Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns (center), Environment Committee and Energy Subcommittee Chairman, accepts an award for the Caucus’ Climate Action Plan from the Illinois ASLA. Also pictured: Director of Environmental Initiatives Edith Makra (right) and Sustainability Specialist Cheryl Scott (left).
Lee Bey, architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, announces that the Caucus won the Public Recognition Award for its Climate Action Plan on Sept. 22.
This month, the Caucus won two awards for its Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region. The Illinois chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) honored the Caucus with a Public Recognition Award at a ceremony in Chicago on Thursday, Sept. 22. The American Planning Association Illinois Chapter (APA-IL) announced that the Caucus won the Strategic Plan Award for its Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region. An award ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the APA-IL State Conference in Chicago.
The Illinois ASLA granted the award to the Caucus for its Climate Action Plan (CAP) because it noted, “Thriving, high-performing public and private landscapes are central to the climate adaptation objectives and strategies.” The Caucus engaged landscape architects in the plan creation through the stakeholder engagement process. Additionally, the high-profile Climate Action Plan, created and used by numerous stakeholders, has heightened public appreciation of landscape-related issues. For example, inspired by the CAP, the Village of Glenview created a 98-page Urban Forest Management Plan that highlights goals such as increasing the urban tree canopy, properly mulching new plantings,and providing education and outreach.
Other Awards
These two awards are the third and fourth awards the Caucus has received for its CAP. In October of 2021, the CAP and the organizations involved in its creation received the national 2021 Climate Leadership Award Innovative Partnerships Certificate. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and The Climate Registry (TCR), in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and America is All In, presented the award virtually to the Plan’s co-authors, the Caucus and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as well as the Plan’s other collaborators: Argonne National Laboratory; CMAP; the European Union; GCoM; the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES); and the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit team.
In May of 2022, the national APA Sustainable Communities Division honored the Caucus and NOAA at its ninth annual Awards for Excellence in Sustainability with the Merit Award in the State or Regional category. The award recognizes efforts to plan for sustainability and resilience at a state or regional scale. The APA awards honor projects, plans, policies, individuals, and organizations whose work is dedicated to supporting sustainable communities.
