A Vision for Bay Area Resilience: Coyote Point Guided Hike

Thank you to those who joined us at our guided hike led by Sam Herzberg, Senior Planner for San Mateo County Parks Department, which was held at the historic and scenic Coyote Point Recreation Area last week. Sam has been deeply involved in planning for the sustainability and safety advancements of SMC Parks, including the development of the Coyote Point Recreation Area Master Plan. 

 

As we took in the hike's views, Sam shared insights into the master plan, including the removal of invasive eucalyptus trees and encouragement of native plant growth, mapping decades of water utilities, facilitating improvements to water, lighting, energy, disability access, playgrounds, and the Bay Trail. There are others users in the “Recreation Area” who have facilities in addition to County Parks, which have their own funding sources to implement improvements.  The Master Plan anticipated improvements of these areas, and as we’ve seen most have are phasing in or completed improvements. These improvements have been made by the Sheriff’s Shooting Range, San Mateo Flood Control, CuriOdyssey, Marina dredging and general infrastructure improvements.

 

We also got the chance to see the recently completed Coyote Point Eastern Promenade Rejuvenation Project, a major capital improvement project that enhances recreational beach use and access and protects the Promenade from the impacts of sea-level rise.

 

During lunch, Sam shared the San Mateo County Parks Sustainability Action Plan that directed the Department to new efforts to improve the sustainability and resiliency of San Mateo County Parks. These vital plans can serve as models of best practices for others in the Bay Area to learn from and implement. 

 

Thank you for taking the opportunity to connect, learn, and appreciate the wonders of Coyote Point with fellow nature enthusiasts!

Hot Topics, Cool Solutions: Community Resilience During Heatwaves

Hot Topics, Cool Solutions: Community Resilience During Heatwaves

 

This month’s E&S TAG meeting was a collaborative community brainstorming session to determine what local resources are available for heatwave preparedness. We would like to give a special thank you to our "fishbowl" participants with voices including Nuestra Casa, Senior Coastsiders, North Fair Oaks Community Alliance, Climate Resilient Communities and more!

Rethinking the Way We Move: Active Transportation for Wellness, Community, and the Planet

Rethinking the Way We Move: Active Transportation for Wellness, Community, and the Planet

During our recent "Rethinking the Way We Move: Active Transportation for Wellness, Community, and the Planet" event, we had the privilege of hosting informative presentations from Carlos Moreno, Peninsula Clean Energy, Program Specialist, Vanessa Castro, Office of Sustainability Active Transportation Specialist, and Anthony Montes, Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, Community Organizer.

Keeping the Power On Energy Resiliency in San Mateo County

Keeping the Power On Energy Resiliency in San Mateo County

On April 28th, we held our Environment & Sustainability event, "Keeping the Power On Energy Resilience in San Mateo County," which took place at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Community Space. The discussion focused on the issues surrounding electrification and resilience of the power grid, especially for the Coast Side community, and how different counties in the Bay Area approach electrification from an equitable standpoint. Senators Josh Becker also attended the event and presented the state's efforts to reach the get-to-zero emissions goal by 2045. Dr. Liang Min, managing Director at Stanford's Bits and Watts Initiative, discussed was about the vulnerabilities of our grid system infrastructures and found inequities in the aging infrastructure.

How Do We Get There? Accessible and Affordable Public Transportation for All

How Do We Get There? Accessible and Affordable Public Transportation for All

Public transportation plays a critical role in reducing our carbon footprint and promoting sustainability. It is also an essential mode of transportation for many individuals who cannot afford a personal vehicle or who have limited mobility. However, as highlighted by the diverse group of community members in our recent event, access to reliable, affordable, and efficient public transportation remains a significant challenge.

Rain, Rain, Drain Away!

Rain, Rain, Drain Away!

The first E&S meeting of 2023 came from the need to gather together after much of northern California was impacted by winter storms that caused widespread flooding, mudslides, high winds, and power outages at the beginning of this year. Thrive brought together a panel of experts in the county that will discuss the county's flood risk, current mitigation projects, and the regulatory framework for green infrastructure.

Best of 22' & Hopes for 23'!

Best of 22' & Hopes for 23'!

The first Environmental & Sustainability Thrive Action Group meeting was held in 2018. As 2022 comes to a close, we want to recognize and celebrate the many accomplishments of community-based organizations, academia, philanthropy, and government working to make San Mateo County a more resilient place in our final meeting of the year. We discussed our organizations' stories of growth, successes, and challenges, and shared what we have in store for 2023. 

Climate Summit for San Mateo County

Climate Summit for San Mateo County

On October 3, Thrive Alliance, along with Climate Resilient Communities, Nuestra Casa, and Rise South City hosted the first annual Climate Summit for San Mateo County. The occasion was monumental for everyone working together in the field with frontline communities against climate change. The event focused on engaging new potential relationships to learn how to the efforts in climate adaptation and equity. The Summit brought together nearly 250 people virtually and in person from community-based organizations, philanthropy, government, academia, and community members to share knowledge and make collective commitments to ensure climate adaptation and equity.

Inflation Reduction Act: The Largest Climate Bill Ever

Inflation Reduction Act: The Largest Climate Bill Ever

The Inflation Reduction Act is the most extensive climate bill ever, was signed in mid-August 2022, and was discussed in the September E&S TAG meeting. Thank you to those who joined us, and a huge thank you to our presenters, Brian Perkins, Senior Policy Advisor, Congresswoman Jackie Speier's Office, and Jared Johnson, Policy and External Relations Senior Manager, Acterra. Provided much valuable insight into how the new bill would affect your local communities.

Food Waste Reduction & Recovery

Food Waste Reduction & Recovery

Last Thursday, Thrive had our first in-person TAG meeting at the CZI Community Space in Redwood City. As this event was a combination of both the Environment & Sustainability (E&S) and the Basic Needs & Safety Net (BN & SN) TAGs, it was fantastic not only seeing people together in-person, but also seeing the mingling between both the environmentally and socially-focused organizations. This event focused on food recovery efforts in San Mateo County and we brought together six speakers from three sectors, each with a different perspective on food rescue: Tracy Weatherby, Vice President of Strategy & Advocacy, Second Harvest, Jack Steinmann, Resource Conservation Specialist-Waste Reduction, San Mateo County Office of Sustainability, Sonia Escobedo, Food Recovery Program Coordinator, Nuestra Casa, Mauricio Cordova, Chief Operations Officer, Loaves & Fishes, Constance La Trice Taylor, Associate Director of Program & Services, Samaritan House, and Ryan Bailey, Food Management Coordinator, Flagship Culinary.

Legislative Updates & Advocacy Opportunities

Legislative Updates & Advocacy Opportunities

On March 17th, Thrive brought together leaders and organizations involved in environmental legislation space to speak about what they and their organizations have been working on and how the audience can get involved in the legislative space and participate in their programs. Our panelists for this event were Josh Becker, California State Senator along with Helen Wolter, District Representative, Josh Becker's office, Allison Chan, Policy Director, Save the Bay, Linda Hutchins-Knowles, Karl Knapp GoEV Senior Manager, Acterra, and Josh Hugg, Governmental Affairs Specialist, Midpeninsula Open Space District (Midpen).

Safer Streets & Public Transit Fleets

Safer Streets & Public Transit Fleets

On February 24th, Thrive brought together six speakers working in the transportation sector to discuss the current state of transportation, what programs currently and will exist, how these programs include equity, and what we can do to ensure climate change and climate justice are a part of these conversations. A year ago, Thrive held an event focusing on transportation and plans for a more equitable and sustainable transit system for the Bay Area. In addition, transportation was one of the primary climate issue areas brought up in our Collective Climate Goals in our meeting in December.

Energy Efficient Homes & Net-Zero Buildings

Energy Efficient Homes & Net-Zero Buildings

On January 20th, Thrive brought together five different organizations working in the buildings and energy world within San Mateo County. Seeing the different organizations and the work they are currently implementing was eye-opening and created a sense of urgency to push for gas phaseouts, electric appliances, grid resiliency, and so much more while also recognizing the extensive need for equity, practicing inclusion, and serving under-resourced communities. Even as this was a critical, pressing matter, it also showed a hopeful outlook for the future as we heard about so many other organizations involved in this space, all of the collaboration work between these organizations, and the ideas they have for future projects.

Collective Climate Goals : Next Steps

Collective Climate Goals : Next Steps

This meeting was a culmination of all of the work Thrive's Environment & Sustainability group has done to create collective climate goals for San Mateo County and their community. As the past meetings have been focused around creating systems based on the audience's priorities and looking at areas for collaboration, the overarching goal for this meeting was to determine whether the narrowed down themes and their goals were the right objectives we want to collectively accomplish.

Planning for Collective Climate Goals

Planning for Collective Climate Goals

At the last Environment & Sustainability meeting, Thrive Alliance brought together the San Mateo County community to bring together their priorities on climate change and climate justice. This was a fantastic opportunity to hear from local community members, different environmental justice organizations, and others involved in this space.

Summer at the Beach

Summer at the Beach

At our last Environment and Sustainability event, Thrive Alliance brought together eight fantastic speakers from different organizations to discuss the issues of beaches and coastlines. Several of these organizations have collaborated on different solutions and policies to address the issues of single use plastics, transitioning to reusables, and keeping our beaches and waters clean.

 


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