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Cities in the U.S., Chile join for a greener future [1]
['Noelani Kirschner']
Date: 2024-08-22 04:03:00+00:00
Though separated by 8,000 kilometers, the cities of Renca, Chile, and Evanston, Illinois, in the United States, face similar challenges from the climate crisis.
Renca, near Chile’s capital Santiago, and Evanston, north of Chicago, are experiencing rising temperatures and more severe weather events, such as droughts and storms. The two cities want to do their part to reduce the pollution that drives climate change and mitigate the effects of global warming on their communities. Each is working to advance clean energy and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
When Renca officials wanted to create a shady green corridor on the slopes of Cerro Renca for residents to escape the heat, Evanston made for a natural partner.
Evanston has 7,700 kilometers of walking and biking trails and earns recognition for planting trees and expanding native gardens.
“We have similar goals — protecting parks and green spaces — and we do share best practices for how to accomplish those goals,” Evanston Sustainability and Resilience Specialist Kirsten Drehobl said of the partner cities.
They are one of a dozen U.S. locations partnering with municipalities in Latin America and the Caribbean through the Cities Forward program. Launched in April 2023 at the inaugural Cities Summit of the Americas, the U.S. State Department initiative connects local officials working toward a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future. The Institute of the Americas, Resilient Cities Catalyst and ICLEI, a network of 2,500 local and regional governments, support the partnerships.
Renca’s plans to develop a corridor along Cerro Renca with newly planted trees, walking paths and a bike trail are among the city’s many quality-of-life improvements for its 160,000 residents. The city has also installed solar panels in schools, built air-quality monitoring stations, bought an electric bus and enlisted the help of 16,000 volunteers to plant 80,000 native species in city parks.
Mayor Claudio Castro Salas says Renca’s partnership with Evanston helps his staff better understand how to develop parklands and green infrastructure to prevent pollution from contaminating stormwater runoff, while reducing urban heat island effects that worsen as the climate changes.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss says partnering with Renca is an “opportunity to push ourselves and grow.”
For their parts, Evanston officials are gaining a fresh perspective. “It’s great to meet with … Latin American and Caribbean cities to hear about how they’ve engaged people and how they’ve been able to build networks within their communities,” Drehobl says.
“The climate crisis requires communities with different experiences, strengths and needs to learn from one another and develop flexible solutions,” Biss says.
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[1] Url:
https://share.america.gov/city-in-us-state-of-illinois-one-in-chile-join-for-greener-future/
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