Meet the Moment: Activating Internal Capacity-Building Opportunities to Respond to Climate Change in Ramsey County

Abstract

This project was completed as part of a partnership between Ramsey County and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (http://www.rcp.umn.edu). Ramsey County's 2040 Comprehensive Plan clearly articulates that all County work shall be examined through the lenses of "health in all policies, resilience and racial equity." The purpose of this project was to identify strategies and resources that empower county employees to reframe or refine their approach to work in order to better promote health, resilience, and racial equity in County efforts to prepare for and address climate change impacts. Ramsey County project lead Abi Phillips collaborated with a team of graduate students enrolled in Professor Peter Brown's PA 8081: Planning and Public Policy Capstone. Students researched case studies of comparable government models in other counties, conducted a gap analysis in collaboration with staff from Public Health and Parks and Recreation, and provided recommendations and next steps. The students’ final report is available.