The Connecting Wildlands & Communities (CWC) team convened a Virtual Town Hall on April 24th, 2020 as an opportunity to share project updates and gather input from stakeholders across the region that will help guide future planning and decision-making.
The Connecting Wildlands & Communities (CWC) team convened a Virtual Town Hall on April 24th, 2020 as an opportunity to share information about the CWC project and gather input from stakeholders across the region that will help guide future resource decisions, tools, and planning.
The CWC project, funded by the California State Strategic Growth Council through the California Climate Investments initiative, is a collaborative effort of the Institute for Ecological Monitoring and Management (IEMM) at San Diego State University and the Climate Science Alliance, working to provide an integrated planning and decision-making framework that supports multi-benefit landscape-scale planning and science-informed decision making. The CWC project brings together an interdisciplinary team of planners, environmental engineers, ecologists, and geographers to explore how connected landscapes can support adaptation and resilience in southern California’s communities and ecosystems. Building off of the previous efforts of IEMM’s Climate Resilient Connectivity project, CWC takes a comprehensive planning approach to protect the region’s rural communities, mitigate wildfire risk, support water sustainability, and protect biodiversity.
Watch the recording here:
The Virtual Town Hall brought together over 120 diverse stakeholders from across the region, state, and nation, including jurisdictional planners from the local and state levels, Tribal representatives, researchers, conservationists, land managers, nonprofit organizations, educators, and artists. Hosted via webinar, the virtual event featured discussion with project lead Dr. Megan Jennings, live Q/A, and interactive online polling, allowing for participants to share their ideas and comments, get updates on the project, preview early results of the research, and learn about next steps planned for the coming year.
Throughout the webinar, we heard from participants on what they view as the greatest value to climate adaptation, many participants responding with topics ranging from biodiversity and conservation, water sustainability, wildfire mitigation, to carbon sequestration. The webinar also provided valuable feedback as to the many diverse ways participants hope to use the CWC results in their work, including future planning efforts, informing policy and decision-making, and educating and sharing with the community.
In the coming months, the CWC team will continue to conduct research analyses, support meaningful engagement, and gather the input of stakeholders to ensure that the project can provide an integrated planning and decision-making framework that facilitates integrated land use planning to support climate resilient ecosystems and local communities.
Most questions were answered live during the Town Hall. If we did not have time to answer your question, you can view our response to all unanswered questions here.
Stay up to date & get involved:
Learn more about the CWC project: www.climatesciencealliance.org/cwc-about
Access the Virtual Town Hall: https://youtu.be/nRr5e0RZyUE
Share your input: Town Hall Feedback Form (available until June 1, 2020)