Cuyamaca College Rio de Janeiro Climate Change Issue Paper

This challenge exercise is designed to encourage you to think through how the politics of climate change is playing out locally, and to develop creative, practical approaches to making changes in everyday practices in your community (or another one you select). The object of the challenge is to outline and make the case for a project to improve sustainability for as city or town you know, drawing on examples from projects undertaken in other cities. On the one hand, the Challenge is an exercise in creativity. It asks you to reimagine how your community or city can take one step toward greater sustainability. On the other hand, it asks you to think in as practical a terms as possible about how to make the case for real change, and how to make that change a reality.

For the Challenge, you can select any town or city. You are encouraged to select a locality you know relatively well from personal experience, but it need not be any particular type of place, or even be located in the US. In the exercise, you will be asked to make and advocate a proposal as an expert consultant or a concerned citizen for ONE innovation that will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from that city, and with it to environmental sustainability more generally. The proposal could be small in scale, such as introducing bike lanes, pedestrian zones or electric vehicle charging stations in a particular neighborhood you know. Or it could be large, such as adopting a plan for the local public power company serving the city to shift to carbon free local electric power by 2050. It could take the form of a public policy, but also of a technological innovation in the private sector, or a change led by a major local private institution (such as USC, or a leading local company). Either way, the proposal should address the realities of the city’s current situation, and analyze the practical steps necessary to accomplish what you propose.

Your proposal should focus on a specific set of steps toward this end, which should be spelled out as concretely as possible. In developing the proposal, you will be expected to research and report on:

• The current local policies, plans and other arrangements your innovation will affect;
• An account of the measures that need to be undertaken in the locality to carry out your innovation (Ordinance passed by City Council? Budget? Changes to local planning documents? Contract with the city?)
• Your best estimation of the improvements to sustainability your proposal would bring about, including specific estimates of greenhouse gas reductions if possible;
• Estimated cost, including start-up costs and any energy savings over time;
• Alternative strategies to accomplish the aims of the innovation;
• IMPORTANT: To refine your proposal, strengthen your case and provide evidence, the analysis should draw on results from similar projects carried out in other cities, communities or institutions.

Increasingly, as cities and towns around the world have taken the lead in initiatives to address the climate crisis, the examples of innovations and ideas have multiplied exponentially. The resources in the appendix include links to major international networks that cities themselves have increasingly drawn upon for ideas and examples of how to move forward with local agendas. You are encouraged to get an early start by researching some of the leading examples in the US and beyond, and drawing on them for ideas and evidence of what has made sense to urban leaders elsewhere, and what can make a difference for your community.

PART 1 Local Challenge Paper

A final paper of 3-4 pages making the case for your proposal is due.

The report should include the following elements, in no particular format or order:

• A brief description of the city/town you have selected, and the current conditions there that your innovation will address;
• Description of your proposed innovation;
• Discussion of examples from other cities or communities and their implications. (How do they demonstrate the potential of your proposal? Or, if your idea totally original, what do they suggest about how effective your plan will be?)
• Estimate of likely savings in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as any cost savings or other positive impacts expected over time (e.g., water saving, environmental awareness, etc.);
• Estimate of cost for the innovation (remember long-term as well as short-term costs and benefits!), including (as relevant) costs for alternative versions (e.g., of products with different technologies)
• Discussion of expected obstacles to realizing your proposal, and how you expect to overcome them.
• A (brief!) account of what you have done to research the proposal;As with the Personal Sustainability Challenge, you are required to use a standard bibliographic form and scholarly citation form for the references to your report, including listing in a bibliography at the end. There is no prescribed citation form, but you will be expected to use a standard form (e.g., Chicago, Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association) and to apply it consistently. Attach printouts from calculators used in your research to the back of your paper. Grades for this part of the Challenge will be based on a) the accuracy of your account of the setting for your innovation, b) the reasonableness of your program for reductions, c) the effectiveness of your use of examples from other cities or communities, d) the degree to which you have anticipated obstacles and developed a plan to overcome them e) the style and organization of your report.
  PART 2 Local Challenge Posting and Class Discussion
  The final component of the Local Challenge will be an opportunity to reflect upon and discuss your proposals as a class. As a start, along with your assignment, submit a 150-300 word posting summarizing your proposal and the case for it on the Section Discussion Forum for the Local Challenge. The final step in the Challenge is geared to get everyone thinking further as the semester closes about the agenda for innovations in our communities to address the climate crisis. Read through the postings of your classmates and submit peer comments of 100-200 words on two of them. Do any proposals also seem like promising innovations for your city, town or neighborhood? Do you have follow up suggestions about how a proposal could be made to work, or how any problems with it could be overcome? Does someone’s idea prompt you to think other promising innovations? Are there policy options at the national or state levels, that could encourage cities and citizens to adopt the proposal? What kind of coalitions among officials, businesses, environmental groups and engaged citizens would make it possible to bring it about?
  APPENDIX: Descriptions of Local Challenge ExamplesLA AND THE LA REGION (prominent examples)Los Angeles Mayor’s Sustainability website Includes a list of specific proposals (solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, electric vehicle car sharing, urban greening, cool pavement), but think also about further possibilities! https://www.lamayor.org/sustainabilitySanta Monica Climate Action Plan :https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2019/05/29/santa-monica-addresses-climate-crisis-with-ambitious-carbon-emission-cuts-and-adaptation-measuresPasadena Climate Action Planhttps://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/planning-division/community-planning/climate-action-plan/EXEMPLARY CITIES;Copenhagen, Denmark Sustainability website (City aims to be carbon-neutral by 2025, and the first world capital to reach this target) https://urbanlifecopenhagen.weebly.com/sustainability.htmlBoulder, CO Climate Plan:https://bouldercolorado.gov/climateSeattle, WA Climate Action Plan:https://www.seattle.gov/environment/climate-change#ORGANIZATIONS/NETWORKS OF CITIESCarbon-neutral Cities Alliance:Links to large cities in the US and around the world committed to cutting greenhouse gases 80-100% by 2050.https://carbonneutralcities.org/cities/International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives:The largest international network of local and regional governments devoted to sustainability, with 1750+ member governments in 100+ countries. Links to all manner of participating city governments and their programs.https://www.iclei.org/