Adaptation Looks Like on the Ground - A Review

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Melissa Wilson
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1 Education, Equity and Climate Change IMPLEMENTING ADAPTATION: PLACE-BASED RESILIENCY & THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: THE CASE OF OAKLAND, CA. PRESENTED BY: DAVID RALSTON, PHD, MCP

2 About me David Ralston Living 25-years in Oakland 15-year Planner and Community Development Project Manager for the City of Oakland. Adjunct faculty of environmental and sustainable planning at Peralta Community College. Currently employed as a Community Engagement Manager for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

3 The Story of Implementing Action: What Place-Based Adaptation Looks Like on the Ground This presentation highlights a specific case study of building local adaptation/resiliency that uniquely brought together the City of Oakland and the Peralta Community College District. The presentation shares what the driving issues in Oakland were; how this work was precipitated; what was uniquely done; and what were the outcomes and lessons.

4 What s Going on in Oakland? Risks, Vulnerabilities Assets, Opportunities

5 Adaptation = Opportunity! Timely call and needed emphasis as part of Climate Change concerns and local responses Opportunity to transform conditions of the built environment Works best when it can both mitigates climate impacts and adapt by creating healthier, resilient communities. Should also incorporate place-based interventions and creative responses changes utilizing local knowledge/knowhow & local culture Ultimately, about implementing action now! and not waiting for big science/high capital projects.

6 How Can We Connect the Dots? Existing Conditions, Assets VISION Our shared narratives Opportunities. 6 IMPLEMENTATION Creating our shared experiences

7 The Role of the Community Colleges Locally-based institutions providing affordable education/career pathways open to all residents (PCCD serves over 18,000 students in 4 campuses/2 in Oakland) Support for hands-on/experiential-based learning, job apprenticeships Access to diverse sets of pilot funding and national learning networks Can bring stakeholders together to think outside the box: Merritt College s Environmental Program and the Institute for Sustainable Policy Studies hosts local and regional Connect the Dots conversations/symposia about working together

8 What We Did (and Why) Engaging students, youth, education institutions and neighborhoods in greening projects Examples of partnership initiatives between PCCD and City of Oakland : Large Scale Infrastructure - San Leandro Creek Greenway creating a green network by connecting PCA s and green infrastructure corridors Neighborhood-Scale Planning modeling healthy neighborhood-based planning/sustainable community planning as foundational city inter-scale building and social resiliency On the Ground Interventions - Green Works Development engaging youth, education institutions and neighborhoods in greening projects and sustainable career pathways and livelihoods

9 Larger Green Infrastructure Visioning and Planning San Leandro Creek Proposed Oakland Neighborhood Center Pathways shared common space along creek/watershed corridors linking public services and local businesses to neighborhoods Mayor s Task Force on Sustainability

10 Watershed-Community District Focus Area The proposed San Leandro Creek Greenway/Urban Trail would provide a crucial 6-mile east-west link between the existing Bay Area Ridge Trail and Waterfront Trail

11 Neighborhood-Scale Mapping and Planning

12 Hands-On Environmental/Greening Education, Training and Partnerships

13 On-Going results and Investments

14 Outcomes and Lessons Cities need to proactively partner with community colleges and other CBOs; Need to understand value of organic place-based change as part of development of a place the richness and diversity that can emerge and the chaos of creativity; Green infrastructure if applied from top-down standard development and separation process (e.g., alienation from the fruits of our labor, nature), no matter how good the plan, can lead to displacement and inequitable outcomes; we must change this culture by enabling folks to be involved in planning, design, building, stewardship and enjoyment; Health, resiliency and sustainability all go together: Resiliency means health at all scales, working together. Implementing Adaptation means engaged local action! Thank You!

Oakland Sustainable Development Initiative: Business Impact Mitigation and Economic Development Strategies for International Blvd Bus Rapid Transit

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