Climate Change Conversations in Cambridge

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Ona Ferguson.
CBI Reports, September, 2010

CBI associates Ona Ferguson, Patrick Field, David Plumb, and Todd Schenk, worked with the City of Cambridge, Massa­chusetts to facilitate dialogues about climate change policies and practices within the city. Between December 2009 and March 2010, they facilitated three citizen-led sessions of the 100-person “Climate Emergency Congress”, helping to develop three proposals and a comprehensive list of actions that city staff, elected officials, community members, and others can take to reduce carbon emissions and respond to the impacts of climate change.

A group of citizen leaders, working together in these sessions, formed the Cambridge Climate Emergency Action Group (CCEAG). CBI then facilitated a series of meet­ings between CCEAG and top-level city staff and elected offi­cials. Discussions centered on topics such as: what municipal and non-governmental actors are currently doing to address climate change; areas of opportunity for further action and ef­ficiency; the possibility of an overarching campaign; and ongo­ing collaboration across the many initiatives underway. Discus­sion results included identifying areas for new action as well as current areas of success, plans for awareness and action cam­paigns, future meetings, and ongoing communication. At the conclusion of the process, a CCEAG member shared, “CBI’s guidance and fairness during the entire process was essential to the success of these important discussions... [and] have estab­lished a framework for optimism and success.”

Read a Summary of Meetings here.


Ona Ferguson is a Senior Associate at CBI, where she designs and facilitates meetings about environmental and public policy issues. She can be reached at oferguson@cbuilding.org.  

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