Increase social connectedness through engagement, capacity building, public investment, and opportunities for economically vulnerable residents to improve their economic prosperity and resilience to climate change.

Engagement:

• Generate and download a Populations at Risk report for your city based upon current socioeconomic data (note: sometimes estimated) on Young & Elderly Populations, Race & Ethnicity, Educational Attainment, Language Proficiency, Individuals in Poverty, Families in Poverty, Households Receiving Public Assistance, Labor Participation, Housing Affordability, Rental & Mobile Homes, Potentially Vulnerable Households, Potentially Vulnerable People.
• The Racial Equity Toolkit (Government Alliance on Race and Equity: 2024) provides best practices for engaging communities of color, and has been used by the League of MN Cities.
• In the Eye of the Storm: A People’s Guide to Transforming Crisis & Advancing Equity in the Disaster Continuum (NAACP, 2021) guides community leaders ‘through the process of building equity into the four phases of environmental management: prevention and mitigation, preparedness and resilience building, response and relief, and recovery and redevelopment.’ 
• The UM-Extension Model of Civic Engagement brings together experience, information and diverse perspectives in a respectful process, allowing communities to reach decisions that are more thoughtful, broadly supported and ultimately sustainable. 
• See The National Civic League's Civic Index, a self-assessment tool comprising 32 questions that measure and help discussion of a community’s civic capital – the formal and informal relationships, networks and capacities that communities use to make decisions and solve problems.   
• The Equitable Development Principles & Scorecard was created by Twin Cities, MN community leaders to make sure that the principles and practices of equitable development, environmental justice, and affordability are available to all communities as they plan for economic development and wealth creation that benefits everyone. 

Services:

• 2-star examples of targeted training, job placement and/or supportive services include:  
  • low-income solar or weatherization with workforce development
  • urban agriculture with workforce development
  • post-incarceration reentry assistance
  • culturally-appropriate mentoring and peer support programs
• Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) offers paid training to join the clean energy and energy efficiency sector, which presents many opportunities. We prioritize training Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latine participants, people of color, and women from communities across the Twin Cities that have been underrepresented in this industry.
• Renewable Energy Partners (REP) is a Minnesota Minority Business Enterprise that provides training in solar energy, EV charging, green infrastructure, and energy efficiency. 
• Minneapolis Climate Action offers Green Job training for weatherization, electrical, solar, HVAC, and construction designed for women and people of color. 

Resilience Hubs: 

• Resilience hubs are community-serving facilities that coordinate resource distribution and services before, during and/or after natural hazard events to support the resilience of existing residents.
• See How to Develop a Resilience Hub from the Resilience Hub Collaborative for resources and examples. 
• Churches and faith organizations can make great resilience hubs! Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light has worked with many faith communities across the state. 
• The Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership provides additional resources for resilience hubs. 
• Green Zones focus governmental and local business resources toward transforming neighborhoods overburdened with pollution hotspots into more environmentally and economically just neighborhoods.