University of San Diego
IN-3: Innovation 3

University of San Diego has partnered with the City of San Diego, City of Chula Vista, County of San Diego, Port of San Diego, The San Diego Association of Governments, the San Diego Foundations and San Diego Gas & Electric Company to establish the San Diego Climate Collaborative. This initiative, based at University of San Diego with its Sustainability Director as vice chair, works to advance sustainable development in the region by academia, with government and stake holders to develop and implement solution to sustainability challenges. A full time Climate Collaborative Program Manager was hired November 2013 to grow and elevate the program. A brief outline of the Climate Collaborative is below.

Purpose: a regional forum for public agencies to share expertise and leverage resources to facilitate climate action planning

Partners: academia, non-profit organizations, businesses and community leaders
1. Address and prevent the harmful effects of climate change;
2. Promote a high quality of life for the San Diego region; and
3. Foster a green and growing economy

Objectives
‧Showcase the region's energy efficiency and sustainability leadership
‧Reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for local climate change impacts
‧Facilitate the design and implementation of robust climate action plans
‧Link regional efforts together and pursue joint programs and projects
‧Communicate progress on climate action planning implementation efforts
‧Provide opportunities to engage and connect diverse stakeholders
‧Help build internal capacity within public agencies through networking, training and leveraging resources
Lessons learned – we realize the need to be recognized for all the work we’re doing in this region
We’re lucky to have a great working relationship on with the LGs as well as with orgs like USD, SDGE, TSDF, CleanTECH, etc. which is resulting in great advancement in climate change issues.
Having an overarching brand gives us a voice in bigger discussions (state/fed level) and hopefully presents us as a good investment for funding
Successes – need to engage private sector as well as public (fed, state, local). We can do more.
Barriers – complexity of issues (consider how complex the issue is for insurance, and that is just one issue) – ex. understanding science, comprehending a long-term planning horizon, concerns with impacts to business, funding (and staff availability) for ongoing efforts
OUTCOMES: Climate Action Planning Process in the San Diego Region by SD Foundation