CSLN REPORTS ENERGY AND RECYCLING FINDINGS

ICA has continued to build connections within the Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network (CSLN) and promote the CSLN’s work as a multi-disciplinary network of local experts. As reported in recent ICA e-news, the CSLN completed two major projects in early 2017: Preparing for Rainy Days: Culturally Inspired Smart Grid Education in 3 Communities and the collaborative partnership around recycling with the City of Chicago.

CSLN Meet at CASL

Preparing for Rainy Days project collaborators continue to share project outcomes and learnings. ICA and CSLN partners recently presented on their culturally-specific energy education project in a webinar for current Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation (ISEIF) grantees and the broader ISEIF community. The webinar shared project methodology (including image shift), community-specific cultural approaches, and lessons learned from the project. The webinar was recorded and is accessible at http://bit.ly/CSLN-Energy-Webinar2017.

CSLN’s policy team submitted the final report of the recycling recommendations to the City. Although the team presented the initial report in January, city officials requested a final prioritization of recommendations. The policy team put a call out to the network and also unexpectedly received feedback from community members who didn’t attend the November meetings but still cared about recycling. Read the report at http://bit.ly/CSLN-Recycling-Report. The City recently announced new recycling programs, featuring many suggestions from the regional meetings. See the new policy at http://bit.ly/ChiRecycle2017. The policy team is currently refocusing on their next priority for 2017.

ICA program staff continue to co-organize the network with shared leaders: Melanie Eckner for the North Side, Toni Anderson for the South Side, and Lorena Lopez for the Southwest Side. Currently, the network is focused on working together on collaborative projects, new or something that builds on prior work, such as the recycling report.