The panel of women from Salem and Beverly behind the Resilient Together plan, a collaboration between the two coastal Massachusetts cities with complementary demographics, joined CWEEL on Jan 19^th to share their work developing and implementing the plan, as well as share their own personal sustainability journeys. All the women shared a theme of applying their diverse backgrounds and experience to make a positive impact. When delving into their work on Resilient together, the discussion included the challenges and successes of community engagement (social media was the strongest tool for engagement), communication (focus on co-benefits like reducing school bus fumes and establishing community gardens), and ensuring equitable impact (comparing survey results with community demographics). Technical challenges included GHG accounting (only Scope 1 and Scope 2 were included) and funding. In addition to shorter-term goals that include a joint training project on residential deep energy retrofit program for existing buildings & net zero design for new construction, they are also focused on long-term creative solutions that integrate with other municipal and regional goals.

If you are interested in hearing the event recording, sign up for the CWEEL newsletter where a link will be shared.