Participants in the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Action Workshop discuss various implementation strategies for the plan at the Marquette Township Community Center on Wednesday. The three-phase plan, which aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change on human health through targeted infrastructure interventions in local communities, is now in the early stages of implementation. Efforts are already underway in several areas, with planning for additional projects in the works. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series on the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Action Workshop. Part one provides a general overview of the project and workshop, while part two, to be published in Friday’s edition, will detail specific aspects of implementation, planning and funding available for local communities.

MARQUETTE — While you might not immediately associate the creation of green space in your town with improved outcomes for both environmental and human health, green spaces with native plants can help improve water quality while addressing flooding concerns by absorbing and filtering stormwater contaminants.

This is just one example of an infrastructure intervention identified in the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Plan that can address climate change impacts on human health.

The three-phase project, which began in spring 2017, has engaged area residents and local leaders at multiple meetings and workshops to find out what climate-associated health risks were of most concern in Marquette County. The four major areas of concern were: water-related, air quality, vector awareness and emergency response/extreme events.

And now, communities around the county are beginning to work toward implementing infrastructure strategies contained in the plan to specifically address these concerns.

At the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Action Workshop, which was held Wednesday in Marquette Township, local leaders came together in an effort to continue moving the plan forward and learn about implementation funding available for two local communities through the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Action Grant.

“We want to have a short list of some immediate implementation strategies across those four climate-health areas, and really try to create some buy-in and forward momentum here to continue implementation,” Brad Neumann, senior extension educator at Michigan State University Extension, told attendees.

Participants discussed projects already underway and worked to develop specific implementation plans and goals for the next year with guidance from Volume III of the Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Plan, which was officially released at the meeting.

Volume III includes community-identified actions and steps that can be used in local communities to address climate change-related issues that can be detrimental to human health and safety.

Volume I is a visual guide to implementation that features examples of local adaptation designs, information about design considerations, community feedback and input, as well as sample policies and metrics. Volume II includes specific policy recommendations and details climate drivers and impacts, along with interventions, recommendations and metrics to assess outcomes.

It was important to offer detailed visual examples of potential local interventions throughout Marquette County, organizers said, as this can help communities envision real-life solutions.

“We can talk about climate change and some of these things on an abstract level. But what does it mean for my community, my neighborhood, the commercial corridor?” said Wayne Beyea, senior specialist at the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction. “So we wanted to be able to try to take some of those concepts and integrate it to be able to illustrate how you might be going to address some of these issues.”

Participants of the workshop also learned about progress made since the last workshop was held in January, then met in four workgroups — water-related, air quality, vector awareness and emergency response/extreme events — to discuss specific steps that can be taken over the next year to achieve the plan’s short-term priority goals in each area.

“In January, we sat down and got to the heart of this and really began to prioritize some of those recommendations. So this meeting, that is really the culmination of that, where we have now this three-volume set that’s put together with some action steps,” Beyea said. “But really, in many respects, I think the hard work starts now.”

The Marquette Area Climate and Health Adaptation Plan has been coordinated by the MSU Extension and School of Planning, Design and Construction, in conjunction with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the MDHHS’ Michigan Climate and Health Adaptation Program, Marquette County Health Department, Marquette County Climate Adaptation Task Force and the Superior Watershed Partnership.

To learn more about the plan or view the guidebooks, visit https://superiorwatersheds.org/projects/marquette-area-climate-and-health-adaptation.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal.net.