Councilwoman Howse, Other Cleveland Representatives Hear from Climate, Equity and Health Experts

Feb 01, 2023

Cleveland (Feb. 1, 2023) – Councilwoman Stephanie Howse is participating with other Cleveland representatives on a field trip to hear from climate and health experts and to share learnings from ongoing initiatives, brought together by C40, a global network of mayors taking action to confront the climate crisis.

C40, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is convening a group of participating cities in Philadelphia to exchange project learnings and develop new tools as part of a Masterclass on climate, health and equity.  

In 2020, Cleveland was one of six grant recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of a $3 million program to bring the most impactful ideas from across the globe to U.S. cities to address the intertwined issues of health, equity, and climate change. 

Cleveland was awarded $476,000 to support Circular Cleveland, a project led by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, in an effort to develop the circular economy in Cleveland. The circular economy is an effort to rethink how we both use the things we need, from food to clothes, and how we create them. It involves sharing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling what already exists. Cleveland’s effort is also supported by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

Others from Cleveland in Philadelphia from Feb. 1 through Feb. 3 include representatives from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, staff from the city of Cleveland’s  Office of Sustainability and Climate Justice, and Circular Cleveland ambassadors, residents who are organizing local recycling, reuse, composting, repair, and deconstruction activities throughout the city.

Councilwoman Howse hopes to identify prospective opportunities to build on Circular Cleveland initiatives and to “continue to strengthen our sustainability ecosystem.”

“I’m excited to join this master class and hear the innovative projects from the other grantee cities and from Philadelphia initiatives that we can bring back to Cleveland,” said Ward 7 Councilwoman Howse. “The discussion involving governance is very important in replicating and expanding some programs here, and to ensure what we’ve started succeeds.”  

To find out more about Cleveland’s initiative go to: https://www.sustainablecleveland.org/circular_cleveland or https://circularcleveland.org/