From increased flooding to extended droughts and extreme heat, the changing climate poses severe threats to cities and communities, especially communities that have been marginalized. These neighborhoods and households also frequently bear a greater burden from a high-carbon built environment, from higher energy prices and dangerous air quality to inefficient, unhealthy housing stock.

To address these challenges, each District Council received specialized training and provided technical support and guidance through activities including hosting capacity-building convenings and technical assistance events with one or more local community-based organization (CBO) partners, addressing various dimensions of equitable climate resilience and decarbonization and reducing excessive burdens on BIPOC neighborhoods of environmental pollution, inequitable land use planning and policy, and public and private disinvestment.

This work on climate solutions prioritized strategies that support economic growth and increased stability for low-income and BIPOC neighborhoods.   

JGRC’s goal is to deepen partnerships between District Councils and CBOs on equitable climate action in cities and to drive greater focus on the role of social and racial equity in local decarbonization and resilience measures in the built environment, while sharing lessons on community engagement across the ULI District Council network.

Want to learn more about how District Councils can partner effectively with community-based organizations? Download the Partnering for Just, Green, and Ready Communities short report for lessons learned  from the first iteration of JGRC, created by District Council staff and members.

Just, Green, Ready Communities Activities

The first iteration of JGRC concluded in Summer 2024 with a final event reflecting on the program’s outcomes and the process of deepening partnerships between District Councils and CBOs on environmental and social equity.

Technical assistance

Each Council leveraged the JGRC program to expand existing partnerships with their community-based organizational partners and conducted an array of activities to support each CBO’s work. For example:

• ULI New Orleans/Louisiana expanded on an existing partnership that began in 2022 with Sankofa CDC in the Lower Ninth Ward to implement a land use and built environment strategy (see Sankofa and the Lower Ninth Ward: A Healthier Community for Generations to Come) to support community development, climate resilience, and economic vitality across the neighborhood, and is working to mobilize public stakeholders to implement recommendations from that strategy. Convenings held to raise awareness of this work with city stakeholders have increased buy-in for implementation with key city agencies and set Sankofa up competitively for future funding opportunities.
• ULI Dallas-Fort Worth has developed partnerships to host technical assistance with four (4) community-based organizations and local governments that are working to tackle issues affecting low-income communities of color in Dallas, such as buildups of industrial land use and air pollution, rising incidences of stormwater flooding and development potential for green infrastructure, food deserts and lack of green space, and preservation of a historic freedmen’s neighborhood.
• ULI St. Louis has partnered with the Home Repair Network, a coalition of small organizations working to preserve and enhance the affordability, health, energy efficiency, climate resilience of existing housing stock in low-income, majority Black neighborhoods of St. Louis, as a combined housing preservation, wealth generation, and environmental strategy. ULI has helped launch the Network and hosted convenings to build the coalition’s capacity to access federal funding and other resources that will sustain its work long-term. With ULI’s support, the Network is working to develop a strategic plan to guide its growth over the next several years and hire an experienced executive director.

Equity training

In addition to this community-based work, District Council staff and member champions also enhanced their understanding and skills around engaging with issues of social and racial equity, land use and real estate, and environmental issues by attending four workshops led by expert equity advisor Tiffany Young from Think Equity, with support from Rachel Porter and Camila Marquez from Kneading Change.

These workshops explored topics of cultural humility, intersectionality, Indigenous rights and sovereignty, understanding the role we play as ULI staff and members when engaging with community organizations, and how to understand power dynamics between partners and develop more reciprocal relationships.

Final Reflection Event

The JGRC program concluded with a final event in May 2024 in St. Louis, which brought together all Council staff, members, equity advisors, and supporting Lewis Center staff to reflect on the progress made over the past 18 months and the lessons learned for how a large organization such as ULI can form strong, thoughtful partnerships with community-based partners. Lessons from this event are available in the Partnering for Just, Green, and Ready Communities short report above for District Councils seeking or working with community partners on equity issues.

Final reflection event participants in St. Louis.

Future Iterations of Just, Green, Ready Communities

Funding for the first iteration of JGRC was provided by the ULI Foundation with support from the Kresge Foundation.

The ULI Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate seeks to continue the JGRC program and is excited to continue strengthening impact and partnerships in communities across the U.S. The Lewis Center is pursuing funding for additional iterations of the program and welcomes interest from potential funders.