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City of Keene (NH) - Adapting to Climate Change: Planning a Climate Resilient Community

Keywords / Description:

Despite the City of Keene’s (NH) commitment to mitigation, the impacts associated with a changing climate are already being felt. From more frequent and severe flooding, to changes in annual snowfall amounts, to the infestation of non-native plant and animal species, to the increase in total number of high heat index days and more numerous poor air quality days, the City has come to recognize that these changes are ultimately impacting the community’s built, natural, and social environments.

To address these changes, the City of Keene has committed to expanding their climate protection efforts to include climate adaptation. Keene is working with ICLEI to develop a Milestone process specifically designed to assess the community’s vulnerability to these climate impacts and establish a methodology to enhance its resiliency to them.

The purpose of this document is to:

• Aid Keene’s progress in enhancing its resiliency to the impacts associated with climate change, and in its overall planning protection efforts;
• Highlight ICLEI’s Climate Resilient Communities Program process; and
• Offer an example to other communities to learn from as they embark on their adaptation planning efforts.

It is important to note that this document represents the first time that a community has attempted to undertake the development of an adaptation plan based upon ICLEI’s Five Milestones CRC Process. It is not an exhaustive planning exercise and should not be represented as such. Much of this document lays the foundation for Keene to move forward with a public process and further refinement of its climate change and overall sustainability goals.

Toolkit:

Climate Change Toolkit

Keyword Area:

Adaptation, Climate, Community Design, Environmental Health

Jurisdiction:

Institutional Author:

City of Keene (NH)

Submitted:

04/24/2012

Modified:

04/30/2012

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Five most recent user comments

Keene Adaptation Plan
By Brendon Haggerty
This is an example of a product of the ICLEI process.