Chicago Community Climate Action Toolkit Profile: South Chicago
-- This is a working project page. Below you will find information and tools related to the Chicago Community Climate Action Toolkit project. --
Chicago Community Climate Action Toolkit Profile: South Chicago
THE GOALS:
- Raise awareness of the South Chicago Retrofit Project
- Highlight diverse green practices from members of the South Chicago/Southeast Side community
- Local artists represent local stories
- Launch a community exhibit and offer green tours THE STRATEGY:Use Field Museum Research, the City's Chicago Climate Action Plan (CCAP) and the Chicago Wilderness Climate Action Plan for Nature (CAPN) as roadmaps for community-based climate action. Learn more about the Toolkit Climate Action Approach in South Chicago.
THE PLAYERS:Claretian Associates, Spanish Coalition for Housing, Calumet Stewardship Initiative, The Zone, South Chicago Art Center, Centro Comunitario Juan Diego, the 10th Ward Alderman’s Office, the LISC New Communities Program, the Germano Milgate youth leaders, and The Field Museum's Science Action Center.
THEIR STORY: The South Chicago toolkit project is designed to document and promote the innovative environmental efforts of Southeast Side organizations, like the South Chicago Retrofit Project (SCRP) led by Claretian Associates. SCRP is a two-year, community-intensive, project in the South Chicago neighborhood that aims to significantly increase residential retrofits by targeting particular blocks, working through community networks, and linking the issue of energy efficiency to neighborhood concerns. Members of the project will launch an exhibit based on creative representations of the community by local artists based on local research. They will create tours that integrate public sculpture and highlight green practices in the area, including retrofitted houses, energy-efficient businesses, and engagement with nearby natural resources.
This project helps community members to:
- Address residents’ interest in green building and retrofitting while addressing concerns about cost, gentrification, and feelings of exploitation by outside entities including the City
- Inform people about the necessity for sustainability and show how to successfully implement sustainable practices
- Engage youth in the green movement TAKE ACTION: See what How-to Guides have been created by these partners. Here you will find links to more resources and step-by-step guides you can use in your own project! As the project progresses, more tools will be added to this section.(coming soon)
See how the project is coming along (flickr)
About this project:The project provides community organizations from the Bronzeville, Pilsen, South Chicago, and Forest Glen neighborhoods with financial and technical support to create tools for engaging their residents in programs that address both climate change and neighborhood concerns.
