North Richmond’s resilient spirit was front and center at the Earth Day Festival at Shields-Reid Park last Saturday! The local community showed up for a lively celebration that invited family and friends to engage with local and regional organizations advancing environmental and social projects throughout North Richmond. We’re honored to participate in the festival among inspiring community and climate leaders who are making a lasting impact in improving their neighborhoods, ecosystems, and communities.
The April 20th gathering activated local awareness on nature-based solutions and urban greening while honoring a local government leader John Steere, who received the Greenbelt Alliance 2023 Hidden Hero of the Greenbelt award for his community-led approach to watershed management.
At Greenbelt Alliance’s Resilient North Richmond FilmFest, community members enjoyed a curation of thought-provoking short films that highlighted the importance of nature-based solutions and community leadership in building local resilience in North Richmond and beyond.
Contra Costa County’s watershed planner, John Steere, and Supervisor, John Gioia, joined us for a conversation about the importance of local governance working directly with the community to harness local leadership in preparing cities for a changing climate. John Steere and John Gioia shared updates on inspiring projects such as the Watershed Connections, which aims to reconnect Wildcat and San Pablo creeks in ways that allow for more community engagement with the surrounding nature.
Check out more photos on the Flickr Album
This event was supported by the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Why North Richmond is a Resilience Hotspot
North Richmond is among our top priority Bay Area Bay Resilience Hotspots identified in this research initiative. These are places where investing in people and leading with nature will change the trajectory of our region’s future so that people and ecosystems thrive.
North Richmond’s people and ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise exacerbated by environmental injustice by polluting industries. Learn more about the challenges and opportunities in North Richmond by visiting the Community Profile (available in English and Spanish.)
The Earth Day event fostered connections with our Bay Area Resilience Hotspots community partners and our shared work of advancing a living levee project. Nature-based solutions like these can help mitigate climate change impacts while cultivating a harmonious balance between nature and people.
