductions from residential retrofit projects focused on improving energy efficiency. By streamlining the quantification of reductions and clearly presenting financial incentives and energy savings, the project aims to provide an influx of credits onto the Rx. Ryan will also review and update the County's climate resiliency plans by analyzing the plans and determining the feasibility of the measures outlined. Past, current, and future resiliency efforts by each of the seven cities in the County will be identified, and recommendations on how each city's individual efforts can be incorporated into the County's broader plan will be provided.
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Storm Water in SLO
Over the past two months with CivicSpark, Water fellow Liya Klingenberg has had the opportunity to work in the City of San Luis Obispo in the world of stormwater - her job begins where rain hits the ground. In collaboration with the Low Impact Development Initiative, she is helping to create and build new rain water retention and infiltration facilities to support National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulated communities. Along with green infrastructure planning, Liya works with the City to help maintain their water quality program, gaining experience in water quality monitoring, outfall verification, assessment of riparian conditions, and compliance with regulations administered by the Water Board.
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Question of the Month: "Why do you believe that climate change and/or water resource management are such important issues to focus on at the local level?"
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Tashi Green, Sierra Nevada Region
A: "I believe that there is the most room for location-specific action at the local level. Rural communities are able to craft solutions unique to their situation, which may look radically different from their urban counterparts. In addition, the feedback loop is smaller with a more conspicuous relationship between programs and their effect. This positively impacts organizational and programmatic efficacy."
Tashi Green is a 2015 graduate of Sierra Nevada College's Sustainability program. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Tashi found herself challenged by her love for the outdoors and the urban systems around her that did not always employ sustainable methods. By joining CivicSpark, she will not only be able work for positive change in her community, but also help develop programs and policy that effectively address current and future climate change through social, environmental, and economically sound practices. She believes the fellowship will advance her professional development as well as provide invaluable practical experience.
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Serena Desai, Central Coast Region
A: "Climate change and water resource management are paramount issues that need addressing at the local level because they have ripple effects that transcend every facet of life. Responding to these issues under good, local management practices establishes human security, which creates healthy niches of humans and their surrounding environments. Imagine arrays of these niches, magnified, and spread into every region of the state, and country; I envision interconnected webs of opportunity, harmony, and prosperity created by such niches. In order to achieve this dream of progressive and sustainable living, the initial steps must be taken at the local level, where tangible differences can occur and act as fuel, carrying the momentum up to the larger levels."
Serena Desai graduated from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo. She received her B.S. in Biological Science and has an STS minor in Science & Risk Communication. This past summer, she helped collect data for CCFRP, an organization that assesses Marine Protected Areas along the Central Coast. Her data analysis project looked at how temperature and larger oceanic processes affect the catch rates of blue rockfish. It is through her love for the ocean and passion to help the environment that she came to CivicSpark. She hopes to help implement changes that help reduce carbon footprint on a local level because she believes every action has a ripple effect.
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Abbey Pizel, Southern California Region
A: "Water resource management is complex and dynamic. We cannot live without water, yet there doesn't seem to be enough to go around. Local communities know their own needs better than anyone else. They understand what drives the community. They have the most at stake. This is why it is so important to focus on water challenges at the local level. Local knowledge is a powerful tool that can be used to accomplish the change we want to see in water management."
Growing up in the San Luis Valley, a large agricultural community in Southern Colorado, Abbey Pizel had the opportunity to experience first hand the importance of water to rural communities. Her family's background in agriculture and conservation prompted her interest and passion for water conservation and policy. She attended Colorado State University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental & Natural Resource Economics with a focus in water policy. As a CivicSpark Fellow, she hopes to gain valuable experience and to work towards solving the challenging water issues facing the Western U.S. and the world.
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Victoria Hernandez, Climate - Bay Area Region
"Can I survive?/I've committed to an opportunity, both challenging and rewarding; time to thrive./All uncertainty aside, this is part of being alive."...
Gabrielle Ostermayer, Water - Central Coast Region
"The day I was offered this fellowship position with the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board was the day before I was set to become homeless. It was a Sunday of all days, September 25th."...
Olivia Hara, 2014-15 CivicSpark Alumna, Sierra Nevada Region
"I missed clean clothes, clean hands, and baths. It was the second week our community was completely without water. The little water we had for cooking and bathing was just a few inches from sparse rains in our Jojo tank."...
Evan Pierce, 2014-15 CivicSpark Alum, Sierra Nevada Region
"The temperature is dropping below freezing as I do my best to get a fire going. I throw a log onto the glowing embers and retreat into the relative warmth of my sleeping bag."...
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The nation's largest smart growth and sustainability event, the theme for the 2017 conference is "Practical Tools and Innovative Strategies for Creating Great Communities". The program will span three full days with post-conference events scheduled for Sunday, February 5. The schedule includes a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, focused training sessions, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and coordinated networking activities. It will also feature exciting tours of local model projects in and around the greater St. Louis region.
Click here to register for the event today! Reserve your room at the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel before January 9th to receive the group rate of $125.
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Submittals Open: November 28, 2016 Submissions Close: January 31, 2017
Proposals should reflect the conference theme of Capitalizing on Our Diversity and include a diversity of opinions and presenters. Sessions must reflect one of the following five core conference tracks:
* Lessons Learned: A Diverse Past
* We're All in This Together: Implementing Diversity
* Tips of the Trade: Diversifying the Tool Kit
* Engage: Planning for Diverse Places and Perspectives
* Embracing and Envisioning Change: A Diverse Future
Click here to submit a proposal before January 31st!
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California mayors, city council members, county supervisors, city managers and other high level department heads will all come together in the middle of the breathtaking beauty of Yosemite National Park at the 26th Annual Yosemite Policymakers Conference in March 2017. This year's conference focus will be on Affording the American Dream.
Registration for the 2017 Conference will open in December. To view recordings from last year's conference, click here.
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SAVE THE DATE!
Community Choice Energy:
It's All About Impact
Friday, May 5, 2017
Long Beach Hyatt Regency
Long Beach, CA
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Join Community Choice Energy (CCE) experts and local government leaders from across the state in Spring 2017 for a day-long event about accelerating Community Choice Aggregation adoption and creating more benefits for our local communities. Registration opens in early February. Visit localenergybiz.com for key updates.
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About CivicSpark
CivicSpark is a statewide Governor's initiative AmeriCorps program implemented by the Local Government Commission in partnership with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Regional hubs host 68 fellows across California, building capacity for local government agencies to address climate change and water resource management. The 2016-17 service year starts on Oct. 9th, 2016 and will go through Sept. 2017.
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