The City of Fayetteville wants residents to share their thoughts on how to make the city more sustainable via the city’s Sustainability Action Plan.
As a comprehensive strategy to reduce environmental impact and improve energy-efficiency via citywide sustainability initiatives, the sustainability plan kicked off in March and is in its early stages of development. It was last updated in 2009.
“The Sustainability Action Plan will serve as a strategic roadmap to guide the city toward a more sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon future,” an Oct. 11 press release states. “The plan will reflect the city’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing energy efficiency, and fostering environmental stewardship.”
Blue Streak Environmental is consulting with the city to develop the plan. Rich Swanson, director of climate and energy at Blue Streak, presented information about the plan to the Fayetteville City Council in March. Swanson said the plan will involve developing several actionable priorities the city can use to be more energy-efficient and resilient to extreme weather changes, such as the use of renewable energy sources for community events or increasing green spaces and pedestrian mobility.
This roadmap will also include an inventory of the city’s current greenhouse gas emissions — both current and projected rates — as well as ways to reduce those emissions via decarbonization and how to make the community more adaptable to climate change, Swanson said.
“The sustainability plan should be designed to be locally attuned and very responsive to Fayetteville, while at the same time leveraging learning and best practices from other municipalities,” Swanson said. “So the action steps that wind up being part of the plan will bubble up from the community itself, from our various engagement efforts.”
As part of the community engagement process, residents are encouraged to fill out a 10-minute survey, which will be open until Oct. 25. The city will also be holding two public workshops on the plan this week in Fayetteville:
- Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Bill Crisp Senior Center (7560 Raeford Road)
- Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Senior Center East (917 Washington Drive)
According to the city’s website, the workshops “will engage residents on sustainability concepts to better understand the values and needs of the community as we build regional and city-wide sustainability and energy efficiency plans.”
Kameryn Sessoms, Fayetteville’s Community Energy Fellow, joined in August to support the city’s energy efficiency and sustainability efforts. Sessoms will be helping develop the sustainability plan and other sustainability initiatives, such as Fayetteville’s regional clean energy initiative.
To learn more about the sustainability plan, visit the plan’s website.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
