Our Leadership Role: Making Life More Environmentally Friendly After COVID-19
With Special Guest - Supervisor David Canepa
Date - Thursday, April 23, 2020, 3:30 PM
Supervisor Canepa from his home office
Description - While sheltering in place and slowing down our growth, shouldn’t we take a hard look at how to help our communities make the adjustments necessary to really live sustainably?
And who better to lead this charge than the environmentalist community? Let’s come together and figure this one out right now. It’s our opportunity to lead by example and guide sustainable living.
Supervisor Canepa will start the meeting with remarks on: 1) new opportunities for our environmental community, and 2) views and visions of more sustainable living in San Mateo County. Group and breakout room discussions will follow.
Supervisor David Canepa represents San Mateo County District 5 and regionally serves on boards of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, C/CAG, Association of Bay Area Governments and many others.
Recap
25 of the 61 attendees in Zoom’s gallery view
61 people representing 45 organizations; attendee mix = 56% nonprofit, 25% government, 11% business, 8% youth
Supervisor Canepa began the meeting with some reflections on the considerable progress made on environmental concerns over the 50 years since the first earth day. Noting that California led the charge on clean air and clean water, San Francisco Bay Area leaders stand out as pioneers on many sustainability achievements.
Moderator - Petra Silton, Thrive
Regrettably, the current health crisis, he continued, has led to environmental and economic setbacks. Environmentally we see this in the proliferation of plastics. More concerning, Supervisor Canepa revealed, are the food insecurities exposed and the impact on city and county budgets. While nonprofits and concerned citizens are providing some relief, some communities will take time to absorb the change.
On the contrary, the slower pace and resulting clean air and empty roads provide an opportunity, the Supervisor reflected. Video conference technologies are proving to be extremely effective. Possibly, the number of days a week each office employee works from home can be drastically increased. And roads can be opened up for greater bike and pedestrian traffic.
Following these remarks, questions came rapidly from the audience. A few are listed here:
Diane Bailey, Menlo Spark
How can we ensure investments are being directed to the proper channels?
Cities are closing streets to traffic; how can we influence more walking and biking in cities/communities?
Which products or behaviors could Bay Area residents forgo in order to create a more sustainable environment?
Regional approach and response to the pandemic has saved lives. What can we do to provide a comprehensive approach?
Roxana Franco, Nuestra Casa
Overall, it was a great exchange of leadership ideas that shows the power of cross-sector meetings that expore the opportunities for change through collaborative work.
Moderator - Doug Silverstein, Thrive
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