Climate has always shaped how we live, but extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality, rising costs, and infrastructure stress increasingly threaten quality of life in the Kansas City region. The impacts of climate change are already being felt, and risks will continue to increase.  In response to these challenges, the Mid-America Regional Council initiated a process to expand and update its regional Climate Action Plan. The plan sets a goal to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 100% (or net-zero) by 2050. That’s a tall order! Today, the Kansas City region emits the equivalent of more than 27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Hoxie Collective was part of a multidisciplinary team that modeled the region’s greenhouse gas emissions and developed data-driven strategies for greenhouse gas reduction across energy, buildings, transportation, waste, industry, and natural systems to reduce emissions, improve public health, and support long-term resilience.  The primary challenge for this work was to translate a complex technical understanding of regional climate needs into broad and urgent regional action.  This is where Hoxie Collective served as a key partner, leading engagement, client coordination, and the development of public-facing guidance and resources for multiple audiences.  Hoxie Collective convened diverse stakeholders, including municipal leaders, K-12 educators, utility partners, and community members to ensure that local priorities and perspectives shaped the outcomes of the process.  Crucially, Hoxie Collective led the creation of three audience-specific "playbooks" translating technical findings into tailored messages, concrete actions, and accessible toolkits for small municipalities, K-12 schools, and neighborhoods.  

Implementation for an effort like this requires simultaneous and mutually supportive action across various scales and stakeholders.  For example, with the completion of the plan regional partners are receiving training in greenhouse gas scenario modeling, with MARC’s Environmental team taking responsibility to monitor progress.  The “playbooks” are being distributed in multiple venues and formats across the region. Targeted initiatives already underway include municipal staff training programs for green infrastructure, technical assistance programs for greener buildings, workforce development initiatives, and riparian restoration tools.