Ready To Act On Climate Change?
Create a plan to reduce and offset carbon emissions
By Savannah Donovan
Like you, the Urbana Park District in Illinois holds that all people have the right to a healthy and viable environment. Together, working for and with local communities, we can create a more positive future for everyone by choosing clean energy, using resources efficiently, and preparing for climate risks.
Carbon pollution is warming the planet. It is impacting communities across America and the world through increasing droughts, floods, wildfires, extreme weather, and more. But how does a park district confront a challenge as large as the global climate crisis? The key is to not become discouraged, go one step at a time, and don’t give up!
A More Deliberate Approach
The Urbana Park District has a deep-rooted history of environmental education and stewardship. More recently, the district’s internal Green Team has been promoting environmentally responsible choices in the workplace. In late 2019, however, the team decided it was time for a more comprehensive and deliberate approach to reducing and offsetting carbon emissions. The district wanted to create its own climate-action plan, despite lacking direct experience or a roadmap.
The Green Team co-chairs organized a 13-person steering committee comprised of staff members across all three departments (recreation, planning and operations, and administration) to lead the process. Steering committee members joined because they were passionate about climate change, or because they would be essential to the plan’s ultimate implementation and success. Involving staff members from all facilities and departments was crucial, as it allowed for a more comprehensive understanding of challenges and opportunities throughout the district.
Three Planning Pillars
The committee researched related plans from other park districts, forest-preserve districts, cities, and similar organizations. These plans have many different names depending on their focus; there are sustainability and resilience plans, green-infrastructure plans, clean-energy plans, climate-action plans, and more. Staff and volunteers collected and quantified topics included in these examples. Common threads emerged, including water quality, natural areas, green fleets, partnerships and outreach, and many more. Themes that were the most relevant to the district’s mission were organized with three planning pillars:
1. Communicating climate action underscores the district's commitment to serve as a community leader and role model—through internal practices, public outreach and programs, and collaborative partnerships.
2. Protecting and strengthening the natural environment reinforces the district’s responsibility to care for the health of humans, plants, animals, ecosystems, and the climate—by reducing our carbon footprint, stewarding biodiversity and natural areas, and improving air and water quality.
3. Conserving resources highlights the district’s dedication to the sustainability of natural resources—through conserving energy and water, using clean energy, reducing waste, and increasing recycling and reuse.
The plan’s name was suggested by the district’s Facilities Maintenance Supervisor and received overwhelming support: the Urbana Park District CARES (Climate Action, Resilience, Education & Sustainability) Plan.
Plans And Goals
In October 2020, staff members conducted advisor interviews with 10 professionals in various fields related to sustainability, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and resiliency. Many of the advisors had experience in creating or implementing sustainability-related plans, so they offered expert advice about how to make the CARES Plan realistic and achievable.
Next, the committee invited preliminary feedback by introducing the project in its early stages to the district’s citizen-advisory committee, Natural Areas Committee, and board of directors. These individuals, plus all 50 full-time staff members, were asked for their opinions in drafting the plan’s values statement, goals, and objectives. Input was collected through an online survey in December 2020, and two gift cards were awarded randomly as a way to incentivize participation. Results from 80 different respondents were used to create the first draft of the CARES Plan.
The values statement is an important piece of the plan; it establishes principles that all community members can benefit from, no matter their political stances. The benefits of climate action reach further than simply reducing global warming—climate solutions are health solutions, too! Beginning the CARES Plan with shared values sets a tone for working together as a community toward a healthy future.
Goals were organized under each of the plan’s three pillars. They were written to be broad and describe generally what the district is aiming to accomplish. For example, Goal 4 from the pillar Conserving Resources is to “Increase recycling and reuse to divert waste from landfills.”
Under each goal, staff drafted a series of objectives, strategies, and performance measures that specifically describe how the district will accomplish each goal, and how staff members will know whether an objective has been achieved. Responsible staff groups were identified and assigned to each objective for accountability.
In Hindsight
By February 2021, the CARES Plan was halfway complete. At this point, an early draft of the plan was shared with departmental staff groups, the local community, and other stakeholders for review and feedback. In hindsight, it would have been beneficial to have brought all park district staff members together in person. COVID-safety concerns meant that almost every meeting during the year-long planning process took place through online conferencing. In person, staff members could have communicated more effectively, bonded over shared values, and brainstormed collaboratively.
Two public-input sessions took place online, though participation was minimal. (Again, it would have been better to offer safe opportunities for in-person discussions.) The draft plan was also posted online, along with staff contact information, to open the door for public feedback in any form. Community reactions were overall supportive and constructive.
In late February, a second survey was launched to collect feedback about any overlooked goals or objectives, as well as to help prioritize each objective. Prioritization was challenging and should have been planned for earlier. On the other hand, taking into account each comment and critique—even that late in the process—only made the plan stronger. After multiple renditions, the final draft was presented to the park district board of commissioners for acceptance in April 2021.
The CARES Plan will guide the district through 2025, and quarterly reviews of accomplishments and progress are being conducted by the Green Team staff. In future years, new goals and objectives will be created in tandem with the district’s strategic plan.
Create A Plan
Creation of the CARES Plan was successful due to extensive research and participation, and components of equity and inclusion are interwoven throughout. Outlining a clear course of action in which everyone has a role in creating and achieving sustainability and climate-related goals was key to staff and community buy-in. Incorporating this level of involvement is worth it, but it does take time. Create a timeline, set realistic deadlines, and stay on top of tasks.
Perhaps the most important element of the CARES Plan is the plan itself is an educational piece. Chapters include Climate Change Concepts and Climate Change Impacts from Local to Global, as well as a glossary of key terms and a list of sources. The development process and timeline are outlined in the introduction, and a chapter on plan implementation is also included. The park district staff hopes the CARES Plan will act as a roadmap for other districts to follow in the creation of their own action plans.
Don’t be discouraged by a lack of experience. Very few people are experts in creating climate-action plans, but the world doesn’t need perfection! Imperfect action on a large scale can halt catastrophic climate change. Is your organization ready to act?
To view the completed CARES Plan, visit https://www.urbanaparks.org/about-us/green-initiatives/.
Savannah Donovan is the Environmental Program Manager at the Urbana Park District in Illinois. Reach her at 217-384-4062 or sydonovan@urbanaparks.org.