Using Climate Information in Local Planning
A Guide for Communities in the Great Lakes
Using Climate Information in Local Planning: A Guide for Communities in the Great Lakes outlines how community planners in the Great Lakes can use available data resources, existing science, and current policies and programs to adapt to climate change and its impacts. This guidebook explores:
- Climate change impacts in the Great Lakes
- Decision making under climate uncertainty
- Using climate information in the local planning process
- Assessing community-wide vulnerability
- Building local climate knowledge and capacity
- Making the case for action to other local decision makers
The particularities of local politics and community context means a straightforward "how-to" will be useful only in ideal scenarios. Instead, this guidebook focuses primarily on how communities can develop a framework of their own for mainstreaming climate information, science, and adaptation into their planning efforts.
Local Climate Vulnerability Assessments
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has developed a series of climate vulnerability assessments for four communities within the Chicago area. These assessments, developed as part of CMAP's Local Technical Assistance program, are designed to integrate into specific plan types at the local level. They are a model for how communities across the Great Lakes can integrate climate science and information into their own plans. These assessments may be downloaded below: