Hennepin County and partner organizations like Asian Media Access, CAPI, Little Earth, Lao Center, Ziran (Jade), and more engaged over 20,000 residents and over 2,000 surveys and interviews were conducted in 4 months. The goal was to understand the impact of climate change on the community and what the members need for support and engagement on climate change. Surveys were conducted to understand the level of awareness, priorities, and level of interests of the community regarding climate change, and gauge the willingness of community members to participate in the events and programs.
Survey results show that most people understand the impact of climate change including the consequences. Common responses reflected the current heat waves, flooding, warmer winters, wildfires, and power outages that have occurred within the last year. The community members see the weather changes of unpredictable temperatures and disruptions of traditional seasons. They have seen impacts of climate change on their health like worsen asthma, difficulty breathing, and allergic reactions to increased pollen.
The surveys and interviews shared unique stories of the community. Climate change has caused lack of tourism due to the lack of snow and increased electricity due to higher temperature, causing our carbon footprint to increase.
Mitigation actions and community priorities
- Planting more drought-resistance trees to reduce the heat
- Growing food locally in gardens or urban areas with community participation. Local gardening to strengthen the community, neighborhoods to increase interaction and connection with each other.
- Starting recycling education early and continuing the education
- Creating programs like recycling clothes and shoes, and promote fix it clinics that reduce the trash
- Lower emission transportation by encourage carpooling, use of electric vehicles, and improve access and reliability of public transportation
- Increase and improve walking and biking paths, including educating drivers about pedestrian and biking safety
- Address inequality, including cultural programming with translated materials and education on terminology
- Preparing for natural disasters, including offering community training programs
To help the community participate, Hennepin County efforts will include further flyers, newsletters, tabling events, a calendar to show sustainability events, videos for visual learners, and community meetings.
Small changes like bringing a reusable tote, turning off the lights when you leave a room, turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, or adjusting your temperatures just a few degrees. There are small ways that can make an impact and will be compounding overtime. It is not too late, we are all in this together to make a difference.
