Sas Talk With Kim

San Antonio recently combined 3 planning processes: master, transportation and sustainability. SATomorrow was a feat of coordination, which has also been a theme in their first stages of implementation. Kim catches up with their Chief Sustainability Officer about putting the plan into action.

The City of Richmond, Virginia, won an award for their groundbreaking RVAGreen Sustainability Plan. We check in with them on their progress over the first five years, the challenges they've encountered, and what's on the horizon now that the new mayor has announced an ambitious climate action goal.

Local governments and community organizations often struggle with how to design, promote and pull off events that actually engage your community in a meaningful, comprehensive way. I've worked with Emie Michaud Weinstock of Reveled Up to try to crack this nut, and in this chat she walks through some key recommendations and workshop format options.

A team of folks recently completed a comprehensive assessment of the physical, environmental and social impacts of street tree planting in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I talk with several team members -- Angela Vincent (Merrimack Valley Planning Commission and American Planning Association Sustainable Communities Division volunteer), Brad Buschur(Project Director with Groundwork Lawrence) and Neil Angus (Devens Enterprise Commission and APA-SCD volunteer) -- about this health impact assessment of the Green Streets program.

Portland along the coast of Maine is no stranger to climate change mitigation, but they've also been making strides on the adaptation or resilience front. We talk with the City's Sustainability Coordinator about their neighborhood focus with the Bayside Adapts initiative, their recent design challenge and more ways they are preparing for sea-level rise, storm water management and more.

Growth in Phoenix is exploding, and that can generate a ton of waste. But the City is taking the unique approach of "The Circular Economy" with their Reimagine Phoenix roadmap, engaging public and private partners to increase waste diversion from 16 to 40% by 2020 and zero waste by 2050. We talk with former Public Works Director John Trujillo about the principles of a circular economy and the genesis, evolution and forecast for the city's waste goals.

Washington D.C.'s Department of Environment has utilized "Sustainable DC Ambassadors" for effective community outreach and engagement. Dan breaks down the program (why they went in this direction, the application process, volunteer expectations, their results) with us in detail to help other local governments considering a similar approach or looking for unique ways to engage their communities.

Matt Rodrigues, Traffic Engineer for the City of Eugene, Oregon, walks us through some of the rationale behind, challenges to and plans to achieve ambitious goals. These include tripling walking, biking and transit use by 2035 and a Climate Recovery Plan with a goal of achieving emission reductions consistent with achieving 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2100.

Sustainability is not just for big cities and "blue" states. We talk sustainability with Sarpy County Nebraska's Engineer Denny Wilson about his role as a “Plangineer” working closely with planners. Sarpy is the smallest but fastest growing county in the state, so sustainability is important.

For Herbel in “Surf City, USA,” tourism is the name of the game, so clean water, water conservation, transportation and the beaches are atop his priority list as City Engineer. We talk about the natural role of sustainability in his job and our work together with the American Public Works Association's Center for Sustainability.

Decisions about what infrastructure improvements to invest in are critical and long-lasting impacts on a community's sustainability. So what is "Sustainable ROI" and how do communities factor in "triple bottom line" cost-benefit analysis that consider people, the planet and profit? Steph Larocque gives us a mini-lesson on the concept and the tools they've developed at Impact Infrastructure.

Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing or "PACE" is an increasingly popular tool for local and state governments to help home and business owners invest in clean energy and energy efficiency building improvements. Erin Deady, who helped bring PACE to Florida, talks about how it's working in Florida, the challenges, and why she thinks 2017 will be the "Year of PACE."

This is the third in a series of podcast interviews from Sustainability Action Series: SAS Talk with Kim Lundgren. In this episode, Kim talks to Joyce Coffee of Climate Resilience Consulting about climate resilience and how local governments can implement and get funding for their climate adaptation efforts. kimlundgrenassociates.com

This is the second in a series of podcast interviews from Sustainability Action Series: SAS Talk with Kim Lundgren. In this episode, Kim interviews Timothy Burroughs, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Berkeley, California. They dive into Berkeley's approach to resilience, his experience in this unique position, and tips for local governments of all stripes. kimlundgrenassociates.com

This is the first in a series of podcast interviews from Sustainability Action Series: SAS Talk with Kim Lundgren. In this episode, Kim interviews climate and sustainability consultant Missy Stults. Stults recently published her dissertation research which analyzed 40 local government adaptation plans. Kim and Missy discuss her findings and recommendations.