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Boise launches 'Keep Boise Cool' climate-action guide, invites residents to personalized plans and gamified challenges
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Summary
City staff and a Harvard Bloomberg fellow launched Keep Boise Cool, a personalized web guide that produces individualized climate-action plans, paired with gamified community challenges and a two-year iterative outreach plan; staff said the tool is live and participation will be tracked.
Bree Brush, a staff member in the mayor's office supporting transportation and climate policy, and Rachel Fisher, the Harvard Bloomberg City Hall Fellow assigned to the initiative, presented Keep Boise Cool — a community-focused climate-action guide the city will launch publicly.
Rachel Fisher said the project grew from a 23-member representative committee and three public engagement modes: committee meetings, five community conversations (49 participants), and an eight-week survey that brought nearly 2,000 responses. "One of the most cited barriers were time and cost," Fisher said, and the guide aims to lower barriers with curated resources and personalized, actionable steps tailored to renters, homeowners and differing interests.
The guide centers on three components: events and programming (challenges and community games), a personalized web tool that delivers an individualized climate action plan via email, and a communications campaign. Fisher said the site will remain available for the foreseeable future and staff plan to update resources quarter to quarter and measure who fills out plans and where they are located.
Council members welcomed the tool and urged sustained outreach beyond the launch so residents form lasting habits. Fisher said the city will track participation and demographic patterns and encouraged council to share the tool with constituents. The city scheduled a kickoff celebration the next day featuring swag, food and in-person opportunities to fill out a climate action plan.
