Science Action Center Anthropologists Present Inventory Findings to Communications Partners
On March 10, our anthropologists presented key findings and recommendations from our study, "Engaging Chicago's Diverse Communities the Chicago Climate Action Plan," to partners from the communications strategy team of the Chicago Region Retrofit Ramp-up Program (CR3), which aims to significantly increase residential and commercial retrofits within the Chicago region. Led by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) with the City of Chicago Department of Environment, CR3 is a $25M program funded by the federal Department of Energy. In the Chicago region, energy emitted by buildings is the key driver of climate change, comprising 70% of greenhouse gas emissions in the city of Chicago and 63% in the 7-county region. The communications strategy team is led by the public relations firm Fleishman Hillard and includes Fathom (a marketing firm), Booz (a consulting firm conducting quantitative research), and The Field Museum (ECCo).
Our role is to advise the team on its marketing and community engagement plans, based on the results of our study. The study consists of rapid ethnographic inventories conducted in communities throughout Chicago to identify assets, concerns, leaders, innovations, communications networks, and community-based models for outreach that can serve as springboards for increased engagement in the Chicago Climate Action Plan and also the region's Climate Action Plan for Nature. Since June 2008, we have completed seven inventories around Chicago (see map below). The study will be complete after we conduct five more inventories during 2011-12, to achieve significant geographic, ethnic/racial, and socioeconomic diversity representative of the city overall.
