City of Glendale

At a Glance

Industry

Government/Public Administration

Project Types

Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Engagement and Behavior Change

Year

2024

Location

Glendale, CA

Summary

Ben Marshall created an equitable Participatory Budgeting framework to increase climate resiliency in the City of Glendale.

Goals

Underrepresented, marginalized, and at-risk communities face greater risks from climate change and lack an equitable platform to advocate for themselves. Ben Marshall investigated Participatory Budgeting (PB) as a method to foster collaboration between the community and the local government and to encourage community ownership of decision-making processes to help raise marginalized voices and increase the climate resiliency of the City of Glendale.

Solutions

Ben utilized a 5-step process to incorporate PB into the City of Glendale's climate initiatives: -Research budgeting models and frameworks used nationally, internationally, and by other municipalities. Ben leveraged regional PB administrators and sustainability consultants in this research. -Review the City of Glendale's proposed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) to determine how PB can be included. Ben incorporated PB into the Social and Governance System of the CAAP. -Speak with internal and external stakeholders regarding their wants and needs for engagement, equitable participation, climate projects, and PB. Ben spoke to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) representing historically marginalized groups and representatives from government departments. -Create a stakeholder map to overlay climate risk and pollution data with the locations of CBOs and public facilities. Ben used ArcGIS to map preexisting and location-based data to provide a visual to support his recommendations. -Synthesize the research into a final report on how the PB process can be implemented. Ben created recommendations based on his research and the unique characteristics of the City of Glendale.

Potential Impact

Participatory Budgeting will help build climate resiliency in the City of Glendale through projects and programs identified by and important to the community. The collaborative partnership will further the objectives of the CAAP and lead to increased trust and engagement between the City government and its constituents through an equitable, transparent, and community-driven process. It will also combat negative health outcomes by creating tangible programs and projects to foster a physically, mentally, and financially healthy community.

Related Links