Category: Community Resilience

Resilient Success Stories: Leaders meet to honor examples of climate resiliency
December 22, 2022December 22, 2022
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Resilient Success Stories: Leaders meet to honor examples of climate resiliency

On December 9, a group of energized individuals gathered at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to take part in the Resilient Success Stories Event. With a packed house, participants heard 12 stories from around the region: The Merriam Residential Sustainability Grant, Kompas Kapital’s refurbished headquarters building, Kansas City Public Library Climate Action Dashboard, Lee’s Summit Green Infrastructure improvement program, The HCA Nature Action Crew, Big Shoal Farm, Mission Conservation Improvement program, Johnson County Watershed Master Plan, Johnson County Park & Recreation Districts Forest Restoration, The Tomahawk Creek Water Treatment Facility, The KCMO Neighborhood Clean Up Program and KCMO's Climate Resiliency Protection Plan.

What’s happening in 2023: Project highlights
December 21, 2022December 21, 2022
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What’s happening in 2023: Project highlights

There will be a lot of action in 2023! Here are highlights of some of the projects, planning and programs that will be kicking off next year. We invite you to share your thoughts, ideas or resources on any of the projects. Community Water Infrastructure Program/ ARPA A local partnership involving Kansas City, Mo., Jackson...

Climate & Environment Council meets to discuss work plan priorities
October 25, 2022October 25, 2022
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Climate & Environment Council meets to discuss work plan priorities

The newly formed Climate and Environment Council held its first meeting last month to begin the important task of determining its work plan for the year. Each council member will provide input on their top five priority activities that align with the strategies in the Regional Kansas City Climate Action Plan. At the second meeting...

More than one hundred volunteers show up around the metro for KC Plogtober
October 25, 2022October 25, 2022
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More than one hundred volunteers show up around the metro for KC Plogtober

KC Plogtober celebrated its second-ever event last weekend with over one hundred "ploggers" turning out at 13 sites across eight municipalities to pick up litter at their favorite parks and trails.

Congratulations to Team Clay County (pictured), who brought home the "Top Plogger" award, providing almost half of the total cleanup volunteers! Another noteworthy accomplishment was the team from Raytown, MO, who had the largest single-site turnout on the Rock Island Trail.

Preparing for climate-related disasters
September 29, 2022September 29, 2022
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Preparing for climate-related disasters

September is Disaster Preparedness Month. And even though we’re a little late to the game, don’t worry! We’ll be peppering readers with disaster preparedness and community resilience tips and resources all year long.

As I’m writing this, Hurricane Ian is working it’s way across Florida. Some Floridians have chosen to follow evacuation mandates and advisories, some have not. Hopefully, all will have prepared adequately and will come out unscathed. I’ve seen Florida friends post to social media about their preparations, whether it’s installing the hurricane shutters, stocking up on food or digging out the solar phone chargers. Of course, this brings to mind the question: what prepares us for disaster in the Kansas City region? And what does disaster-preparedness mean in the face of climate change?

Climate change will exacerbate those natural hazards we are all familiar with here in the metro: flooding, heat, drought, winter weather, tornadoes and thunderstorms. The full impact of more extreme versions of these hazards leaves a lot of uncertainty. But one thing is for sure, the impacts could be broad and wide-reaching. We need to think expansively about our risks and vulnerabilities. Disasters in a different area of the country could impact our region — mass migration, food shortages or economic disruptions, as examples. Read on for a few ways you, your household and your city can build climate resilience by being prepared when we are faced with disaster.

Get outside for the 2022 KC Plogtober clean-up
September 28, 2022September 29, 2022
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Get outside for the 2022 KC Plogtober clean-up

MARC Water Quality, and a host of partner organizations will hold this year’s KC Plogtober on Sunday, October 16. The program’s goal is to get local volunteers to appreciate their local watersheds more by realizing that the litter on the heavily-trafficked public-use ground eventually winds up in our streams and rivers. "Plogging" is a Swedish concept that translates to picking up litter while jogging.

Registration for volunteers is open now. Be sure to visit KCPlogtober.com for more information and to sign up. Each county will have multiple streamside trails and public greenspaces to choose from, or volunteers can go solo and pick a location close by for a "virtual plog".

Resilient Success Stories: True Life Stories from the Kansas City Region
August 22, 2022May 5, 2023
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Resilient Success Stories: True Life Stories from the Kansas City Region

Momentum is building throughout the Kansas City region

to transform our community in ways that create greater levels of sustainability and climate resilience. To embrace and accelerate positive change, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and Climate Action KC will highlight selected local or regional Resilient Success Stories at the Kauffman Foundation on the morning of Dec. 2, 2022.

Kansas City delegation visits Poland for #WUF11 and study tour
July 11, 2022July 12, 2022
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Kansas City delegation visits Poland for #WUF11 and study tour

Last year, Climate Action KC joined the European Union’s International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) program and was matched with an EU counterpart region as part of a city-to-city exchange. Kansas City’s selected partner was Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metro (GZM), located in the Silesia Voivodeship (think: province) in southern Poland. The GZM consists of 41 cities and communes where...

New federal climate and health office looks at intersectional work between MARC and regional partners
May 11, 2022May 11, 2022
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New federal climate and health office looks at intersectional work between MARC and regional partners

Dr. John Balbus, Director of the newly created Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), a program run under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (OASH), was hosted via teleconference by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) for an informative briefing on the regional and multi-jurisdictional work MARC does across its Environment, Data...

March 15, 2022March 15, 2022
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Choose low carbon transportation options to the Climate Action Summit

We challenge you to travel low-carbon to and from the Summit by walking, biking, using public transit or carpooling. Enter to win a prize! For those kicking carbon to the curb for the summit, enter to win a very cool prize basket by visiting the MARC Environmental Programs table at the Climate Summit Expo on...

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