The City of Grand Rapids’s Office of Sustainability will adopt a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) based on strategic community engagement over time. To aid in this endeavor, Catalyst Leadership Circle Fellow Aritra Chakrabarty created a series of programs aimed to establish mitigation as a community-centric activity, where citizens can play the central role through engagement and peer education. The activities created as part of this project are based on racial and environmental justice principles to guide the City towards an equitable and just future. The programs are residential composting, aimed at engaging residents and subscribing businesses on an individual basis to collecting and composting; bulk-purchase solar, aimed at educating people to achieve energy efficiency; and public transportation incentives aimed at creating conditions that persuade commuters to reduce the use of single occupant transport modes.

• Location: Grand Rapids, MI
• Project Team: Aritra Chakrabarty (Fellow), Michigan Technological University; Annabelle Wilkinson (Mentor), City of Grand Rapids; Alison Sutter (Mentor), City of Grand Rapids; Henry Love (Technical Advisor), Midwest Strategy and Business Development

Project Presentation

Other Downloads

• Incentivizing Public Transportation Use
  This strategy is based on existing public transportation initiatives, acknowledging the challenges that these face. The proposed mitigation activity suggests using resources to divert people away from vehicle use.
• Residential Solar Bulk-Purchase Program
  This strategy describes existing solar programs in Grand Rapids, proposes mitigation activity, and outlines the participating stakeholders. Cost estimates for solar panels and an overview of the challenges to residential solar are also included.
• Residential Composting Program
  This strategy describes existing composting facilities in the city, includes proposed mitigation activity, and outlines participating stakeholders. It also warns of the challenges of community level composting.