Co-authors
Giulianna Di Lauro, Alexes Holguin Juarez, Cliff Majersik, Jessica Miller, Precious Rideout, The Institute for Market Transformation
Rosa González, Facilitating Power
Abstract
Government policy is traditionally created and implemented through a top-down process, with community members only informed after critical decisions have been made. Often, this results in policies that either hurt or exclude communities on the frontlines of climate change. To alter this dynamic, several nonprofit and government partners developed an intervention process to shift power for building decarbonization policymaking to these frontline communities. ‘
This paper explores how we utilized the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership (CE2O) tool to foster equitable building decarbonization policy and program planning in nine U.S. cities and states. We detail how the project encouraged gradual change from community input on preconceived plans to a more movement-building approach where communities help guide the planning process from the beginning and create solutions informed by lived experience. This included early introduction of the CE2O framework to establish baseline engagement scores, integration of community priorities directly into the policy planning process, and subsequent assessments and workshops reassessing progress on the CE2O framework. By integrating the CE2O tool throughout the project, we created opportunities for community-based organizations and local governments to reflect on their practices and move beyond consultation toward deeper collaboration and shared decision making in decarbonization efforts. Government and community-based partners worked together to identify building decarbonization priorities and scope technical assistance to inform next steps. Using case studies from California and Chicago, this paper summarizes successes, challenges, and how community involvement affected policy and program goals.
