Sustainability

In January 2020, Asheville City Council declared a Climate Emergency. The adopted Resolution 20-25, acknowledges the urgent need to combat climate change and to develop the City’s climate resilience in collaboration with Asheville residents.

Asheville’s Climate Resilience Initiative supports and develops resilience-building activities, resources, and plans in partnership with community members, including those who are most directly affected by climate change impacts. 

To pursue this work, the City committed to data-informed decision making and program planning. Foundational climate risk data and insights from the Climate Resilience Assessment, alongside non-climate related vulnerability data, were used to build the Community Climate Vulnerability Map as a tool to serve City staff and community member needs.  

In Phase 1 of the initiative in 2021 and 2022, the City partnered with community leaders to better define community-led climate resilience. Through a series of listening and learning sessions with community leaders and city staff, the following recommendations and priorities were identified: 

• Explore community led Resilience Hubs
• Work to develop good jobs through “Green Economy” opportunities
• Ensure that the most vulnerable community members are informed regarding climate risks, included in emergency response plans, and provided opportunities influence decision making
• Integrate climate resilience consideration into City planning and investments

These insights and evolving definitions informed a climate screening tool to support city staff in project planning and implementation. 

In Phase 2 from 2023-2024 the initiative focused on City operations to deploy and improve the screening tool and project management tools. Through this process, the screening tool was adapted into a climate relevant scoring rubric to further support city staff in identification and incorporation of resilience innovation and excellence in project development. 

In Phase 3 from 2024-2025 the initiative reengaged with community leaders to pursue community-facing opportunities to advance priorities from Phase 1. The Elevate AVL project continued community-led resilience work by supporting individual projects and informing content development and distribution of the Climate Action Toolkit. 

Current work includes cross departmental exploration of Resilience Hub planning, including the Resilience Hub Mapping project, and data updates and revisions to the Community Climate Vulnerability Map to improve and expand the platform.

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List of Supporting Documents

(if you would like to see these items please email sustainability@ashevillenc.gov)

Climate Action Toolkit

Climate Screening Tool that evolved into the Climate Relevant Scoring Rubric

Community Climate Vulnerability Map to understand and visualize ‘hot spots’ and intersecting stressors

Analysis and draft summary reports available in English and Spanish from individual community member Listening + Learning

Analysis and draft summary report available in English and Spanish from city staff Listening + Learning

Final Report and summary from Climate Resilience Initiative Phase 1 community engagement available in English and Spanish

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Contact Information

Kiera Bulan, Interim Sustainability Director