It can be overwhelming to dive into plans to advance climate and equity synergies. The following questions have been designed to simplify the process, and can be applied to any climate actions, programs, policies, or plans.

Top Level Questions:

1. What are you trying to achieve with this action?
2. Who has traditionally participated in/benefitted from this action?
3. What groups are most in need of this action? Why?
4. What has prevented these groups from participating in the past?
5. What design can address barriers from those most in need of action or to increase participation? Barriers can be physical or perceived (perceptual/psychological)
6. Can you identify any negative impacts that this action may cause? Are there any measures that can help to proactively prevent that harm?
7. Who hasn't yet been engaged that would be good to engage? Why would they be good to engage? What may limit their engagement interest/ability?

Additional Questions:

• How does this action relate to other priorities or issues the municipality is currently facing? (e.g., energy poverty, aging in place, racism, skyrocketing rental costs, housing affordability, damage from extreme weather events, etc.)
• Who are the community leaders in your municipality that can act as a trusted source to build community support and engagement?
• Do you know who the equity-deserving organizations in your community are? Do others in your municipality know who they are? Are there opportunities to work together to seek their input on program design?
• Can this action support the goals of equity-deserving groups? If so, how? Have you engaged them in the planning process to gather their input on the action's ability to address their target priorities?

Are there questions missing from this list? Please submit your ideas here.