2025-2026 Sustainability Speaker Series Proposal
Prepared by the Sustainability Commission
April 2025
THEME AND TOPICS
Game Time: Sunnyvale’s Playbook for Climate Action
Sunny
vale’s Climate Action Playbook (CAP) Update and Game Plan 2028 (https://sunnyvaleclimateaction.org/playbook) were approved by City Council last year, laying out quantifiable goals to continue the city’s work on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and sustainability over the next several years. The CAP has six Strategies: promoting 100% clean electricity; decarbonizing buildings; decarbonizing transportation and sustainable land use; managing resources sustainably; empowering our community; and adapting to a changing climate. Each Strategy consists of multiple Plays – specific, measurable actions to achieve the Strategy. Game Plan 2028 is the city’s workplan of “Moves” or actions that will be implemented between FY 2023/24 and FY2027/28 to propel the city toward its 2030 targets. This year’s Sustainability Speaker Series will highlight some of the Plays and Moves that are underway as we work towards a more sustainable and resilient Sunnyvale. Events will highlight the various ways community members can take action now to make a positive impact in our city. We hope this theme will also inspire the general public to find their own way to incorporate CAP Plays and Moves into their day-to-day activities and to engage in the next CAP Game Plan update.
The topi
cs proposed in Table 1 below are relevant to residents and businesses in Sunnyvale and are meant to both educate and motivate action. The Sustainability Commission Subcommittee has proposed topics for ranking in the following table. The table also lists potential event titles, speakers, and a brief description of the topics to be covered.
COSTS
The first five years of the Sustainability Speaker Series were funded through a project’s budget, set up specifically for the series. From Fiscal Year (FY) 2021/22 forward, the Sustainability Speaker Series is funded through the operating budget for Environmental Sustainability Program in the Environmental Services Department. Costs for the series vary depending on whether the series is held virtually or in person. It remains to be determined if these events will be held in a virtual or in-person setting which could result in differences in how the budget is spent. Typical costs incurred for in-person events include fees for travel costs, refreshments and staff time for set up and take down of event space. Virtual events accrue costs from staff time, advertising and speaker fees. The adopted budget for FY2025/26 includes $16,000 for speaker series implementation.
Attachment 1
Table 1: Proposed Topics and speakers
Commission
Rank
Topic Event Title Speaker Title / Affiliation Description Decarbonizing
Buildings: The
Next Level
Accelerating CAP
Strategy 2 by
electrifying multi-
family
Cora Wyent Director of
Research,
Rewiring America
Sunnyvale has made great strides in promoting
electrification for new construction and for
homeowners looking to make the switch, but what
about the half of the city who rent, often in older,
multi-family buildings? This talk will focus on ways
that non-homeowners can reduce emissions from
their residence, and what strategies have been
successful in other localities.
Cool Blocks
(empowering
community)
Local impacts -
Building
community and
reducing climate
change in your
neighborhood
(Strategy 5)
David Gershon
Edith Gomez
Marin
Managing
Director, Cool
Block
City of Mountain
View
The Cool Block program empowers residents to
address climate change by working toward stronger,
more resilient, more livable communities at the
neighborhood level. Cool Block teams are already
active in Mountain View; in this event we will hear
how the program has been implemented in our
neighbor city and how Sunnyvale communities might
also get involved in these local actions.
Resilience
Hubs
Resilience Hubs in
Sunnyvale’s CAP
McKenzie
Jones
Resilience Hub
Director, Urban
Sustainability
Directors
Network
Climate change is happening, and much of the extent
of its impacts will be determined by how well we are
prepared and how well we respond to various
challenges and emergencies. Resilience hubs are
community centers and sites which are specifically
prepared to help members of the community after an
emergency or natural disaster, and are specifically
described in Move 6.F. This talk will give examples of how resilience hubs have been implemented around
the Bay Area, the progress in implementing them as
part of the Sunnyvale CAP, and how the community
can get involved.
Attachment 1
Commission
Rank
Topic Event Title Speaker Title / Affiliation Description SMART station
and solid
waste
reduction
Goodbye,
garbage – what
happens to your
trash?
Sunnyvale
Solid Waste
Programs staff
TBD Play 4.1 is to reduce per capita landfilled garbage to <1lb/day, but what actually happens when you put
something in the trash? Sunnyvale’s SMART station is
one-of-a-kind, processing all the city’s trash,
recycling, and food waste, and will be central to the
zero waste goals of the city. This talk will give
residents a tour of our SMART station, and answer
burning questions about recycling, organic waste, and
what really happens when your neighbors put their
trash in the wrong bin?
Active
Transportation
Plan
Name your
transportation –
An Update on the
City’s Active
Transportation
Plan (Strategy 3)
Sunnyvale
Transportation
Department
staff
TBD Driving is up by 18%, but emissions are trending
down thanks to cleaner vehicles. As part of achieving
our climate goals, the City aims to increase the
amount of alternative transportation use. Our Active
Transportation Plan is designed to encourage
bicycling and walking by creating a safe, connected
network for bicyclists and pedestrians. Join us for an
update on our Active Transportation Plan work and
what residents can do to get involved.
Reducing off-
road emissions
from
landscaping
Let’s talk about
leaf blowers
Rosemary
Malfi
Director of
Conservation
Policy, Xerces
Society
Off-road equipment use was 7% of the city’s 2023
emissions, and few are more visible than leaf blowers
and other gas-powered lawn equipment, which
produce emissions, noise, and suspended
particulates; these issues are somewhat but not fully
mitigated with electric equipment. Bans are
becoming more popular, but enforcement remains a
challenge. This talk will discuss options for
landscaping which minimize equipment usage (e.g.,
"leave the leaves”, low-maintenance and local flora),
the benefits and co-benefits, explore success stories
in other locations, and promote dialogue with
Attachment 1
Commission
Rank
Topic Event Title Speaker Title / Affiliation Description professionals working towards a just transition away
from these types of equipment.
The
intersection of
climate change
and disability
rights
Building an
Inclusive Climate
Action Solution
(Strategy 5)
Daphne Frias Activist, Climate
Reality Project
Community empowerment is only as strong as its
treatment of marginalized communities. In 2023,
there were more than 44 million adults in the US
living with a disability. Climate change-induced
disasters often disproportionately impact people with
disabilities, who may have additional medical needs,
mobility challenges, and socioeconomic risk factors.
Join us to learn more about how both abled and
disabled residents can work together to build
inclusive climate solutions in our community. This
talk would ideally be coordinated with the City
Manager’s Office to align with October’s United
Against Hate Week.
Attachment 1
SCHEDULING
Up to four events will be spaced approximately every two to three months, coordinated by staff in consideration of speaker availability, staff time, budget, and other City events.
VENUE
The events held since January 2020 have been held in a virtual online environment. City events in a lecture style have been better attended in the virtual format than in-person. Staff will consider in- person events if there are hands-on components or demonstrations as part of the talk. Online events allow more people to attend since seating capacity is not limited. If an in-person event is held, the Bay Conference Room (Room 145) at City Hall, is a first choice of venues because it allows for live broadcast on K-SUN TV as well as recording for later viewing. Other venues including the Sunnyvale Community Theater (capacity 200) and the Community Center Ballroom (capacity 300) are considered when a larger audience is expected. Refreshments will be provided at in- person events with a zero-waste goal.
PUBLICITY
The promotion and marketing of events will be similar to past series. It will include social media, email blasts, Sunnyvale Sun ads, and flyers posted at community businesses. With longer advance notice, the event notices could be printed in Horizon. Additional avenues for outreach to local schools, colleges and universities as well as the business/tech community should also be used.
VIDEO RECORDINGS
Each event will be videotaped and made available on the Community TV channel as well as on the City’s Sustainability website. If the venue is other than online or City Hall, some funding and coordination is needed for video recording services. If a particular speaker does not allow recording/posting of their talk, a summary of the key points will be written and posted online.
COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
Evaluation surveys will be administered, as done in past series, to collect feedback from attendees on the event experience, identify improvements, and gather suggestions for future topics and speakers.
HISTORY
For context, Table 2. below summarizes the history of prior Sustainability Speaker’s Series events.
The 2018-2019 series marks the shift between calendar year and fiscal year planning to align with Sunnyvale’s budgeting fiscal year.
Attachment 1
Table 2: Sustainability Speaker Series Event History since inception
Series
Year
Title Speaker Date General Topic
2017
Electrifying! Beyond Fossil
Fuels in Homes and
Businesses
Pierre Delforge May 31, 2017 Buildings
Electrifying Our
Transportation System
Rod Diridon, Sr. Aug. 2, 2017 Transportation
Zero Waste Home Bea Johnson Aug. 30, 2017 Waste
2018
Drawdown: 100
Substantive Solutions to
Global Warming
Chad Frischmann Jan. 31, 2018 Climate
Solutions
Hidden in Plain Bite Katie Cantrell May 16, 2018 Food
The Power of Stuff Annie Leonard Sept. 26. 2018 Consumption of Resources
Home Energy: Taking
Charge! Panel Discussion
Tom Kabat,
Doug Kunz,
Dave Edwards,
Steve Schmidt,
Marianna
Grossman
Oct. 25, 2018 Home Energy
2019
(added
to
2018
series)
Climate, Energy & Food: A
Recipe for Action
Dr. Eugene
Cordero
May 22, 2019 Carbon
Footprint
FY
2019-
2020
Electric Cars Demystified Jane Rosten,
Marc Geller,
Jim Barbera
Nov. 9, 2019 EV
Transportation
California's Rise to Water
Resilience: What will it
take?
Felicia Marcus Jan. 29, 2020 Water
Less Traffic, Better Places:
How do we get there?
Patrick Siegman Mar. 11, 2020 Transportation
FY
2020-
2021
California’s Equitable
Carbon Neutral Future
Jarod Blumenfeld
Secretary of
California EPA
Dec. 3, 2020 Adaptation and
CA Climate
Policy
Sustainability goes to
School
Nik Kaestner,
Director of
Sustainability at
San Francisco
Jan. 30, 2021 Decarbonizing
Buildings
Attachment 1
Unified School
District
What Moves You - Active,
Shared and Electric
Transportation
Terra Curtis &
Meghan Weir
Principals at
Nelson/Nygaard
March 17, 2021 Decarbonizing
Transportation
Recycling – Beyond the
Triangle
Mark Bowers
Former
Sunnyvale Solid
Waste Programs
Division Manager
May 19, 2021 Managing
Resources
Sustainably
FY
2021-
2022
This Old Zero-Emission
House: Climate Retrofits
on a Limited Budget
Sean Armstrong,
Zero Net Energy
Designer and
Managing
Principal,
Redwood Energy
February 2, 2022 Decarbonizing
Buildings
The Emissions that You
Purchase: Reducing Your
Carbon Footprint
Chris Jones,
Director of
CoolClimate
Network, UC
Berkeley
March 16, 2022 Consumption-
based
emissions
A Changing Climate:
Through the Lens of Equity
and Resiliency
Violet Saena,
Founder &
Executive
Director, Climate
Resilient
Communities
June 8, 2022 Climate Change
and Health
FY
2022-
2023
Sustainable Food
Gardening in Our Own
Backyards
Trinity Tomsic December 14,
2022
Food
Farm to Table: Busting the
Myths of our Food System
Dr. Sarah Taber January 25, 2023 Food
An Electric Dinner Party:
Induction Cooking
Chef Rachelle
Boucher
May 30, 2023 Decarbonizing
Buildings
FY
2023-
2024
Drought, Atmospheric
Rivers and Floods, Oh My!
Christine Shields
Erik Porse
January 24, 2024 Water
Microplastics? Macro
Problems
Dr. Imari Walker-
Franklin
February 7, 2024 Water
Make Every Drop Count:
Grey Water Reuse
Shreya
Ramachandran
April 17, 2024 Water
Attachment 1