Yael Nidam

Extended abstract 3-001-26 States and local governments seek to accelerate decarbonization through a range of well-intended policies and programs. Yet, lack of coordination between these programs, and limited attention to the factors that impact individuals’ behavior and decision-making is hindering wider adoption of decarbonization programs, especially among priority communities. To analyze the mismatch between policy goals and on-the-ground needs, we partnered with environmental justice and community organizations to implement a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study in California, a global leader in decarbonization with over 300 residential energy programs. We conducted 125 in-depth interviews across California with people who hold leadership positions in state and local governments, energy utilities, implementation companies, nonprofits, and community organizations, as well as with homeowners and renters. We present a conceptual model analyzing how cross-sector actions influence key decision-makers (e.g., homeowners, landlords) across five facets of participant engagement: (1) Awareness & motivation, (2) Capacity of property owners and the workforce, (3) Affordability, (4) Energy infrastructure readiness, and (5) regulation & permitting. Unlike traditional evaluations that analyze programs purely by design, our model assesses how multiple policies and programs interact to shape participant success. We use this model in two ways. First, to explain the factors contributing to variations in services and experiences between potential participants. Second, to highlight areas for policy interventions. Our findings illuminate multi-level governance challenges and map pathways to align interests across levels and sectors, advancing equitable decarbonization. We argue that successful implementation requires a shift from "individual-as-integrator" models to "system-supported" interventions. Key recommendations include statewide program coordination, deep engagement, integrating participant support services, addressing ownership fragmentation and remediation needs, building the capacity of "middle actors" – such as local governments, contractors, and community organizations – to act as system integrators, removing administrative and infrastructure barriers, and embedding equity in evaluation frameworks. While grounded in California, this model offers a vital blueprint for energy transition in other nations, where energy poverty and peak demand on the national grid are rising concerns. Download presentation.

Co-creation of urban data and informatics with community partners facilitates the development of insights and actions that are grounded in residents’ experiences and aimed at achieving social change. Despite rising interest in co-creation strategies, instructive guidance on implementation remains scarce. To address the shortage of instructive guidance, we provide a detailed account of how the resident, community, and institutional partners in the Healthy Neighborhoods Study co-created a dataset on neighborhood health, and a data dashboard that allows for all partners, as well as the public, to access and use the data to support neighborhood-level action and regional planning. We focus on the collaborative and iterative design process used to co-create a digital tool to access, analyze, interpret, and communicate community-generated data. While co-creation strategies require an upfront investment in relationship building and facilitating a more complex process, they carry significant benefits in producing truly representative datasets and data tools and services that advance data inclusion, laying the foundation for social change.

Housing retrofits are essential for meeting societal decarbonization goals, alongside addressing energy insecurity, improving public health, and creating new jobs. Yet, despite their multiple benefits and comprehensive government efforts to incentivize retrofits, adoption rates across the world remain low, usually less than 1% per year. Barriers to adoption among homeowners include lack of knowledge of what combination of energy retrofitting upgrades are most cost effective for their situation given available incentive programs. Similarly, cities lack urban-level analysis tools to optimize uptake of and predict carbon emissions reduction from existing incentive programs. To address the latter gap, we present a census-based Urban Building Energy Modeling framework that combines a technical energy saving potential analysis with a socioeconomic model that includes occupant demographics, local building regulations, and incentive eligibility criteria. We use the framework to evaluate the effectiveness of retrofit programs in two Boston neighborhoods with median incomes of $110,00 and $42,000. Results reveal that for the higher income, neighborhood predicted and actual adoption rates between 2014 and 2017 are comparable. In the lower income neighborhood, the proportion of households that would financially benefit from incentive offerings is higher. However, current participation rates do not reflect this difference suggesting that many viable projects do not happen for reasons that are not yet captured by the model. Urban planners, energy policy designers, and community advocates seeking to plan and evaluate energy incentive programs can use this framework to understand the breakdown of opportunities and barriers for different socio-demographic groups and geographic locations.

Urban gun violence is a critical human health and social justice issue. Strategies to reduce urban gun violence are increasingly being taken out of the domain of police and into community-based programs. One such community-driven gun violence reduction program analyzed here is called Advance Peace. Advance Peace (AP) uses street outreach workers as violence interrupters and adult mentors to support the decision making and life chances of those at the center of urban gun violence. We reported on the impact Advance Peace had on gun violence and program participants in the City of Sacramento, California, from 2018–2019. Using an interrupted time series model, we attributed a gun violence reduction of 18% city wide and up to 29% in one of the AP target neighborhoods from the intervention. We also found that of the 50 participants in the Advance Peace Sacramento program 98% were alive, 90% did not have a new gun charge or arrest, 84% reported an improved outlook on life, all received cognitive behavioral therapy, and 98% reported that their AP outreach worker was one of the most important adults in their life. Advance Peace is a viable community-driven, urban gun violence, and healing-focused program.