A group of Winona County citizens, local nonprofits, and government officials are working together to promote sustainability and climate resilience across the county, thanks to a new grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The collaboration, called Next Step Partners, stems from Sustain Winona – which includes representatives from the City of Winona, Winona County, and local schools and colleges – and a community engagement and organizing process initiated last spring that brought together a representative microcosm of Winona County residents to assess key challenges and opportunities relating to the local impacts of extreme weather and a changing climate. The community recommendations from that process, the Winona County Climate Dialogue, targeted healthy watersheds, clean energy, and community awareness of sustainability and climate resilience.
This year-long effort will 1) create pilot projects and contests in the community to raise awareness of sustainability and climate resilience issues by involving community members directly and 2) develop processes and policy so local government and other organizations can incorporate sustainability and climate resilience into their work now and into the future.
The partnership currently includes representatives from Winona County, the City of Winona, Winona State University, Sustain Winona, the Will Dilg Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, the University of Minnesota Extension, the Southeast Clean Energy Resource Team, Healthy Lake Winona, the Winona Nursery, the Bluff Country Co-op, the Jefferson Center, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The group is looking for interested members of the community to help out with the effort.
The group hopes to spread awareness of sustainability issues through contests, educational events and discussions, and direct community involvement in key projects.
The group is seeking community involvement on the following projects:
- Raise community awareness of sustainability and climate resilience issues, like stormwater management, energy conservation, and water conservation.
- Manage stormwater runoff to reduce pollution of Lake Winona, the Mississippi River, and other water bodies in Winona County by installing and maintaining rain gardens and pursuing other stormwater management practices.
- Promote water conservation to save money and reduce energy use.
- Promote energy efficiency and energy conservation to save money and reduce overall energy use.
- Research policies and practices that can help public and private organizations in Winona County save money, reduce energy and water use, and be more resilient to extreme weather and changes in the climate.