YEAR IN REVIEW 2022 LINN COUNTY SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT
The Sustainability & Resiliency Advisory Committee was created in November 2021. The Advisory Committee's main focus is completing an annual greenhouse gas inventory for Linn County, with support from the Linn County Sustainability Department and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. The inventory will help Linn County review and monitor progress toward the goals and objectives of Linn County’s climate resolutions. The updated inventory will be released in late March 2023. The Advisory Committee includes at least one member from each County supervisor district and at least one member from each climate-vulnerable community listed in Linn County’s climate resolution(s). The committee is comprised of community stakeholders from the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. All committee members must be residents of Linn County. 2 SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCY COMMITTEE 2022 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH The committee will consist of up to 15 members, appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve one-year terms. Members may serve up to three consecutive terms. Committee member Emmanuel Billay has been helping to lead the outreach work of this committee, specifically within African immigrant communities in Linn County. Mr. Billay has been instrumental in helping the committee build relationships, share updates of the committee's work, and get feedback and buy-in from members of African communities. Additionally, the committee is engaging with small towns in Linn County by addressing the needs of their climate-vulnerable communities, such as aging populations. The Department of Sustainability has worked with committee member Jo Ann Bier on organizing opportunities to improve disaster preparedness in smaller Linn County communities. Outreach events like these aim to help build communities that are resilient in the face of a natural disaster.
Be prepared for future disasters Reduce greenhouse gas emissions Support local food systems and farmers Improve the built environment The Linn County Sustainability Department led the creation of Linn County’s first sustainability plan. The plan has an internal focus and prioritizes actions that the Linn County Board of Supervisors and County staff have a more direct control over. The plan outlines four main goals and includes specific actions to help achieve these stated goals: 1. 2. 3. 4. 3 INTERNAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN 2022 Implementation plans will be developed for each action and available on Linn County’s website as they are completed. The Linn County Sustainability Department will release an annual progress report in December of each year of the plan. A 14-member steering committee representing a diverse selection of County departments completed a 9-month process to develop the plan, which includes 43 actions over a threeyear timeline. The plan emphasizes considerations around issues of equity and access, technological feasibility, and fiscal stewardship in its actions. The committee used the Natural Step and Triple Bottom Line Frameworks to create the plan, which is referenced in the image to the right. The Linn County Sustainability Plan will be in place for the years 2023-2025 and is available on Linn County’s website LinnCountyIowa.gov. Image adapted from The Natural Step
The South San Juan Wilderness Trek is a two-week backpacking trip for high school students to one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the United States: near Pagosa Springs along the Continental Divide in Southwest Colorado. Through a partnership with Step Outdoors, the U.S. Forest Service, and local nonprofits, Linn County is able to offer this opportunity to qualifying students free of charge. Linn County Conservation and the Sustainability Department co-lead the trek and develop the educational components of the trip. Participating students learn through four pillars focusing on stewardship, study of wilderness, environmental science, and outdoor skills. 4 SAN JUAN WILDERNESS TREK 2022 ABOUT THE TREK Linn County Conservation has a goal to improve access for all and regularly tracks their success in reaching this goal using a departmental key performance indicator. There was a clear and strong objective with the San Juan Wilderness trek program to ensure that any student who wanted to apply could, and any student who was selected to go, was able to. Through a Linn County Conservation and Sustainability partnership, the co-leads of the trek were able to meet students where they were, in high schools, at internship fairs, and mental health centers to name a few, recruiting students who had never even considered opportunities like this before. The co-leads worked to fundraise to be able to cover all of the costs of the program, including providing all of the gear and funds to purchase personal items students might not have, like rain gear, to remove any potential financial barriers. Because of these efforts, Linn County was able to take a diverse group of students on a once in a lifetime trip, helping to cultivate an appreciation for the wilderness and to help empower the next generation of environmental leaders. These students who typically would not have been able to access an opportunity like this now have the skillset and confidence to be safe and successful in nature and many other parts of their lives. EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES
5 PARTNERING WITH GREENIOWA AMERICORPS 2022 In 2022, Linn County continued its partnership with the Green Iowa AmeriCorps program (GIA). Throughout the year, six full-time members worked to assist Linn County Sustainability in engaging the public in climate action efforts here in Linn County. Emma Castiblanco and Michael Garner worked though spring 2022, then Ayla Boylen and Ta’sje Carrasco worked the summer months, and Sydney Evans and Elizabeth Weems joined in the fall and will continue their work through most of 2023. Green Iowa AmeriCorps collaborates with nonprofits and organizations that work to make communities more sustainable, a mission that aligns with many of the overall goals of Linn County Sustainability and the Linn County climate resolutions. GIA members working with Linn County Sustainability are leading the outreach programs coordinated by the department. These programs engage Linn County’s climatevulnerable communities and help empower residents to take local climate action. 2022 Green Iowa Events Martin Luther King Day Book Drive Presentation at BlendEd/Washington High School about Leaders in Sustainability Four R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse) Water Quality Scavenger Hunt at Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department Resiliency Hub Development and Support Garden and Nutrition Class at Resiliency Hub Organized neighborhood clean-up days Rain barrel making event at Resiliency Hub Rain garden demonstration in Ely Building and painting a rain barrel at the event. The Linn County Resiliency Hub MLK Book Drive Garden and Nutrition Class
2022 CONNECT WITH LINN COUNTY facebook.com/linncountyiowa twitter.com/linncounty youtube.com/linncountyiowa nextdoor.com linkedin.com/company/linn-county LinnCountyIowa.gov 319-892-5000 LinnCountyIowa.gov/NotifyMe