For a diverse community with a substantial Spanish-speaking population, this required an engagement strategy designed to overcome language and access barriers and reach beyond residents already accustomed to participating in traditional public processes.
For a diverse community with a substantial Spanish-speaking population, this required an engagement strategy designed to overcome language and access barriers and reach beyond residents already accustomed to participating in traditional public processes.
Each touchpoint served a dual purpose: building public understanding of climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation while gathering community perspectives on local climate hazards and the resources residents valued most. Recognizing New Rochelle’s diverse population, Public Works prioritized accessible and inclusive participation by translating outreach materials into Spanish and conducting targeted outreach to the city’s Spanish-speaking community. This approach helped broaden participation beyond residents typically reached through conventional public processes and ensured a wider range of experiences informed the Climate Vulnerability Assessment. In total, the engagement reached more than 240 New Rochelle residents.
The plan provided a clear bridge between public participation and the technical assessment, helping ensure that residents’ experiences and priorities informed the identification of vulnerabilities and resilience needs. The resulting community-informed Climate Vulnerability Assessment grounded New Rochelle’s climate resilience planning in the lived experiences of its residents, including communities that have historically faced barriers to participating in traditional planning processes.
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