Local governments leading the climate charge in New England

Climate Change – a heavy ladenterm that greets us in news reports, magazines, conversations with our friends,and, most recently, in our daily planning activities. The complexity of thisterm, including the uncertainty surrounding forecasted climate impacts, makesit challenging for planners to know how to effectively integrate climate considerationsinto planning activities. The good news is that hundreds of local governmentsaround the world are proving that tackling climate change is not the cumbersometask originally thought, especially with the help of organizations like ICLEI –Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) (www.icleiusa.org). 

ICLEI is an internationalmembership association of local governments that are committed to sustainabledevelopment and climate protection. Over 1,000 local governments around theworld and more than 470 in the U.S. (60+ of which are in NewEngland) are members of ICLEI (July 2008). Membership in ICLEI is open to alllocal governments, regardless of size or political structure.

In Southern New England, ICLEImembers include 34 municipalities – ranging in size from larger urban areaslike Boston, MA and Providence, RI to smaller communities like Devens, MA and Kingston,MA. While 34 may seem like a small number, these municipalities represent over 25.5%of the population in Massachusetts and over 16.5% of the population in RhodeIsland, and are almost all are major hubs of economic activity.

Butwhat does it mean to be an ICLEI member?

By joining ICLEI, localgovernments acknowledge that climate change is a serious problem and thatsolutions to combating climate change are tangible, important, and can improve theeconomic, social, and environmental vitality of their city, county, or town. Localgovernments that join ICLEI make a commitment to themselves and to the networkto advance climate protection.

Benefitsof ICLEI membership

As part of membership in ICLEI,local governments receive an array of membership benefits to aid them in theirclimate protection efforts, including:

Þ  Access to national and international network of peers;

Þ  A framework for approaching climate protection – bothmitigation and adaptation;

Þ  Greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissionsanalysis software and training on use of software;

Þ  Detailed protocol outlining how to conduct an inventoryand training on how to follow the protocol;

Þ  Regular technical assistance;

Þ  Tools to assist with action planning, including arecently developed decision-support tool;

Þ  Best practice climate protection examples;

Þ  Publications including: sample ordinances, draft policylanguage, ‘how-to’ guides, green fleets and urban forest toolkits; and templateaction plan reports;

Þ  Climate adaptation guidebook;

Þ  Invitation to ICLEI trainings and events (includingregional, national, and international Workshops), and members-only webinars andconference calls;

Þ  Communications assistance from ICLEI’s media team;

Þ  Performance-based campaigns and initiatives – includingrecognition and awards;

Þ  Massachusetts Cities for Climate Protection Network – astate-wide effort to bring municipalities in Massachusetts together to discussissues surrounding climate protection and sustainable development.

SouthernNew England ICLEI members

As part of their commitment toclimate protection, ICLEI members in Southern New England are leading theclimate charge by embracing an array of climate protection activities,including clean energy installation and purchases, green fleets programs, mixed-usedevelopment, community education campaigns, recycling and composting, LEDtraffic and streetlights, transit-oriented development, and much more. In fact,communities such as Hull, MA; Cambridge, MA; and Providence, RI have received nationalrecognition for their efforts to reduce emissions.  

“The City of Cambridge has madeclimate change a priority issue that needs to be addressed through mitigationand adaptation efforts. Through our membership with ICLEI we have receivedsignificant support in the form of tools and resources necessary for usto address these issues.  The community of local governments createdby ICLEI is an important force in pulling and pushing us along,” says JohnBolduc, Environmental Planner for the Cambridge.

Collaborationwith American Planning Association Chapters

Through partnerships on projects,presentations, and most recently, commenting on the Climate Change Policyrecently adopted at the National APA conference in Las Vegas, ICLEI has beenworking closely with many APA chapters around the country to integrate climateprotection into planning activities.

ICLEIand Your Community

Through membership in ICLEI,local governments are finding new and innovative ways to reduce their energyconsumption, save money, and develop in a more sustainable and just way. As aplanner concerned about climate change and sustainable development, ICLEI has anumber of resources to help you integrate these concerns into your daily activities.Stay tuned to future issues of the MA/RI APA newsletter to learn more about thebenefits of ICLEI membership and what your colleagues are doing to combatclimate change.

For more information about ICLEI,please visit www.icleiusa.org or email membership-usa@iclei.org. 

In between the students and the upper-management professionals, there’s a cross-section of APA members who are relatively new to full-time planning work. They are the leaders of tomorrow, and they are often from different generations than the leaders of today.  In the summer of 2007, APA President Bob Hunter commissioned a geographically diverse task force of 15 planners in their 20s and early 30s to serve as the Young Planners Group.  The YPG is an advisory group to the APA Board with an eye and an ear toward issues of importance to young planners.  After several conference calls, we developed a report to APA’s Board of Directors that identifies needs, strategies, and other things vital to the future of APA and the next generation of leaders.  We also hosted a session at the 2008 national conference in Las Vegas to present the findings of the report.  The discussion following the presentation was lively, insightful, and inspiring. 

Part of our charge is to identify ways to get young planners more involved in the profession both in leadership roles and among our local chapters and sections.  There are many ways young planners can become more involved in their profession.  Contact your chapter president and let them know you would be interested in organizing lunch ‘n learns, helping at the state conference, updating the website, or serving on a committee.  The YPGs also see a greater role for networking within our generation to discuss issues important to us such as career development, moving into management positions, and balancing careers and families. 

We want to hear from you!  If you are interested in helping to shape the future of the planning profession, if you want to be more involved, or if you want to be a part of a support group for young professionals like you, let us know.  Some of our goals for the upcoming year include organizing a mentoring program, forming local and regional groups of young planners, and finding ways to be more active in national APA programming and policy decisions.  (insert name) is on the YPG and is a fellow member of the (insert state/Region) Chapter.  Feel free to contact me (plannermegan@hotmail.com), or your Chapter President and let us know if you are interested in becoming more involved.  We can’t wait to hear from you.  

REMINDER!!  AICP members who attended the Southern New England American Planning Association Conference in Providence, Rhode Island on Thursday, September 4th and Friday, September 5th may now log in your SNEAPA Certification Maintenance credits at:                  http://www.planning.org/cm/loggingcredits.htm All sessions, mobile tours over an hour, and luncheon presentations have been approved for CM credit.  Both the law and ethics sessions meet CM requirements.  Speakers will also be entitled to 1.0 CM credits for course preparation ( retain paper verification and log in when the new web site is up in mid-November).  Although there is a discrepancy between the schedule on the web site and actual session times at the conference, this does not affect your ability to log in your credit, even for the sessions that appear to be held concurrently.  

Wentworth to Host Symposium on Latin American Cities & Design

In 2004, Medellín, Colombia’s Mayor, Dr. Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, began building a series of stunningly well-designed libraries, schools, parks, a museum, transport infrastructure and public spaces. By the summer of 2007 when the New York Times profiled his efforts, the murder rate in Fajardo’s city, infamously home to the Medellín Drug Cartel, had dropped 92 percent from its peak in 1991 to become one of the most livable cities in Latin America and an attractive tourist destination.

But Medellín and Fajardo’s success is not just another example of what has been dubbed the “Bilbao effect,” after Frank Gehry’s iconic Guggenheim Museum transformed the little known industrial town in Spain into a global destination. Unlike Gehry’s dramatically upscale museum and the projects in dozens, perhaps hundreds, of cities attempting to replicate its effects, the target audience for Dr. Fajardo’s projects were the poorest residents mostly living on the steep slopes of Medellín’s vast informal squatter settlements called barrios. Another difference is that the “Medellín effect” is the result not just of flashy architecture, but a fundamental realignment of public policy approaches and priorities.

In Boston, the New York Times article caught the eye of Wentworth Institute of Technology professor Dr. Robert Cowherd, who put his copy of the article on the Architecture Department refrigerator to spark discussion. He got more than a spark when Manuel Delgado, formerly on the faculty at the Central University of Venezuela and a Caracas native revealed deep connections between Mayor Fajardo’s team and a Caracas, Venezuela contingent working in tandem to marry public policy and design in ways that bring the most dramatic quality of life improvements to the poorest residents.

Cowherd, who lived in and studied informal settlements in Southeast Asia, partnered with Delgado culminating in two exhibitions and a symposium at Wentworth this month called “Designing For Life: Medellín | Caracas.” The main event of the program is an afternoon symposium on Monday, September 22 with presentations by designers and design experts from Caracas and Medellín culminating in a keynote address Monday evening by Dr. Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, former mayor of Medellín.

Complementing this symposium are two exhibitions. “Caracas Cenital | Aerial Caracas” brings to Wentworth a collection of large format prints by the photographer Nicola Rocco. Rocco’s images penetrate the depths of the barrios and exposes the stark juxtapositions of the formal and informal city that are increasingly characteristic of the world’s fastest growing cities. Curator William Niño Araque will offer a gallery talk as part of the exhibition opening Friday, September 19.

Also opening on Friday, September 19 is the exhibition “Transforming Medellín: 10 Projects” highlighting the most significant projects that helped establish a new relationship between municipal governance and the citizens of Medellín’s once infamous barrios. All events are free and open to the public. More information is available at http://www.wit.edu/designingforlife or by contacting Carrie Yates at 617 989-4412.

During the chapter meeting, charitable contributions will be collected in memory of Alicia Altieri, a friend to many in the Massachusetts planning community. Alicia died suddenly on August 8, 2008. Alicia worked as the Assistant Town Planner for the Town of Falmouth, the Town Planner for the Town of Boxborough from 1988 to 2004. She was currently the Town Planner for the Town of Westminster, from July 2004 until the present. Alicia was a member of the Mass. Association of Planning Directors, the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and was involved with the North County Land Trust and conservation of land in Westminster. Alicia will be missed by all her planning colleagues.

Memorial donations may be made directly to:

The Jacob McEvoy Scholarship Fund

I-C Federal Credit Union, 101 Main Street

Westminster, MA 01473 

Charitable contributions will be collected at the chapter meeting for the Scholarship Fund or members may send a direct contribution to the address provided above. Thank you.

Steve Sadwick, AICP

Chapter President