GAVA Provides Community Climate Resilience Commitment Update
Progress, challenges, and opportunities ahead!
On March 13th, GAVA and the City of Austin Office of Sustainability convened an online update on GAVA's commitment progress, the Kresge grant GAVA received to support their work, and the city's OGP 'Community Climate Resilience Pilot' commitment.
Fifteen cities around the country are in the Kresge cohort and focusing on climate change, health, and equity. In Austin, GAVA is working with southeast Austinites to ensure a healthy built environment as well as economic resilience; equitable land & water management; and practices that support community resilience and neighborhood stability in a time of rapid city growth and intensifying climate events. Collaborators include the University of Texas and faith-based organizations.
GAVA's one year planning period is focusing on:
- Anticipation, Preparation and Response
- Climate navigators pilot
- Infrastructural Improvements and Community Planning
- Inventory of critical drainage and other improvements needed
- Closely following green infrastructure plans and opportunities with an equity lens
- Modeling how development in S.E. Austin could incorporate a climate justice lens
- Anti-displacement
- Mitigating increased costs associated with climate shocks and stressors
- Identifying key tactics to keep people in the neighborhood
Going forward, GAVA will be working with community members most directly impacted by displacement, flooding, and other climate risks to shape investment in resilience efforts, infrastructural allocations, and community planning.
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Austin has been a member of OGP since 2016. The city's current OGP Action Plan spans the summer 2019 to summer 2021 time period.