Community Outreach to Build Inclusive Climate Action Policies
The City of Medford (Massachusetts), United States of America
A long-time discloser to CDP-ICLEI Track, the City of Medford has consistently demonstrated its commitment to placing vulnerable communities at the forefront of its climate planning. As the first community in Massachusetts to publish a Climate Action Plan (in 2001), Medford has assessed not only how growing climate hazards will impact the community but also how to prioritize safeguarding residents who will feel its effects most immediately and severely.
Over the past two decades, Medford’s Department of Planning, Development, and Sustainability has built partnerships with other city departments, community organizations, and residents to support its ongoing climate efforts. The city has hosted multiple public workshops and encouraged community-led working groups to contribute to initiatives such as the Climate Change and Vulnerability Assessment and Medford’s Resilience Hubs process. Most notably, Medford's equity-focused Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) draws on the city’s deep understanding of climate vulnerability and community resilience, helping the city achieve its climate vision through community participation.
“Medford is a place where everyone can thrive, now and for generations to come, ensuring that our future is just and equitable, resilient, healthy, and carbon neutral.”
The City of Medford’s Climate Vision
Centering Equity - Developing Inclusive Planning Processes
Through Massachusetts’ Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, Medford received multiple grants to support its climate planning, including funding for the development of an equity-centered process for climate action and adaptation planning. This grant had several key objectives, including fostering connections with residents from diverse communities, providing opportunities for communities facing environmental justice concerns to influence the development of the CAAP, and piloting innovative forms of engagement focused on building relationships and storytelling.
At the same time as the city created a Social Justice Roadmap, Medford’s climate planners recognized the need to enhance the cultural consciousness of its staff and foster dialogue with the broader Medford community. With support from All Aces, Inc., a local minority-owned firm that facilitates conversations around resilience and equity, the city hosted virtual equity workshops for working group members, city staff, and the public. These sessions aimed to develop a collective understanding of the relationship between inequality and climate change and review the proposed CAAP strategies with an equity lens. Discussions centered on assessing whether climate policies or programs imposed unjust burdens on vulnerable populations, how to ensure equitable distribution of benefits, and how to involve vulnerable populations in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs.
Community Outreach – Building Trust Through Conversation
“Climate change presents significant risks to both the residents of Medford and its natural resources. Temperature changes, extreme weather events, and flooding are among the many projected impacts of climate change. Although the physical impacts of climate are undoubtedly important to address, of equal importance are the impacts on human health and social well-being, particularly among climate-sensitive populations (older adults, young children, and teens) and historically marginalized communities.” – Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn
In an effort to elevate underrepresented voices, Medford devised a series of 'community dinners' aimed at providing a safe and inclusive space for immigrant and minority populations to discuss community climate resilience. The dinners were planned in partnership with the Medford Family Network, a local organization that supports and builds social networks for families with young children, including immigrant families. To ensure accessibility for all residents, the city offered translation and interpretation services. Navigating COVID-19 restrictions, the city successfully hosted a Haitian community dinner in October 2020. Taking place in the context of heightened discussions surrounding the health inequities of the pandemic, the dinner aimed to initiate discussions on various challenges faced by the Haitian community, including transportation access, public health, and implementing nature-based solutions. Mayor Lungo-Koehn's participation at the event highlighted the city's dedication to fostering meaningful city-community partnerships and prioritizing community-driven discussions, even in unprecedented circumstances.
In the following months, the city established the Outreach & Community Collaboration Working Group, from Medford's Haitian, Arab, Asian, and Latinx communities, to ensure the strategies and actions outlined in the CAAP draw on the lived experiences of migrant and low-income residents. Following the draft publication of the CAAP, the city continued to gather feedback from community members through events and online surveys. To effectively facilitate inclusive decision-making, the City of Medford consciously shifted its role from “city as lead problem-solver” to “city as collaborator”. This approach emphasizes democratic participation, community ownership, and partnership-building to promote effective program design, policy implementation, and knowledge sharing.
Medford officially released its comprehensive CAAP in April 2022. Structured around four main themes – Public Health, Ecosystems and Natural Environment, Buildings and Energy, and Transportation – the CAAP interweaves social equity, community outreach, and education as cross-cutting priorities shaping strategies within the broader thematic areas. Many of the strategies are further guided by Medford's "Equity Framework for Implementation” which is intended to drive future actions in line with the city’s climate equity goals.
Next Steps – Equitable and Sustainable Futures for All
Since the release of the CAAP, Medford has made notable progress toward implementation. With support from the MVP program, Medford established the Community Liaison initiative, to create community cohesion within environmental justice and climate-sensitive populations. This initiative employs nine liaisons from diverse communities to bolster city-wide outreach and engagement efforts alongside partners. Fluent in priority languages such as Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Spanish, these Community Liaisons facilitate more meaningful connections with residents navigating racism, language isolation, classism, and other forms of marginalization. The establishment of the Climate Equity Council in November 2023 further underscores Medford's commitment to inclusive governance. Tasked with advising on CAAP implementation, the council prioritizes the representation of historically underrepresented groups, drawing extensively from members' firsthand experiences and community insights to inform decisions regarding neighborhood-specific, building and energy, stormwater, public health, and transportation projects.
Looking ahead, the city plans to further its efforts by expanding the Medford Connects network, fostering collaboration among community-based organizations, local agencies, and municipal departments to enhance resilience support. The upcoming Electrify Medford outreach campaign will focus on promoting energy efficiency, electrification, and renewables, with personalized decarbonization plans and one-on-one support for residents from local trained volunteers and coaches. These initiatives reflect Medford's ongoing dedication to building a more equitable and sustainable future for all its residents.