2018 Whitepaper on Sierra Nevada Urban-Rural Connections
This paper showcases how communities across California depend on the valuable services provided by Sierra Nevada forests and headwaters, and the risks exacerbated by climate change that endanger these critical natural lands. By recognizing the essential role of Sierra rural communities as stewards of California’s natural resources – and thereby stewards of the state’s economic, environmental, and social vitality – this paper explains why greater investment in and inclusion of rural regions by urban communities is critical to the livability and longevity of urban populations, as well as the state’s overall climate strategy.
Workshop: Understanding the Urban-Rural Connection
Held on November 5, 2015 in Sacramento
ARCCA held a workshop on Understanding the Urban-Rural Connection, around climate impacts and adaptation solutions, where over 50 elected officials, state agency representatives, local government staff, regional organizers, program implementers and researchers came together to better understand the urban-rural connection and figure out how we can start collaborating to make this connection stronger throughout the state.
A focused group of 65 adaptation practitioners representing both rural and urban regions participated in rich discussions to unravel the barriers and opportunities to elevating this connection. The workshop aimed to facilitate solutions-focused discussions to answer the following questions:
- How would you define the urban-rural connection and why is it important to your work or constituency?
- What areas (geographic and/or programmatic) and efforts (statewide planning, funding, regional planning, research, etc.) are ripe for urban-rural collaboration?
- What will it take to initiate and implement collaborative planning and who needs to be involved?
- What do we need to know to make urban-rural collaboration effective (e.g., better quantification of benefits, ability to jointly access private and public funding, etc.)?
Workshop Resources:
