The “I Love New Bedford” Campaign Helped Broaden the Appeal of Hazard Mitigation Planning 

Does this sound familiar? You’ve got a new plan or project that you need the community to comment on or an action you need them to take. So, you plan an event at City Hall or the library, invite local partner organizations to set up tables, and hope that people turn out.  

And just maybe you’ve been disappointed with turnout, you’re still struggling to bring in new voices, or you want to expand beyond a one-and-done event (even if it’s annual like Earth Day)? 

You. Are. Not. Alone.  

Engaging every corner of the community can be challenging, especially when trying to keep people involved through all the stages of planning and implementation. 

Over the past couple of years, the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts, has been trying to spread awareness around hazard preparedness—but they faced challenges with attracting attendance to events focused on heavier topics, especially among residents from historically underrepresented neighborhoods and those who live in areas with the most extreme climate impacts.  

That’s where KLA stepped in.  

We partnered with New Bedford (a long-time KLA partner) to support the Community Resilience Awareness Campaign and the Prepare NB event, a fair to promote resilience and emergency preparedness throughout the community. KLA’s goal in planning for Prepare NB wasn’t just to help boost turnout—it was to plant the seed for an ongoing conversation about climate impacts and hazard preparedness that would grow far beyond just one day of fun activities.  

Here’s how we did it.  

Our CEO Kim, Senior Climate Communications Manager Joey and Sustainability Project Coordinator Margot just got back from the American Planning Association’s National Planning Conference – NPC25 – in Denver. From their perch at KLA’s booth in the Exhibit Hall and attendance at multiple sessions and receptions, they shared these 7 observations:   

When it comes to climate action, we’re not going to sugarcoat it. What we’ve seen in terms of words and policies from the new administration is frankly dangerous. Federal support in principle and in practice is being slashed. These moves threaten to erase impressive progress and stall momentum at a time when the climate crisis is full blown, showing up in backyards from Western North Carolina to Los Angeles.  

The devastation from hurricane flooding and wildfires isn’t a scare tactic at this point – it's a reality check.  

Crossing your fingers and just hoping that your community isn’t next on climate change’s Bingo card is not a smart or effective strategy.  

And even when climate impacts don’t reach global headline status, we’re all getting a front row seat – from the consistent uptick in extreme heat and heat-related deaths to the frequently flooded roads and buildings, widespread power outages and damage after more intense storms. 

We don’t have all the answers, but this is what we find reassuring: One constant regardless of who has been in the Oval Office stretching back 2+ decades has been local leadership on climate and sustainability.  

At KLA is fresh off two conferences: the American Public Works Association (APWA) PWX Conference and the New England Chapter of APWA (NEAPWA) Conference. Speaking to an audience of public works professionals at both events, we joined our partners on panels to discuss public works’ ongoing role in climate action implementation and how to embrace collaborative approaches that integrate sustainability considerations across all local government operations.  

We've shared some broad brushstrokes from those presentations here, the focal point of both being our Climate Action Framework -- a tool that can help make your climate, sustainability and resilience plans stick. 

At KLA we're on a mission to elevate local climate action to match the urgency of the climate crisis. For us, the last few days have only sharpened that focus. 

We're coming off Climate Week in NYC, under the banner of "It's Time." We could not agree more and echo what we heard in the opening remarks: "It’s Time to think about the crucial decisions and action we need to start taking right now."

Hurricane Helene and other storms then underscored that urgency with a path of destruction across the South, devastating mountain communities in Western North Carolina hundreds of miles from any coast. No place is immune to extreme weather exacerbated by climate change. 

It’s Time to Go Big to Protect Our Home. 

It’s unavoidable: if you are a local government or community group representative, taking part in upcoming Earth Month and Earth Day events is a must. 

And for good reason: every April, there is a surge of interest in eco-friendly solutions – in fact, Google searches surrounding climate change and sustainabilityoften peak this time of year. Unfortunately, many Earth Day promotions and events are focused on surface-level, individualistic solutions (think re-usable straws) that don’t truly match the urgency of the climate crisis.  

We get it. Especially around the holidays, many people tend to avoid conversations that they perceive to be controversial: whether that be politics, personal life, or the climate crisis. But the recent uptick in understanding and concern about the latter provides the opportunity for climate conversations with friends and family to not only be uncontroversial, but productive in facilitating positive climate action. 

Climate ambassadors in Cary, NC spread the word about the Count Me in, Cary! climate action strategy

You might not be surprised to learn that trust in federal elected officials is in the basement. Only about32% of Americans have a “great deal/fair amount of trust” in Congress – 23% have “none at all”.  Top billing for trust among government institutions is local governments with 67% (though even that number has dropped from 75% just a few years ago). 

Source: Gallup

Perhaps that reflects your own opinions or rings true with what you see in the headlines.It’s one of the many reasons why KLA focusesalmost exclusively on local governments. But our laser focus on US cities, towns and counties is rooted more in the positives than the negatives: they are perfectly positioned and extremely motivated to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Not through municipal operations alone but by sparking and enabling behavior change in the community.  

Stakeholder meeting between Cary, NC sustainability staff and first responders

September is National Preparedness Month, and as the world comes out of a scorching summer with seemingly never-ending climate hazards (think wildfire smoke on the East coast, freak flooding and hail events in the Southwest, and record temperatures across the country), integrating emergency preparedness into climate action planning is more important than ever. Summer 2023 was Earth’s hottest on record, with over 97% of the American population experiencing at least one summer day notably influenced by climate change.

For many municipalities, it might not be standard operating procedures for a sustainability team to actively collaborate with first responders and public safety officials during the climate action planning process – but it absolutely should be. When it comes to best preparing your community for the effects of climate change, cross-departmental collaboration isn’t a tick-the-box or nice-to-have. It’s absolutely essential.

In July, KLA held a webinar to discuss regional climate action and collaboration in a new age of federal funding for sustainability and resilience planning. The fact that the webinar took place among record deadly heat across the country only underscores the need for smart, ambitious climate action. 

Our expert panel, consisting of regional climate veterans from Clark County, NV and Washington, DC, discussed all things regional climate planning, from tips for regional GHG inventories to critical considerations for equitable engagement strategy.