Partnering for Just, Green, and Ready Communities

Resumen del informe: Facilitated by ULI’s Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate with support from the Kresge Foundation, the Just, Green, and Ready Communities (JGRC) grant supported District Councils in hosting convenings and technical assistance dedicated to building socially equitable, low-carbon, climate-resilient places. From increased flooding to extended droughts and extreme heat, the changing climate poses severe threats to cities and communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized. These neighborhoods and households also frequently bear a greater burden from a high-carbon built environment, from higher energy prices and dangerous air quality to inefficient, unhealthy housing environments.

The climate crisis is lighting a fire across the real estate industry and within communities to address these inequities and enhance livability, well-being, equity, and value in the built environment. It was through this lens that District Councils selected for participation in the JGRC program identified potential points of impact in their respective cities, partnering with CBOs to advance climate resilience and equity, while also engaging in a series of expert facilitated equity training by Tiffany Young with Think Equity and Rachel Porter and Camila Marquez of Kneading Change. After completing their technical assistance work with their partners over 18 months, in June 2024, ULI members and staff from Dallas-Fort Worth, Louisiana, and St. Louis gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for a capstone Summit, participating in the final facilitated equity training, sharing findings and progress points from their initiatives, and reflecting on their experiences of working with their respective CBO partners. The collective learnings from this process are summarized here to provide constructive insights for other District Councils considering or already conducting similar community-focused, equity-centered work.