City of Irvine Environmental Programs would like to invite residents to participate in the Cool City Challenge, which is a climate moonshot strategy to get the City of Irvine to carbon neutrality by 2030. This initiative, developed by the Empowerment Institute, lays out a strategy for cities to reach community-wide and inclusive sustainability. In this model, the City of Irvine will work with community Team Leaders, who will create “Cool Blocks” within their sphere of influence.

City of Irvine staff will provide training materials and resources to the Team Leaders to guide them through this program. 

Cool Block Leader Responsibilities:

• Start a team of five to eight households on your block by recruiting neighbors, leading an informational meeting, and leading a team-building meeting.
• Serve as the Team Leader. This means keeping your team on track to achieve their individual and collective goals. Once the initial recruitment phase is over the meeting responsibilities are shared.

Cool Block teams will meet, discuss, and implement sustainability concepts on topics related to energy efficiency, water conservation, emergency preparedness, social justice, and more! You can view more about this at The Cool Block Journey | Cool Block. Each Cool Block Team is presented with a suite of action items they can apply to their lives to make a difference, ranging from small to large. The Team Leader will track these actions and facilitate the meetings.

If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering to support climate action in Irvine by serving as a Cool Block Team Leader, please contact EnvironmentalPrograms@cityofirvine.org.