Climate Action Plan Project

Current municipal initiative to develop a Climate Action Plan - Last Updated April 15, 2021

NEW: See our one-page Climate Action Initiative brochure at this LINK
NEW: See recently release Apple Country Nature-Based Solutions Report HERE
Noteworthy: Please see Harvard's Climate Initiative Website HERE and also see Instagram and Facebook pages for the initiative.

Summary of Project

Building on the work of the original MVP Subcommittee and the resultant MVP Priortization Plans developed by consultant Harriman, Harvard began to implement the recommendations of the Plan by seeking grant funding in the form of an MVP Action Grant for the development of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CAP). It was expected that additional identified priorities would be embedded within the CAP. As described below, Harvard did not receive full funding for a complete plan, so the Community Resilience Working Group (CRWG) is preparing to begin the process of developing a Climate Action Plan with the volunteers of the group and members of the community. At this point, the plan is in a preliminary phase, preparing to hold a kickoff public meeting. Also we have:

  • Summarized the hazards and priorities from the Prioritization plans as a baseline for public discussion.
  • Incorporated a modified plan outline and other materials provided by Kim Lundgren Associates.
  • Received the set of nature-based solutions from the Apple Country Report.
  • Working with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission to update the Transportation Element of the 2016 Master Plan through a climate change lens.
  • Working with Public Safety and DPW to find funding to update the Hazard Mitigation Plan, also through a climate change lens.

Below is a summary of prior projects intended to feed into the full Climate Action Plan.

MVP Prioritization Plan

With an MVP grant of $35,000, Harriman Associates helped Harvard develop a general climate change prioritization plan and an agricultural plan in order to become an MVP Community and be eligible for additional grant funding through MVP Action grants. This project was completed in late 2019 and specific action items led to seeking funds for a complete Climate Action Plan. See the Prioritization Plan reports at THIS LINK.

Agricultural Action Plan Climate Action Grant

On January 7, 2020, Harvard was awarded an MVP Action Grant to conduct a Climate Action Plan originally intended to be a comprehensive assessment of climate-related challenges and threats and to develop a plan for resiliency in all sectors of the community. The original request was for over $160,000 and Harvard was awarded $70,500 by the state, and thus it was necessary to modify the scope to derive the maximum utility out of the funding for a program that would benefit Harvard in its efforts to create the eventual comprehensive plan. Working with consultant Kim Lundgren and Associates, as well as the Community Resilience Working Group (CRWG), a new scope was developed that would create a framework/outline for a plan and focus initially on the agricultural sector. This scope also included a branding and marketing initiative for both the plan as a whole and the agricultural sector more specifically. Benefiting from a project extension granted by the state, which permitted the project to extend into Fiscal Year 2021, a final edit of the scope (link below) and timeline (also below) was established.  On September 30, 2020, the plan, entitled "Harvard's Agricultural Climate Action Plan" was delivered to the Town.

Apple Country MVP Action Grant

On September 15, 2020, the Town of Harvard along with the Town of Bolton and Devens, was officially awarded a $250,000 MVP Action Grant for the Apple Country Ecological Climate Resiliency and Carbon Planning and Assessment Project. The goal of this project is to assist the three communities to understand and implement Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) that increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of the region’s ecological, economic, and physical infrastructure utilizing natural resource assets, including soils, farmland, forests, wetlands and other ecosystems. These natural resources will be evaluated based on their climate vulnerability/resiliency, carbon storage/sequestration and their capacity to support the ecological climate resiliency and carbon conservation goals of the three communities.

The outputs will be assessments specific to soil health, forest carbon and climate resiliency, climate change and wetlands along with public involvement throughout. The materials produced will facilitate continued action and implementation of both the specific identified and prioritized NBS, and further community outreach, engagement, and regional collaboration over time. Most ecologically valuable, carbon-rich climate resilient ecosystems (including agricultural ecosystems) offer opportunities for ecological restoration, enhancement of community and ecological climate resiliency, and carbon storage/sequestration through NBS.  The Project will identify policies and strategies that support NBS and their many co-benefits, as well as Best Management Practices relevant to supporting climate resilient carbon-protective and healthy soils, agricultural, forests and wetlands/floodplains.

See project report HERE.