How We’re Inspiring Communities for Change
Greenbelt Alliance’s mission is to educate, advocate, and collaborate to ensure that the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate—taking steps today to build a future where people and nature can thrive, together.
Educate
With the Bay Area Resilience Hotspots initiative in hand—an interactive digital map that identifies climate risks and solutions in 18 Hotspots locations—we leveraged local community expertise and original research to pinpoint locations and to identify leaders to partner with in championing climate resilience.
Here’s just a snapshot of how we’ve started our Hotspots work:
- Built support and developed a plan for implementation funding to establish resilience hubs that will protect residents who experience extreme heat in Gilroy in Santa Clara County.
- Partnered with Suisun City, the local Sewer district, and local organizations to identify strategies for adapting to sea level rise, conduct educational activities and collaborate on a pilot of a horizontal levee project that will curb flood impacts in Suisun City in Solano County.
- Built multi-stakeholder support for addressing risks of sea level rise for shoreline communities in North Richmond in Contra Costa County.
- Helped establish a strong network of advocates in Newark and the Tri-City area to support the protection and management of the Newark area shoreline and citywide flood risks in Alameda County.
- Facilitated community engagement opportunities in Southwest Santa Rosa in Sonoma County to prepare all residents for extreme heat events and wildfire smoke.
Advocate
At Greenbelt Alliance, we know that climate policy is housing advocacy. And our advocacy would not be possible without a committed community that drives change!
After years of coalition work, the Sunnyvale City Council unanimously adopted the Moffett Park Specific Plan and Environmental Impact Report in 2023, which supports the redevelopment of current industrial areas into climate-resilient, transit-oriented, mixed-use housing. Doing this promotes infill as a strategy to reduce sprawl and make homes more affordable while using nature as a climate adaptation strategy.
By strategically advocating for building more housing in the right places—within developed areas and away from our precious open spaces and working lands—we’re yielding a positive influence in cities and counties across the Bay Area. Our advocacy is also helping enact regional and state policies that eliminate barriers and fund affordable infill housing, reinforcing our commitment to sustainable and accessible living.
For example, we’re helping drive statewide solutions that address California’s housing and climate crises. In total, eleven housing and three climate and environmental bills endorsed by Greenbelt Alliance passed this past year. Two of these bills are SB4 and SB243, which are critical housing legislations to advance and streamline the production of mixed-use developments. These bills will promote housing affordability, sustainability, climate resilience, and the protection of open space—and will enable us to build a more climate-resilient and equitable future.
Collaborate
Greenbelt Alliance is forming partnerships and working collaboratively to tackle our region’s most urgent climate and housing challenges. Our work across sectors brings local communities and key leaders together to plan a collective vision for the future. In 2023 alone, our team collaborated with 296 partners across 12 coalitions throughout the region. And our collaborations are growing.
In the face of a massive sprawl development proposal in Southeastern Solano County, we have been instrumental in forming the Solano Together coalition of local ranchers, farmers, environmentalists, residents, and organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting the County. Our leadership in the coalition is helping the community envision a better future for the County that focuses development on existing cities and strengthens the region’s agricultural industry.
Greenbelt Alliance will support Solano Together’s mission to engage, educate, and activate the County’s residents and organizations by uniting diverse interests around core values and advocating for Solano County’s long-term health and vibrancy through city-centered growth and the protection of working lands and open spaces.
Photo by Paige Green Photography.
