Cool Cities Team Resources

This event focused on team building and organizing skills and trained volunteers to develop strategic plans for implementing their team goals. The first half of the event included presentations on building, organizing, and planning. Residents from each city were then given time for networking. Facilitated break-out groups for San Jose, for green building policy, and for general plan updates then focused on developing a small piece of a strategic plan to make progress in each of these areas.

Event Agenda

Introduction Powerpoint, Speaker: Julio Magalhães (Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter)

Script for planning & team building presentation, Speakers: Stephanie Reyes (Greenbelt Alliance), Matt Vander Sluis (Planning & Conservation League)

Break-out Group Strategic Planning Guidelines Handout

Volunteer Leadership Ladder and Tasks Handout

Sierra Club Grassroots Organizing Training Manual (15 MB)

This event discussed how climate protection can be included in city and county general plans and provided a review of green building policy in the Silicon Valley Region. A “toolkit” with specific suggestions for general plan climate protection language was presented, and opportunities for involvement in the general planning process were also discussed. A short overview of the Loma Prieta Chapter’s Cool Cities Campaign was provided, and a panel of Cool Cities Team members discussed strategies for success as a Cool Cities Team and activist.

Presentations and handouts from this event:

Event Agenda

Introduction, Speaker: Julio Magalhães (Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter)

Climate Change in General Plans: Sample Language and Policies for Activists, Speaker: Ellie Casson (Greenbelt Alliance)

Climate Change in General Plans: Sample Language and Policies for Activists Handout,

Local Climate Action: The General Plan Process, Speaker: Matt Vander Sluis (Planning & Conservation League)

Green Building Policy and the General Plan, Speaker: Shiloh Ballard (Silicon Valley Leadership Group)

Green Building Policy Handout

This event provided an overview of the Loma Prieta Chapter's Cool Cities Campaign, a discussion of the land-use climate connection, an introduction to the use of policy tools such as the city general planning process and city guidelines for implementing the California Environmental Quality Act to reduce the carbon footprint of new developments, and presented the 2009 Loma Prieta Chapter Cool Cities Campaign goals.

Presentations and handouts from this event:

Event Agenda

Cool Cities Campaign Overview, Speaker: Julio Magalhães (Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter)

The Land Use- Climate Change Connection, Speaker: Stephanie Reyes (Greenbelt Alliance)

Policy Opportunities for Change: The Planning & Conservation League Climate Change Toolkit, Speaker: Matt Vander Sluis (Planning & Conservation League)

2009 Cool Cities Campaign Goals, Speaker: Margaret Suozzo (Cool Cities Core Team)

2009 Cool Cities Loma Prieta Chapter Campaign Goals Handout

• June 10, 2009: Residential Solar Permit Fee Study Extended to Southern California!
  
• April 27, 2009: Sierra Club Launches Campaign to Encourage Cities in Silicon Valley to Lower Solar Permit Fees for Non-residential Systems
  
• Sept. 3, 2008: Sierra Club Releases Report on Local Government Climate Protection Policies in the Silicon Valley Region