Four strategies for municipalities of all sizes to impact environmental change

Municipal leaders across the United States are eager to step up and tackle environmental issues in their communities—contributing to a greener, cleaner country at large. Many, however, are facing steep challenges and roadblocks when they attempt to undertake this work.

It’s not uncommon for smaller municipalities to feel that they’re not large enough to make a significant impact. Meanwhile, more sizable municipalities may find it difficult to rally citizens together and build consensus around the right projects to pursue. Other obstacles like politics, rapidly changing technology, and outdated processes also exist.

But with the right tools, communities of all sizes and types can contribute to a more environmentally sound planet. Here are four strategies municipal leaders can adopt, ranging from processes and technology to messaging:

Invest in climate leadership and organizational culture. In order to positively impact the environment, you first have to make it a real, concrete priority, not just something on the sidelines. Indeed, in the state of California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, experts note that “Support and buy-in from agency executives and elected officials are often necessary for effective climate change adaptation.”

And so municipalities might create a climate leadership team, much like New York City Mayor Eric Adams did in January 2022. If your municipality is too small to sustain a full-time chief climate officer, consider making climate a focus for one or two lawmakers or staffers, or bring in a third-party consultant who specializes in the area.

Municipalities should also make environmental impact a big part of organizational culture. Spend time educating staff about the importance—and the ability—to make a difference even with a small-scale project, like city composting. In the assessment noted above, California officials shared that oftentimes, “mid-level staff and community leaders… lack a mandate” to prioritize environmental projects.

Build environmental operations and institutionalized processes. After investing in environmental leadership, it’s crucial to build processes that back it up. Implement formal ways for identifying and addressing environmental issues in your municipality, from mitigating floods to checking water quality levels. For inspiration, consider California’s Adaption Capability Advancement Toolkit, also known as Adapt-CA. This tool helps municipal leaders overcome common institutional barriers to environmental change, and helps them develop, standardize, and optimize programs.

Invest in solar. Solar power is a clean, renewable energy source that municipalities of all sizes can leverage. And it’s only becoming more potent as the technology behind it continues to evolve. Consider this: After Category 4 Hurricane Ian hit Florida in October 2022, several communities across southwest Florida lost power. But not Babcock Ranch. Why? It’s the first town in the U.S. to run solely on solar power, and throughout Hurricane Ian they never lost electricity or internet. “Solar-powered Florida town survived Hurricane Ian with lights on” read one news headline. Babcock Ranch’s 870-acre solar energy center powers the 2,000 homes in the community, though is capable of powering far more—up to 30,000 homes.

Meanwhile, in Laramie, Wyo., the local government is encouraging residents to adapt rooftop solar arrays—and is helping them track the many federal and state-level incentives for doing so. “Advances in solar technology, an increase in federal and state tax incentives, and creative new financing models have made solar projects including community solar projects, more financially feasible,” the report on the topic explains.

Use the right messaging. Unfortunately, the important work of positive environmental change is often politicized. For that reason, using the right vocabulary when speaking with your constituents can go a long way. For example, in an article published in Rangeland Economy and Management, researchers learned that ranchers in the western U.S. are skeptical of climate science, and so react negatively to explicit climate change terminology. However, the same ranchers use reactive methods to cope with events like drought—and in the long-term those methods can become proactive. “Centering ranchers’ experiences, perceptions and responses related to climate change can help… increase the pace and scale of adaptation and mitigation in range systems,” the paper reads.

Now more than ever, it’s essential for municipalities of all sizes to step up and prioritize their environmental work. Using the strategies above, you can start deploying the processes, technology, and messaging you need to make a difference.

Celeste Frye, AICP is co-founder and CEO of Public Works Partners LLC, a WBE/DBE/SBE certified planning and consulting firm specializing in multi-stakeholder initiatives and building strong connections across the government, nonprofit and private sectors. For more information, visit www.publicworkspartners.com.