Urban Climate Action

Faculty Advisors: Don Barber & Victor Donnay

Field Site: Delaware County, Office of Sustainability

Field Supervisors: Sharon Jaye, Rebecca Ross, Julie DelMuto

Praxis Posters:

Further Context:

This is the second semester of a year-long Praxis program with the Local Climate Action Program in Delaware County. This semester we continued our work with the Office of Sustainability and facilitated the development of a context-based local climate action plan (CAP). With the inventory (chart found in the left) of community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the results of public engagement, we proposed feasible mitigation strategies for the county. We learned and utilized Clearpath to model these local approaches, through which the goal of carbon neutrality will be met by 2050, as shown in the right. Clearpath is an application that allows us to create a forecast of the county’s carbon emissions and view the effects of our mitigation strategies. These policy suggestions and action planning will assist Delaware County’s Sustainability Commission in improving and implementing their larger climate action planning goals.

The LCAP program served as a real-world application of our environmental studies knowledge, implement data applications, and to develop professional skills. We both practiced  how to work collaboratively and communicate multilaterally. The combination of remote online working sessions and field site visits, maximized the experience of this internship. The program allowed us to present and discuss our projects with our supervisors, faculty advisors, and local officials and practitioners, improving our professional communication skills and broadening our understanding of the environmental industry.

Praxis Course Highlights: