Asheville's Climate Justice Initiative
In January 2020, Asheville City Council declared a Climate Emergency.
The Climate Justice Initiative seeks to build a community-defined understanding of climate equity and climate resiliency.
A working definition of Climate Equity is having access to information, relationships, land, and resources needed to have power and self-direction in response to climate crisis events and long-term sustainability that is community-led, deeply informed, organized, prepared for rapid response, and well-resourced.
The Climate Justice Initiative works to center frontline communities' (those that experience the first and worst) experiences and recommendations. This work is done in collaboration with City staff insights and operational expertise with a foundation in community trust building and relationship repair; using the guiding principles of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Racial Equity Toolkit.
The Climate Justice Initiative launched in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Living through a global health, economic, and social crisis continues to underscore the importance and inter-connectedness of climate and racial justice work, and community health and resource access. Our community leaders and networks were fully maxed out caring for each other. It is difficult to fully understand how the present moment impacted perspectives and ability to engage with the CJI; ongoing work on climate justice is certainly required.
The newly developed Climate Justice Guide and Screening Tool and ongoing community leadership around emerging Climate Justice work sets Asheville up to be nimble, resilient, and equitable as we pursue adaptation and mitigation strategies to combat climate threats.
Resilience is about investing before the hazard (see the green rectangle). Compiling data and engaging our frontline communities will allow the City of Asheville to plan investment in vulnerable areas bringing our community to a higher baseline. Therefore, in the event of a disaster, our capacity will not dip as low and our community will be able to bounce back more quickly; building resilience.
Climate Justice Data Map
Through the process of creating a Climate Justice Data Map , the City was able to develop an index to help visualize and understand local climate threats alongside compounding social and economic stressors.
This map is one tool helping staff and community members define, discuss, and address Climate Equity & Resilience.
Climate equity work must take into consideration "climate threats" and "non-climate stressors" to understand and articulate the compounding social, environmental, and economic factors that put our Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) residents on the frontlines of climate crisis.
In compiling this data map, the City of Asheville drew on:
- Climate risk factors such flooding, landslides and wildfire
- Heat Vulnerability Index
- Historic "Red-Lining" data
- Energy Burden
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Social Vulnerability Index
- Current census demographics
Climate Threats
Through the 2018 Climate Resilience Assessment , the City of Asheville worked with the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) at UNC Asheville to better understand which areas are most at risk for various climate threats.
Flooding, landslides, and wildfires are significant problems for our mountain communities.
The NEMAC assessment and the accompanying Climate Resilience Resource Guide helps in planning mitigation and resilience strategies at the neighborhood level.
This map displays climate threats by neighborhood with dark green indicating highest climate risks.
Heat Vulnerability Index
The Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) shows which parts of Asheville are vulnerable to extreme heat, taking into account land surface temperature, tree cover, age, and poverty level.
In this Heat Vulnerability Index Map the areas with higher HVI values are red and considered more vulnerable to extreme heat.
All of Asheville's Public Housing properties are located in high or extreme HVI areas.
Non-Climate Stressors
Redlining
In the 1930's the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) mapped areas in Asheville for credit-worthiness. The program ranked neighborhoods where African Americans lived as "hazardous". Observations indicate lasting effects of this program in the Climate Justice analysis where Redlined communities continue to bear disproportionate impacts from climate threats and non-climate stressors.
Social Vulnerability Index
The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) uses U.S. Census data to determine the relative social vulnerability of every census tract. The SVI ranks each tract on 14 social factors and groups them into four related themes.
The darker blue areas on this map indicate higher Social Vulnerability.
Energy Burden
Energy Burden represents the percentage of annual income that a household pays towards their energy bills (electricity/gas utility.) The Average Energy Burden for Asheville is 3.48%, Nationally it is 3.23%.
In the map areas with higher proportional Energy Burden than the average for Asheville are darker blue. These communities are spending more of their income on their energy bills than other communities in Asheville.
Energy Burden Data provided by Greenlink, the City of Asheville participated in a Urban Sustainability Directors Network cohort co-facilitated by Rocky Mountain Institute, World Resources Institute, and Greenlink
Community Engagement and Leadership
Working in partnership with a community organizer and facilitator is a critical element in the Climate Justice Initiative. The deep community connections and relationships brought to the project are a spring board for authentic engagement and a sounding board for respectful, deliberate project development.
The CJI aims to model alternative, equitable engagement and power sharing approaches to this critical work. The project invested in our BIPOC community via contracting with a local business and continues to commit to equitable compensation for youth leadership and artists, Story Circle participants and other project contributors.
The City of Asheville contracted with community organizer and facilitator Tepeyac Consulting to communicate data with integrity and curiosity, build trust, and solicit community leadership. Tepeyac engaged with community stakeholders through Listening + Learning sessions, Story Circles and a youth art initiative to address the following:
- Build a community-defined understanding of climate equity and climate justice.
- Identify climate equity themes with frontline communities.
- Collaborate with the Office of Sustainability to deepen equitable community engagement practices.
- Utilize climate equity themes to develop a Climate Justice Screening Tool and Guide to support equitable planning and decision-making within the City of Asheville.
Equitable Community Engagement and Education
Listening + Learning
In June of 2020, Tepeyac initiated a series of one on one Listening + Learning sessions BIPOC leaders and community members. These conversations set the foundation for data map development, initial themes, and better understanding of how communities are currently experiencing and preparing for ongoing climate emergencies.
"I think we [the community] need to be educated and we need to recognize that it is not a matter of if but a matter of when. I think we need to recognize that we need to be having conversations now. We should be planning for ourselves, but we should also begin holding those who are elected to lead accountable for their support or lack thereof. And making sure that when these things happen that our communities are safe; that our people are safe. And, if the land area isn’t safe, that we can get people to safety." ~L+L Session Interviewee
Story Circles
Using the Climate Justice Data Map to identify areas of vulnerability; community groups were convened to reflect and share their experiences with climate change, emergency recovery, and community resilience. These discussions took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and amidst local and national racial justice reckonings.
In addition to bringing community members together and sharing Climate Justice Data Map information from the City of Asheville, Story Circles provided an opportunity to share stories from impacted communities on the frontlines of climate change. Information and experiences were shared from coastal NC with Asheville residents merging local threat data with lived climate crisis, evacuation and community resilience stories.
"The City would have to go in a deep dive in a series of education and conversations for them to understand how the inequities came to be when it comes to climate disasters… how that even happened. The city of Asheville has to see that climate resilience and building that equity in it isn’t separate from them addressing the business, health, employment disparities. That all of these disparities all connect and intersects with each other." ~ Story Circle Participant
Youth Artists Empowered
Our youth leaders are our future, their insights, vision and observations can guide us to a more resilient, just future.
The Youth Artists Empowered project paired young artists with professional mentors to introduce and explore climate conversations, community response and resilience, and the lasting, lived impacts of ongoing injustices.
The young artists hit the streets with their cameras; worked through observation and storytelling techniques, built community, and created professional artwork to continue elevating the brilliance of their young selves, the resilience of the communities they call home, and the importance of climate and environmental conversations and adaptations.
Select images and a collaborative projection piece were installed at the Asheville Art Museum. This event showcased the unique perspective of Asheville's youth artists and provided an opportunity for participants to curate a professional public show.
Operationalizing Climate Justice
Climate Equity Themes
Identified through one on one Listening + Learning conversations, Story Circles and ongoing Climate Justice Initiative community engagement, Climate Equity Themes (CET) are areas where equity issues have been elevated and the organization has the opportunity to make a choice to adapt towards deeper Climate Equity Work. In this project, Climate Equity Themes serve the dual purpose of elevating and incorporating climate topics as inseparable from equity considerations as well as the ability to apply the CET into the GARE Racial Equity Toolkit.
The following Climate Equity Themes were identified through the CJI community engagement work.
- BIPOC Green Economy
- Gentrification and Displacement
- Evacuation and Emergency Response
- Equitable Community Engagement + Education
Voices of the City
City of Asheville Staff Listening + Learning
With the intention of operationalizing the insights and priorities of BIPOC community members, the project's next steps included one on one Listening + Learning with city staff leadership. Department directors and staff from the City's Communications, Capital Projects, Parks and Recreation, Community and Economic Development, Development Services, Equity & Inclusion, Finance, Fire, Human Resources, Information Technology, Planning, and Public Works departments were interviewed.
The intention of City Staff Listening + Learning was to better understand barriers to climate equity in current operations, areas for implementation in current work, and insights to inform the Climate Justice Screening Tool's development and deployment.
Summaries of the City of Asheville Staff Listening + Learning are available in English and Spanish.
Climate Justice Screening Tool
The Climate Justice Screening Guide and Tool is a City of Asheville internal operations tool built around key equity themes and choice points identified during Listening + Learning Sessions. The tool will support staff in determining the extent to which proposed plans and policies prioritize climate equity.
The tool is a structured process to recognize disparities, shine a light on root causes, and develop possible solutions to interrupt inequities. The process of utilizing the screening tool as well as the resulting program and policy decisions incorporate climate equity considerations and impacts in city planning and resource allocation.
Additionally, the Climate Justice Screening Tool pairs with the City’s implementation of the GARE Racial Equity Toolkit which aims to operationalize equity.
Next Steps
Climate Justice initiatives must be integrated across departments with consistency and thoroughness. Key collaborations with the office of Equity and Inclusion and continued training and literacy about Climate Equity, Climate Justice and opportunities to build Climate Resilience are important next steps for city employees and residents.
Important areas for ongoing Climate Justice action include:
- Reparations process
- Comprehensive Plan implementation
- Ongoing Community Engagement
- Capitol Improvements Processes
- Department and organizational annual budget
Resources and More Information!
There are so many municipalities, organizations and individuals out there doing this good work, below are a few examples and links to check out:
Photo Credit: Youth Artists Empowered
Gratitude
Deep appreciation for the many individuals, community organizations, young people, and elders who contributed energy, ideas, and lived experience to this project. City of Asheville staff and residents perspectives, skills and thoughts have shaped the Climate Justice Data Map and Screening Tool and will certainly be integral to ongoing Climate Justice action and community resilience building.
Thank you.
