Representation and Inclusion - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 1: Representation & Inclusion

Barrier Statement

Systemic inequities and power dynamics—such as privileging academic credentials over lived experience, relying on the same few individuals, or pursuing symbolic rather than genuine participation—undermine authentic, diverse, and trusted community involvement in decision-making.

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How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

Performative engagement and the illusion of inclusion. Climate planning processes routinely invite community participation while keeping real decision-making power with entrenched institutional actors; collecting input that is rarely acted upon, eroding trust, and making meaningful engagement progressively harder to sustain.

Illustrative Example: Consultants and academics design engagement processes around pre-formed assumptions, bringing communities polished materials to react to rather than building solutions together from the start.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

Practical barriers (including lack of compensation, childcare, transportation, and digital access) make sustained participation structurally inaccessible for frontline and under-resourced community members even when formal invitations exist.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

Structural barriers systematically exclude tribal nations, farmworker communities, smaller local governments, and other marginalized groups from climate planning; leaving well-resourced actors to dominate processes and producing plans that fail to reflect the priorities of those most impacted.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Statewide

Credentialed gatekeeping and culturally mismatched outreach. Engagement processes systematically favor voices with professional credentials and default to formats, languages, and cultural norms that exclude grassroots experts, non-English speakers, and communities treated as monoliths rather than distinct groups.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area

Tribal Underrepresentation and Misaligned Engagement Pathways. Tribal governments are frequently treated like nonprofits rather than sovereign nations, limiting their influence in climate, land-use, and adaptation decisions. A lack of direct funding, culturally appropriate engagement approaches, and government-to-government relationship structures prevents meaningful Tribal participation and restricts access to ancestral lands and decision-making spaces.

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Design climate planning processes so that community-identified needs drive funding priorities rather than the reverse. Local and regional agencies should build sustained partnerships with CBO networks and ongoing advisory structures that enable continuous involvement, reducing engagement fatigue and ensuring underrepresented communities have lasting influence rather than episodic, grant-driven access.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. Community advisory boards can be used as a structure to allow continuous engagement outside of grant cycles. 2. Fifth Climate Change Assessment – Inland Deserts Region: A model for participatory engagement that combines scientific research with locally led advisory groups and storytelling events to center lived experience.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, San Diego, Statewide

Local Solution

Build citizen oversight structures with real decision-making authority into climate planning projects, treating lived experience and grassroots leadership as equal to technical expertise. Local agencies should include CBOs, tribal partners, and frontline residents as co-designers of plans and projects rather than advisors, strengthening community ownership, trust, and implementation outcomes.

Existing Examples of Progress:

In the Bay Area a city–CBO partnership co-designed a tree-planting and urban canopy program in which community organizers served as project champions.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

Local Solution

Use clear, culturally rooted, and multilingual communication tailored to community context. Local agencies should deliver outreach and facilitation in residents’ preferred languages and cultural formats, using plain, relatable messaging rather than technical jargon. Effective engagement goes beyond basic translation to ensure relevance, accessibility, and trust, while maintaining open, multilingual communication channels that connect communities to programs and elevate community priorities in planning and decision-making.

Existing Examples of Progress:

1. Spanish-language organizing as leverage: In one case, a community organizer intentionally spoke in Spanish at a board meeting to force board members to struggle with translation, highlighting neglect of a 1,000-member Spanish-speaking church. This action mobilized 200 residents to show up at a Saturday meeting and submit 115 letters of support, shifting the agency’s stance. 2. COVID-era risk communication (e.g., color-coded systems) is an effective model for simplifying complex information and improving public understanding, highlighting the value of clear, accessible messaging.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

State should fund sustained, community-led engagement infrastructure for a minimum of three to five years, investing in trusted regional anchor organizations as long-term partners, with dedicated funding covering translation, stipends, and culturally appropriate outreach that persists across grant cycles.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

State Solution

Engage regional intermediaries (COGs, RENs) to support inclusive outreach. Local governments identified regional entities as trusted messengers that can help communicate state resources and engage communities more effectively.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA) is an effective structure for information-sharing and multi-jurisdiction engagement.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, Statewide

State Solution

Require state-funded projects to demonstrate meaningful, early community partnerships. Applicants must show strong, representative partnerships—including with Tribal, immigrant, and marginalized groups—established at the start of project planning rather than as late-stage check-box activities, ensuring community priorities shape project design and outcomes.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego

Solution Spotlight

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