#6 – Community Initiatives

For my final civic issues post, I will be discussing getting involved in community initiatives.

 

An Introduction to Community Initiatives

Throughout the course of my blog, I’ve talked a lot about the different ways that we can aid with the changing climate, but how exactly can we implement those types of recycling techniques and environmental cleanup at the broader scale? Every community is going to have different tactics to aid with climate change, such as environmental cleanup groups or separate water conservation projects.

These community initiatives can be led either by individuals themselves or through local governing agencies. For example, the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan provides technical and personal assistance to local governments want to aid in reducing their local area’s greenhouse gas emissions. Several other states have similar opportunities in place to help communities gather the resources they need to make an impact, as well as states becoming involved in more national-level climate change activism.

 

What Involvement in Community Initiatives Entails

Getting involved in community initiatives starts out with taking the first small step to research local organizations or groups dedicated to environmental conservation or sustainability efforts in your area. You can also attend community meetings, volunteer events, or workshops to connect with like-minded individuals and learn about

ongoing projects. There are also many people that you can contact, such as organizers or community leaders, if you’re looking for a specific opportunity. Whether it’s joining a neighborhood clean-up crew, signing up for a community garden project, or participating in advocacy campaigns, every contribution, no matter how small, makes a difference.

Here are some Penn State community initiatives.

Here are some examples of community initiatives happening throughout the world.

 

If you’re not from around here, you can always research community initiatives in your hometown area.

 

The Effectiveness of Involvement in Community Initiatives

The efficacy of community initiatives lies in their ability to foster a sense of accomplishment in different community residents as people begin to see the effects of different projects within their community. In addition, different community initiatives help bring the community closer together as individuals bond over strengthening their involvement in providing solutions to environmental challenges. Overall, becoming involved in different community initiatives fosters a sense of shared responsibility towards environmental conservation.

When it comes to specific community projects that people may be working on together, these projects have the opportunity to become projects for the nation at a larger level, if success is seen at the community level. Overall, I think that not only providing community initiatives for residents to become involved in, but also as an individual actually taking part in different projects, could provide numerous advances in combatting climate change. I have an analogy that stems from this: If I spilled a hundred thousand sequins on the floor, it would take me forever to pick them all up, but if I had ninety-nine other people to each pick up some sequins, it would speed up the process significantly. This represents the effectiveness of doing things at the community level because if each community is becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly, it will tremendously impact the world’s position on climate change.

 

Thank you so much for following along with my civic issues blog! I hope you learned something about your impact on the environment through the techniques I’ve discussed.