REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Fiscal Year 2022/23 Sustainability Speaker Series
Report
BACKGROUND
In June 2016, City Council approved Budget Supplement No. 7 (Attachment 1) to create a Sustainability Speaker Series (hereafter "Series"). The Supplement provided $25,000 annually for five years, from FY 2016/17 through FY 2020/21. The funding supported the implementation of two to four events each year. Beginning in FY 2021/22, the Sustainability Speaker Series was funded through the operating budget for the Environmental Sustainability Program in the Environmental Services Department. The adopted budget for FY 2022/23 includes $25,000 for the Speaker Series implementation.
The Series is led by a Subcommittee of the Sustainability Commission consisting of Commissioners Veitch, Pistone, and Wang, which proposes the topics and identifies potential speakers. City Council approves the Series topics. Staff provides logistical support for implementing the events.
The FY 2021/22 Sustainability Speaker Series was approved by Council on February 23, 2021 (RTC No. 21-0155) and included three topics:
1. Home Electrification. This Old Zero-Emission House: Climate Retrofits on a Limited Budget (Seam Armstrong, Managing Principal of Redwood Energy), February 2022
2. Consumption Emissions. The Emissions that You Purchase: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint (Chris Jones, Director of the CoolClimate Network), March 2022
3. Health and Adaptation. A Changing Climate: Through the Lens of Equity and Resiliency (Violet Saena, Founder and Executive Director of Climate Resilient Communities), June 2022
EXISTING POLICY
Implementing the Sustainability Speaker Series is included as Move 5.D of the 46 "Next Moves" (specific actions) in the City's Climate Action Playbook (CAP), adopted in August 2019.
This Series is also aligned with the Sustainability Commission's duties, per City Council Policy 7.2.19, which include advising the Council on ways to drive community awareness, ...
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