Attendees at this Wednesday’s meeting of GNOICC’s General Assembly had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Anna Nguyen, External Affairs Manager for the City of New Orleans’ Office of Resilience & Sustainability (ORS), speak about the office’s mission to advance environmental stewardship and climate resilience. ORS leads cross-sector initiatives guided by the Resilient New Orleans Strategy (2015), the City’s Climate Action Plan (2017, updated 2022), and the Taking Steps Together on Equity and Climate Change report (2019), with a strong focus on equity and community engagement.
The office supports a wide range of projects in partnership with government agencies and local organizations, spanning energy, transportation, waste reduction, urban agriculture, and nature-based infrastructure. Recent examples include urban reforestation efforts, the Municipal Building Energy Use Dashboard to support energy benchmarking, and the development of the “Safe Streets for All” initiative to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.
ORS is also playing a leading role in long-term environmental justice efforts like the redevelopment of Gordon Plaza into a community solar farm and the restoration of Lincoln Beach as a safe, accessible public waterfront. In addition, ORS supports circular economy initiatives such as Recycle Dat, which diverts waste during Mardi Gras, and the annual Christmas Tree Recycling program that helps restore coastal wetlands. The office also contributes to planning and coordination around the long-awaited Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle restoration project.
GNOICC members look forward to learning more about ORS’s work from Ms. Nguyen, including ways that our organization can be involved, when she joins us again at a General Assembly meeting in the near future. We encourage all interested persons to attend. (Our meetings are held via Zoom; see the GNOICC calendar for details.)
Links:
New Orleans Office of Resilience & Sustainability
Resilient New Orleans Strategy
Taking Steps Together on Equity and Climate Change
