Boulder staff to launch updated Climate Action Plan with Earth Day storytelling event

The City of Boulder plans to launch an updated Climate Action Plan this April and mark the release with a community storytelling event on Earth Day, staff told the Environmental Advisory Board on April 8.

"We're excited to be getting close to the finish line, gearing up for the launch," said Jonathan Cohen of the Climate Initiatives team, who welcomed new board members and previewed the event. Senior Analyst Kate Galvo said the revision emphasizes implementation and community engagement after a year of refining goals, performing an equity analysis and meeting with leaders from frontline communities.

The plan will be rolled out through a phased communications campaign that includes blog posts, social media, a press release and interactive posters to help residents understand the CAP's goals and action areas. Staff described a design that cross-references other city plans such as the drought plan, water supply plan and stormwater plan rather than duplicating those efforts.

"We did an equity analysis in the summer using the city's racial equity tools," Galvo said, adding that the draft now elevates resilience and equity goals to the same level as mitigation targets.

As part of the April launch, staff will hold an Earth Day event at E-Town Hall featuring about a dozen community storytellers, two-way Spanish interpretation and youth-focused activities. Climate Engagement Strategist Darren Wagner said the event will offer short (3'0 minutes) stories, a children's book and a Climate Action Bingo card to introduce CAP action areas to families.

Board members asked how implementation and progress will be measured. Galvo said the city maintains public dashboards with outcome-focused indicators and reviews metrics annually or more often when data permit, but acknowledged the dashboards do not yet surface detailed root-cause analysis; staff said linking program refinements to tracked indicators is an area for improvement.

The CAP update also strengthens the plan's land-use focus, staff said, and adds local resilience projections and mapping. Staff described an interdepartmental mapping exercise to align departmental plans and create shared ownership of CAP strategies.

Staff said they will continue community engagement during implementation and will report progress annually. The board will see the final CAP and related materials after the April launch.