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Hennepin County Climate Action

Fostering Climate Connections: Engaging communities for a resilient and sustainable future

Hennepin County adopted the Climate Action Plan in May 2021 understanding the urgency of making rapid and far-reaching changes to address climate change. This plan targets a 45% reduction in carbon emissions from 2010 levels by 2030, with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The plan includes protecting and supporting vulnerable communities to help them adapt to weather, social, and economic changes.

Hennepin County’s Climate and Resiliency department created the Climate Connections project to:

  • Facilitate community discussions and create awareness on climate change
  • Learn community priorities related to climate action solutions
  • Engage the community in the decision-making process
  • Develop a county-wide climate resiliency plan
  • Build community trust around climate change initiatives

The county partnered with 10 community-based organizations:

  • Asian Media Access
  • Black Community Board
  • Centre for Asian and Pacific Islanders
  • Centro Tyrone Guzman
  • Islamic Civic Society of America
  • Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota
  • Little Earth Resident Association
  • Legacy Family Center
  • Oromo Diaspora Media
  • Reach for Resources

A group of 14 people posed in two rows stands in front of a red brick building. 

These community-based organizations share information and gather feedback that will help guide future efforts and strengthen the community’s response to climate change. The following illustration shows outreach and engagement efforts, along with key demographics of residents that participated in the workshops and surveys.

 An infographic showing these stats: 10 CBO partners, 12 cultural communities, 18,333 residents engaged, 2,008 validated questionnaire responses, over 30 community events, 57% of participants had financial difficulties.

 

The county partnered with market research firm Lighthouse Global, to design these community workshops and surveys. Through these engagement efforts, Lighthouse Global and Hennepin County created a report identifying community informed strategies to support this work.

Read the reports: