For local governments, climate action plans need to do more than just outline a path to emissions reductions. A strong climate action plan not only properly analyzes current conditions to create a feasible path forward, it galvanizes support and incentivizes the necessary action from residents and local businesses to reduce climate impacts and support resiliency.
A key part of a comprehensive climate action plan is a compelling brand. Effective, accessible branding ensures that climate, sustainability, and resilience-related initiatives are easily recognizable by the public. When key phrases and visualizations are properly utilized in branding, climate messaging also becomes more relevant, relatable and actionable to residents, helping to incorporate sustainable and resilient actions into day-to-day life.
This year, KLA added three new climate action planning processes to our portfolio: the City of Bath, Maine; the Town of Barrington, Rhode Island; and the City of Buffalo, NY. We’re working with each community to develop impactful local or municipal climate action plans that resonate with communities’ unique identities and goals. By establishing strong, relatable brands, these plans aim to engage residents, foster collective responsibility, and inspire widespread participation in high-impact climate actions.
With all three local governments, KLA facilitated an in-depth narrative creation process to develop not just a “pretty picture” of climate action plans, but a narrative that reflects the individual identities, climate impacts, opportunities, characteristics, and motivators for each community. With this fully formed narrative, accompanying imagery and logos were developed to act as visual representations of the upcoming plans for community residents.
Below are the newly-minted brands, logos, and narratives for our three latest partners in driving a climate-ready future:
Ready & Resilient Barrington - Town of Barrington, Rhode Island
Here in Barrington, we are getting ready to meet the challenges of climate change head-on. In 2021, our Town Council adopted the Resilient Future Resolution, acknowledging the need for urgent action. Today, we are taking the next step towards that ambitious goal with Ready & Resilient Barrington, our plan to reduce our contribution to climate change and build resilience to its impacts. It is our job to prepare today for a safer, healthier tomorrow – not just for us, but for future generations as well.
As a coastal community, we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. We are seeing heavier storms and precipitation, increased flooding and erosion, and rising temperatures. Preparing for these impacts is vital for the health and safety of our community. The Ready & Resilient Plan aims to be a practical, responsible, and crucial response to manage these threats and reduce our climate pollution.
We need everyone in our community to make Ready & Resilient Barrington a reality. We all share the responsibility of caring for current and future generations and we can all participate in meaningful action with real results. Together, we can build a safer, healthier, and more resilient future – for all.
Climate Smart Buffalo - City of Buffalo, NY
In Buffalo, we have an opportunity to lead our city to a brighter, bolder future. We are stepping up to the challenge of climate change, ready to implement exciting, innovative solutions that will benefit our community today and for generations to come. Climate Smart Buffalo, our first government operations climate action plan, is the City’s commitment to taking the lead on climate concerns and embracing smart choices today for a safer, healthier tomorrow.
We are taking action because we are seeing the impacts of climate change every day, all around us. More intense storms, increased flooding, and hotter temperatures are putting the health and safety of our community at risk. Our City must do its part today to address these impacts head-on by reducing climate pollution and building our collective resilience to these challenges.
With the Climate Smart Buffalo Plan, we will lead by example and make smart decisions about how we power City buildings and infrastructure, move people and materials, generate electricity, and so much more. And, throughout this process, we will build on strong partnerships with the community to get the job done right. This is our vision for Climate Smart Buffalo: Working together for a brighter, safer, and healthier future.
Resilient Bath - City of Bath, Maine
When faced with challenges, our community remains strong: this is Bath. As a city that still builds ships on the same river as we did 200 years ago, resilience has always been a part of our community. With Resilient Bath, we will chart our course towards a safer, stronger future for everyone.
The impacts of climate change are nothing new to Bath residents; we have all experienced more intense storms, increased flooding, and unprecedented seasonal change in our community. With the Resilient Bath Plan, we have a collective opportunity to build resilience to these impacts while continuing to reduce our climate pollution and invest in clean energy.
Bath has already set a high bar for climate action in Maine, and now is our opportunity to strengthen our community and build on our legacy of climate leadership. The Resilient Bath Plan will lay out smart, practical strategies to continue our path towards a more sustainable and resilient future, and it will be up to all of us to ensure its success. Our city never backs down from a challenge – let's move forward, together.
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We’ve been working closely with our partners in all three of these communities to assess current climate conditions and identify priorities for their climate action planning processes. Stay up to date on our progress with these communities via KLA’s social media channels (like LinkedIn and Instagram) and look out for future content about the importance and best practices of climate action branding and narratives by subscribing to our newsletter, The Source.
