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Northwest Indiana Climate Action Planning Work Group

Project Summary

NIRPC is working with Earth Charter Indiana, the IU Environmental Resilience Institute McKinney Fellows Program, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and local governments and stakeholders to coordinate the development of a climate action plan for Northwest Indiana (NWI). A Climate Action Planning Work Group is being formed to provide input and assist in development of the plan.

Who will serve on the Task Force?

Local planning authorities and stakeholders in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties are invited to participate. The project team seeks diverse representation from NWI communities to ensure all voices are heard and all needs represented. Public and community outreach will also be conducted as part of plan development.

Appropriate representatives from LPAs may include planners, engineers, parks department staff, utility department staff, solid waste management districts, elected officials, and council or commission members.

Organizations representing stakeholder and community groups are also invited to participate. Examples include environmental, energy, and social advocacy groups, transit operators, agricultural organizations, solid waste management districts, utilities and educational institutions.

Work Group Participation and Commitment

Work Group members will commit to attending and actively participating in approximately 4 2-hour meetings during development of the climate action plan. In meetings, Work Group members will serve as representatives of their communities or groups and provide information and input toward development of the plan. Anticipated meetings include:

  1. Application regional reduction target across communities and sectors
  2. Prioritization of appropriate best practices and strategies to meet the regional target
  3. Finalization of plan and adoption by Work Group
  4. Strategizing for promotion, adoption and implementation

Between meetings, Work Group members will communicate with the work team and other task force members, assist in outreach and surveys to gather input and information from their communities and review and contribute to draft materials.