GREENLink equity map
Upright partnered with Greenlink Analytics to launch GEM (the Greenlink Equity Map) and publish the Process Guide for City-Community Collaboration. Our focus is on combining data and lived experience, analytics and relationships, to guide decision-making on climate equity at the local level. We set up a community of practice for people working on these issues and trained staff managers.
UPRIGHT’S WORK
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electrify san jose framework
In San Jose, California, Upright and the Building Electrification Institute designed a co-creation process to center the concerns and priorities of communities of color in the City’s long-term building electrification plan. We guided city staff through a process to prepare to be good partners with the community. We secured funding for two community-based organizations from the Latinx and Vietnamese communities to work alongside city staff to develop the Electrify San José: Framework for Existing Building Electrification, which was adopted by the City Council.
eQUITY AND BUILDINGS workshops FOR USDN
For the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) and the American Cities Climate Challenge, Upright convened experts from city governments, community-based organizations, and climate equity organizations to publish “Equity and Buildings: A Practice Framework for Local Government Decision Makers.” We organized a biannual, four-part workshop series for local government leaders to hone their own local strategies, using the Framework as a guide. Graduates of the workshop series continue to participate in peer consultancies and one-on-one coaching sessions with Upright consultants.
teem community of practice
Upright helped the Greenlining Institute and Forth partner to launch a multi-state community of practice – TEEM (Towards Equitable Electric Mobility) – that brings together mainstream organizations and frontline organizations to build capacity and collaborate on state policies and demonstration projects that advance racial equity in electric mobility and climate programs. Upright helped design the community of practice and train community-of-practice managers at both organizations. We now provide ongoing support to the multi-year effort and the core partnerships.
NRDC’s building benchmarking report & process
NRDC’s City Energy Project leaders asked Upright to write a report about the equity impacts and opportunities related to local energy benchmarking policies for buildings, and we proposed a novel approach. We convened dozens of practitioners at different stages of work on building benchmarking policies – including practitioners with years of implementation experience and others just beginning. Together we explored the issues, identified promising practices, and then drafted and published the report, Incorporating Equity Into Energy Benchmarking Requirements: Guidance For Policy And Program Practitioners, confident that the people who needed this information most immediately had participated deeply in the knowledge production process.