Welcome to the Climate Action Planning Institute – Hudson Valley Regional Council

Welcome to the Westchester County Climate Action Planning Institute!

On this site you will find information related to your 16 month CAPI program. At any time, if you are not sure what you should be working on, you can refer back to this web site for guidance.

For CAPI programmatic assistance, please contact Mary Lambert: mlambert@hudsonvalleyrc.org, 845-595-8684.
For CAPI technical assistance: please contact Kale Roberts at iclei-usa@iclei.org, 845-464-3682.

Background

The Climate Action Planning Institute (CAPI) is a facilitated, collaborative working group through which a select group of local governments develop individual government operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories (“GOGHGI”) and government operations climate action plans (“GOCAP”).

The Hudson Valley Regional Council (HVRC) in partnership with ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), will be leading the Westchester CAPI program. Nine municipalities will together take a collaborative approach to climate mitigation and help bring State funding to the region for important projects.

Participating municipalities:

Westchester County
City of Peekskill
City of White Plains
Town of Ossining
Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
Village of Irvington
Village of Ossining
Village of Pelham
Village of Tarrytown

Cohort Meeting Schedule: 2023 Westchester CAPI Cohort Meeting Dates: February 1st, March 2nd, April 4^th, May 2nd, June 1st, July 13^th, August 3rd, September 7^th, October 5^th, November 2nd, and December 7^th.

Meeting #1: Kick-off

Date: Thursday, February 2nd

This in-person Kick-off meeting covered the basics of a government operations greenhouse gas inventory and government operations climate action plan, as well as an overview of the CAPI process, timeline, and benefits. It was an opportunity to meet the other cohort participants and engage with and ask questions to your CAPI leaders. Project management and match tracking were covered. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #2: Data Gathering

Date: Thursday, March 3rd

This meeting covered Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GOGHGI) including emissions factors, emission scopes, global warming potentials, and data sectors. The main focus was the data gathering process by sector, including a more detailed review of how to collect data for each sector and the sample data request templates. Climate Smart Communities (CSC) requirements and outreach and engagement planning were also covered. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #3: Making Sense of Data

Date: Thursday, April 6th, 1 pm - 3 pm

This meeting covered a sector-by-sector deep dive into ICLEI's excel workbook and a synopsis of data related questions and answers that have come up to date. Also covered: an overview of climate communications, i.e. effective ways to package and communicate climate-related data for broader audiences. Lastly, the municipalities shared experiences, challenges, and lessons learned in small group cohort breakout rooms. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #4: ClearPath Deep Dive

Date: Thursday, May 4th, 1 pm - 3 pm

This meeting focused on understanding ICLEI's Clear Path tool for creating a municipal greenhouse gas inventory. The Town of North East and the City of Beacon also presented on their Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventories and how they informed their Government Operations Climate Action Plans. The meeting also included small group breakout sessions and a review of recent frequently asked questions and answers. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #5: Inventory Report Deep Dive

Date: Thursday, June 1st, 1 pm - 3 pm

This meeting covered tips and guidance for ICLEI's government operations GHG inventory (GOGHGI) report template, as well as a review of example GOGHGIs from neighboring municipalities. The municipalities discussed progress in breakout rooms and frequently asked questions and answers from office hours were shared. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #6: Inventory Report Presentations and Climate Action Planning Basics

Date: Thursday, July 13th, 1 pm - 3 pm

We heard inventory presentations from the City of White Plains and the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. Emissions Forecasting, Target-Setting, and Stakeholder Engagement in Climate Planning were also covered in this meeting. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #7: Inventory Report Presentations and High Impact Action Brainstorming and Prioritization

Date: Thursday, August 3rd, 1 pm - 3 pm - In-person

Address: Westchester Board of Elections, 25 Quarropas St., 2nf fl., White Plains, NY

We heard inventory presentations from the City of Peekskill, The Town of Ossining, the Villages of Irvington, Pelham and Tarrytown. Cohort participants engaged in a high impact action brainstorming and prioritization exercise. Click here for more detail.

Meeting #8: Inventory Report Presentations and Emissions Forecasting in ClearPath

Date: Thursday, September 7th, 1 pm - 3 pm

We heard inventory presentations from Westchester County and the Village of Ossining. Caroline from ICLEI presented on the ClearPath emissions forecasting wizard to forecast a Business as Usual (BAU) forecast and to model emissions from high impact actions. Mary walked through the Public Outreach and Engagement Planning doc and reviewed frequently asked questions on the inventory report.

Shared Resources

Background documents

Program resources for CAPI Part 1 (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory)

Program resources for CAPI Part 2 (Climate Action Plan)

Examples of Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports

Examples of Government Operations Climate Action Plans

Visual Aids: Infographics Templates and Data Visualizations

Cohort Graphics

CAPI flyer from the Village of Pelham

Westchester CAPI has been funded in part by the Climate Smart Communities Grant Program, Title 15 of the Environmental Projection Fund through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.