paleBLUEdot was selected by the Village of Skokie for a comprehensive update to the Village’s Environmental Sustainability Plan.  Skokie is an urban community of just over ten square miles in area situated approximately 15 miles north of downtown Chicago.  The Village has a tradition of being a leader in addressing environmental issues and has become increasingly concerned about the global climate crisis. 

Over the course of the past decade, the Village has been refining its local policies to address environmental issues.  The Village has a Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission (SEAC), which formed in 2011.  The Village's previous plan "The Skokie Environmental Sustainability Plan 2016-2021" had five areas of focus, including water management, air quality, energy conservation, transportation, and waste management.

The Village of Skokie now wishes to take more directed steps in addressing increased sustainability and mitigation of climate change on a community-wide basis as well as continued efforts on municipal operations.  The Board of Trustees has requested that the Department of Public Works engage paleBLUEdot in preparing an assessment of local environmental conditions and the identification of steps that can be taken to ensure Skokie is not only improve overall sustainability and resilient to climate changes, but takes positive steps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions locally.  paleBLUEdot was selected based on the team’s extensive prior experience in greenhouse gas inventories, climate change mitigation, community resiliency, municipal sustainability, urban planning and economic development.

The paleBLUEdot Environmental Sustainability Plan effort will include:

1. Development of community-wide Greenhouse Gas analysis and emission projections for years 2030, 2040, and 2050.

2. Development of a Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment meeting Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) requirements

3. Conducting a community-wide Ground Cover, Heat Island, and Carbon Sequestration Assessment and Recommendations report.

4. Development of a community-wide Renewable Energy Potentials study

5. Creation of a community-wide Sustainability Baseline Assessment and Strategic Goals Recommendations report defining a community-specific emissions mitigation targets and goals

6. Recommend community-specific sustainability, climate adaptation and mitigation actions that the Village and community can undertake with an analysis of barriers and opportunities.

7. Leading Sustainability Planning Public Engagement

8. Development of the Environmental Sustainability Plan and Implementation Matrix

The paleBLUEdot team is honored to work with the Village of Skokie in developing the community next Environmental Sustainability Plan. 

The paleBLUEdot team provides a wide range of expert consultant services supporting community resilience, including Climate Action Planning, Sustainability Consulting, and Renewable Energy Planning.  Learn more about paleBLUEdot's Climate Action Planning services here.