We get it. Especially around the holidays, many people tend to avoid conversations that they perceive to be controversial: whether that be politics, personal life, or the climate crisis. But the recent uptick in understanding and concern about the latter provides the opportunity for climate conversations with friends and family to not only be uncontroversial, but productive in facilitating positive climate action. 

Climate ambassadors in Cary, NC spread the word about the Count Me in, Cary! climate action strategy

You might not be surprised to learn that trust in federal elected officials is in the basement. Only about32% of Americans have a “great deal/fair amount of trust” in Congress – 23% have “none at all”.  Top billing for trust among government institutions is local governments with 67% (though even that number has dropped from 75% just a few years ago). 

Source: Gallup

Perhaps that reflects your own opinions or rings true with what you see in the headlines.It’s one of the many reasons why KLA focusesalmost exclusively on local governments. But our laser focus on US cities, towns and counties is rooted more in the positives than the negatives: they are perfectly positioned and extremely motivated to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Not through municipal operations alone but by sparking and enabling behavior change in the community.  

As a small business working with local governments, the strength of KLA is in our people. Every member of our team plays a crucial role in shaping the work we do and driving positive change in the communities we work with. Our work with local governments requires the collaborative efforts of individuals across the country with different backgrounds, experiences, and fresh perspectives – so we are thrilled to be welcoming a new class of bright and talented KLA interns to our team! 

It’s finally Earth Month, and in 2023, the opportunity for change is bigger than ever. With growing public awareness and concern about climate change (which peak around Earth Day!), local governments have a unique opportunity to catalyze action and drive change in their communities. However, in order to effectively communicate about the urgency and importance of taking action, it’s crucial to craft climate messages and stories that inspire your audience.  

Building quality climate communications means answering critical questions: Where does the public stand on climate action? What kind of content encourages interest, concern, and action? And when it comes to talking about climate, how do we pick the right words? 

With research surrounding climate awareness and action quickly evolving in recent years, it can be difficult to sort through the noise and find the most current and relevant answers. So this Earth Month, we’re boiling down five basic concepts you should understand to harness heightened public interest and inspire action in your community. 

When it comes to local climate action planning work, we want “equitable” to be more than just a buzzword. As one of KLA’s core values, we make it central to our approach from start to finish both for how our company operates and the products and services we deliver to our local government clients. 

Why? Because a truly resilient, sustainable future means all members of the community are able to share in the prosperity and benefits it brings. To us, equity is non-negotiable.

In this post, we’re breaking down the value of equity in our line of work and how KLA centers it in our climate action planning.  

Four of our Climate Ambassadors on the Clark County engagement team. 

To kick off the new year, we’ve reignited the KLA Sustainability Action Series podcast with rock star guest Dallase Scott to discuss why facilitation is such an undervalued skill and how to run more effective and inclusive meetings.   

Have you planned your communications content for today? For next week? Q1? How about 2023?

If you don’t have your plan quite ready, we’ve got you covered. Planning communications content can seem daunting, but consistent content is key to keeping communities engaged in action throughout the year.

The revamped KLA 2023 Editorial Calendarprovides a detailed community, sustainability, and climate-related dates and holidays; monthly themes for community climate engagement; as well as tips and tricks for communications best practice.

KLA clients lead the way with innovative, scalable, replicable climate solutions at the local level.
Each month in 2022 we will shine a spotlight on their bright ideas.

Did you know that 95% of people are likely to remember a call to action after watching a video compared to just 10% who read information in text format?

It’s safe to say that these days you can’t effectively communicate with or engage people in your community without video. That includes climate action planning and implementation.

You can have ambitious emissions slashing opportunities, blockbuster partnership models, and interactive engagement plans, but those bells and whistles aren't enough. If you aren’t reaching people – if they are glossing over your text-heavy emails, scrolling past your standard social media posts, and never setting a virtual foot on your website – you won’t get very far.

That’s where video can be the bright idea that allows the rest of your bright ideas to see the light of day.

Use this template to be more targeted, timely and effective with your climate and sustainability communications

Think about what makes the news headlines or gains social media traction. Some of it -- a sports upset, political spat or Hollywood faux pas (no one predicted that Will Smith slap) -- you can't plan for. But a lot of it you can. 

The Super Bowl and its buzz worthy commercials hit every winter. Bill Murray memes will pop up on Groundhog Day,  just as you'll see Yoda and Darth Vader everywhere on May the Fourth/May the Force day. Earth Day stretches across April. Every May is Bike Month. Summer heat waves happen. The holidays will consume us all in November and December. 

The only question is: are you ready to leverage those opportunities for your climate and sustainability goals? 

For local governments, engaging the community is key to achieving climate goals, and Earth Day is one of the best opportunities to get people to take action. That’s especially true right now when the recent headlines – like USA Today’s "'It's now or never': UN climate report shows globe is on 'track toward an unlivable world'"-- are driving awareness and, ideally, action.

The next few weeks are when people will be searching online for ways to "go green." It's when you have the chance to convert someone looking for a one-time litter or river clean up into a regular participant in your climate programs.

Earth Day can be a springboard for climate action in your community.

But you can't do this if people need a PhD to understand the challenges your community faces and where you're headed. Or if they have to navigate a typical local government website to find the most effective actions. Don’t lose the Earth Day momentum!