October 2022 Climate Action Report

Cities across the United States are embracing meaningful planning processes and intentional community engagement to create effective and long-lasting policies and programs that address historic inequities and environmental injustice.    

Environmental and climate injustice are a threat to our public health, our environment, our economy, and our way of life. This is especially true for frontline communities. Studies show that Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are more likely to live within five miles of contaminated sites, industrial centers, abandoned mines, landfills, or congested highways. These frontline communities have historically faced environmental injustice, including water pollution, poor air quality, low-tree canopy, and heat-stress which negatively affect their health.   

Tucson is no exception. Historic disinvestments and social inequities impair the ability of BIPOC and low-income communities to cope with the effects of climate change. For example, outdoor workers, unsheltered communities, elders, children, and low-income communities are more vulnerable to extreme heat—the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States—compared to affluent communities who can afford to weatherize their homes, keep the AC units on, or escape the heat by temporarily traveling to cooler areas.     

In 2020, Tucson experienced the hottest summer on record, with more than 100 days of over 100-degree weather. In response, Mayor Romero led the development and adoption of the City of Tucson’s Climate Emergency Declaration, committing the City to develop and implement a Climate Action Plan— Tucson Resilient Together—that centers and uplifts the voices of frontline communities that are hit first and worst by the effects of climate change.   

Targeted Universalism Approach  

This kind of equity-centered approach to community engagement and decision-making is increasingly common in government practices but is still far from second nature for most. Targeted universalism is a model that advocates achieving equal outcomes through focused methods that support populations according to their unique needs, recognizing that these may differ from the needs of other groups within the larger population. In Tucson Resilient Together, this is accomplished through targeted, small-scale conversations, pop-up events located in areas the community of interest already frequent, and by working with trusted members of the community, or promotores. The goal of this approach is not to disproportionately represent minorities. Rather, it is to ensure a large enough sample that the full scope of opinions and needs of these community members are properly understood.  

To address these needs, the City of Tucson partnered with seven community groups that represent historically excluded and climate vulnerable communities in Tucson, including Paisanos Unidos, International Indian Treaty, Southside Worker Center, AZ Youth Climate Coalition, NAACP – Tucson Branch, San Xavier Co-op, and Local First Arizona.   

The in-depth conversations or dialogues with these community partners and their members are taking place in two phases. First, participants share their concerns around climate change and extreme weather events and identify potential solutions. Second, stakeholders reflect on the identified solutions, identify the solutions that are most relevant and impactful to their own communities, and pin down any gaps that still need to be addressed.    

These community dialogues take place in a location that is selected by, and accessible to the group, while sharing a meal. Each partner group assigned a member to facilitate the dialogues with the training and support of our consulting partners at Buro Happold and Living Street Alliance. The facilitators are trusted community leaders who serve as promotores or ambassadors for the group. Partner groups, facilitators, and participants receive stipends for their valuable time, input and commitment invested in these dialogues. Each location offers an activity table for participants with children to reduce participation barriers for parents.   

In addition to the very focused community partner dialogues, the Climate Action and Adaptation outreach team is also engaging with the larger Tucson community through public workshops that follow the same phase approach as the community dialogues, identifying concerns and climate solutions first, and then ranking them and identifying gaps. The venues for these workshops can hold 200 people. These workshops are typically tailored to the general public, academia, the business sector, climate experts, environmental advocacy groups, and practitioners who have been working on climate for a long time.      

The Climate Action and Adaptation Plan outreach team is also mapping where engagement has taken place to identify geographical gaps where more outreach is needed. Pop-ups or targeted small-scale events can take place at sites frequented by Tucsonans on a day-to-day basis, such as grocery stores, or at planned community events where residents can provide quick and meaningful input on the proposed climate strategies.    

Together, these engagement strategies are advancing equitable planning processes for the City’s Tucson Resilient Together and building community capacity and long-lasting relationships for implementation. 

This kind of equity-centered approach to community engagement and decision-making is increasingly common in government practices but is still far from second nature for most. For that reason, the Office of Equity (OOE) was established to identify where equity may be of concern and help incorporate an equity lens from each project’s inception. With a dedicated staff of five, the OOE is here to support City of Tucson departments and programs as they begin to incorporate equitable methods in their regular engagement practices. The office is organized around three pillars needed for equity work: 1) public engagement, 2) employee engagement, and 3) data. Each of these areas is critical to advancing equity work in the City of Tucson.   

Through employee engagement, staff will not only feel more included in the organization but will also better understand the importance of equity in the work they do. This experience will in turn encourage staff to advocate for the same advancement of equity with the public by incorporating equitable engagement strategies. Finally, both internal and external engagement must be data-driven in order to identify the parts of our community in most need and to set benchmarks for tracking internal and external progress while holding ourselves accountable. Through the careful review of City of Tucson policies, programs, and practices, the OOE will develop strategies to mobilize public participation, provide strategic alignment, and promote the advancement of equity for all Tucsonans.  Tucson Resilient Together’s equity-centered approach to community engagement is a glimpse of how engagement can look like and the kind of work OOE will be advocating for in the City of Tucson.