Office of Sustainability & Resilience 2025 Annual Progress Report

RECOMMENDATION 3

STRATEGY 3.3 Prioritize outreach and assistance to impacted and vulnerable communities to encourage

The Keeping the Green in Greensboro: Tree Canopy and Equity Prioritization Project developed a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based equity prioritization tool, which helped identify and prioritize Greensboro’s most impacted and vulnerable communities. The resulting analysis, reports, dashboards, and story maps were curated into an ArcGIS hub site available at: https://canopy.greensboro-nc.gov/. Launched in November, the hub boasts features that demonstrate: Ensure energy decisions are made in a way that promotes a just transition to renewable energy for all and prioritizes vulnerable communities. STRATEGY 3.1 Establish criteria to identify Greensboro’s most impacted and vulnerable communities. STRATEGY 3.2 Identify the most impacted and vulnerable communities. STATUS: Complete

more community participation, determine the impact of energy projects, and educate residents on energy and water conservation.

STATUS: Ongoing

OSR has started using the equity prioritization tool to prioritize outreach and assistance to impacted and vulnerable communities. Corresponds to Prioritized Action 7 . STRATEGY 3.5 Prioritize vulnerable communities when rolling out individual parts of the Energy Plan, i.e., building retrofits, new facilities, etc. OSR will prioritize tree plantings, education, and outreach efforts in communities identified as the most impacted and vulnerable. OSR will also continue to focus grant applications and energy-related projects in (or to benefit) the most impacted and vulnerable communities. Corresponds to Prioritized Action 8 . STATUS: Ongoing

• the many benefits of trees • how to identify, plant, and map trees • the impacts of tree canopy on Greensboro’s history and neighborhoods • how the city’s canopy has changed since 1984 Corresponds to Prioritized Action 4.

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