Urban Transitions Alliance - Buffalo Challenge Introduction Webinar: Equity-focused climate planning

In their current climate planning process, the city of Buffalo has committed to incorporate a cross-cutting equity focus to ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions are in line with community needs and do not perpetuate or increase existing inequalities. Even with a comparatively moderate climate, more extreme and varying wind, precipitation, and temperature events will exacerbate vulnerabilities in Buffalo's local communities and increase the risk for urban systems to fail. A local climate change task force has been established connecting relevant city departments with youth, academia and committed residents, while a vulnerability assessment is underway to map expected impacts on critical infrastructure.

With inputs from ICLEI USA and the cities of Baltimore (USA) and Turku (Finland), the webinar explored how to systematically integrate equity into policy design and how to navigate a collaborative planning process with multiple stakeholders.