2019 Resilience Cohort Results Summary

Abstract

In 2019, Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) launched the Resilience Cohort, a program that guided 14 Indiana cities, towns, and counties through the process of conducting community-wide greenhouse gas inventories. The Cohort was supported by staff at ERI and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability through strategy consulting, webinar training, and technical assistance. Some Cohort participants participated in Sustain IU’s Indiana Sustainability Development Program (ISDP) and hosted an IU student extern for 10 weeks during the Cohort program to help with the inventory process.

For many participants, this was the first GHG inventory conducted in their community, providing a fundamental benchmark for local governments committed to reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency city- or county-wide. Participants conducted their inventories using one of the two accepted methodologies: the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) and the US Community Protocol for Accounting and Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions (US Community Protocol). Additionally, seven communities conducted local-government operations inventories alongside their community-wide inventories to provide a more detailed look at government-specific emissions.