Fayette County Public Schools
Shared its five-year Sustainability Action Plan and coordinated around waste, tree canopy, and fleet upgrades.
Shaping Climate Action Through Regional Voices
The Central Kentucky Climate Action Plan is the result of a heartfelt collaboration born from extensive community outreach. Residents, stakeholders, and technical experts from the region have developed strategies that reflect the unique character and needs of each county in the Lexington-Fayette MSA. You will see the fingerprints of our communities throughout the plan, as they have shaped and molded it.
Regional Focus Groups
In-person engagement across the MSA
To kick off the planning process, the project team hosted a series of Regional Focus Groups in each county and one virtual session for broader access. These events were designed to be welcoming and interactive, featuring:
- Brief presentations to set the stage
- Small group discussions
- A custom “Climate Conversations” game to spark new ideas
- Dinner and multilingual materials (English and Spanish)
Focus group events by county
- Bourbon
- Clark
- Lexington-Fayette
- Jessamine
- Scott
- Woodford
- Virtual MSA-wide meeting
More than 100 residents participated, and their input helped identify local climate priorities, community values, and barriers to action.
Community Ambassador Program
Peer-to-peer outreach that reached deeper. Recognizing that not everyone could attend a formal event, the project launched a Community Ambassador Program. Ambassadors were local residents recruited and trained to:
- Host conversations in trusted community spaces
- Distribute multilingual surveys and educational flyers
- Engage residents from low-income and disadvantaged communities
Ambassadors received a stipend and materials, and their work helped reach an additional 100+ individuals.
Ambassadors were active in
- Clark County (1 representative)
- Fayette County (3 representatives, including a Spanish speaker)
- Jessamine County (2 representatives)
- Woodford County (1 representative)
- No ambassadors nominated for Bourbon or Scott County.
Strategy Sessions with Key Partners
Sector-specific coordination for real-world impact
Several large institutions across the region participated in individual strategy meetings to align planning efforts and identify opportunities for collaboration.
Notable partners included:
-
Blue Grass Airport
Discussed efforts to electrify airport vehicles, reduce energy consumption, and begin exploring sustainable aviation fuel alternatives.
Technical Focus Groups
Planning with subject matter experts
To ensure that the plan was actionable and grounded in evidence, the CCAP team convened Technical Focus Groups in four key sectors:
- Energy
- Transportation
- Waste
- Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use (AFOLU)
Participants included city planners, utility reps, sustainability professionals, engineers, and agency staff. These sessions informed the emissions modeling and helped shape the action “menus” for each county.
Sustainability Survey
What we heard from residents
Alongside focus groups and ambassador outreach, a survey was circulated across the MSA. The survey collected public perspectives on climate change, sustainability, and local priorities. Key takeaways from over 100 responses:
- Strong concern about climate change
- High interest in green infrastructure and clean transportation
- Common barriers included cost, time, and access to trusted information
- Interest in seeing sustainability embedded into schools, business practices, and public services
These insights directly influenced which actions were prioritized in the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.
Moving Forward
The outreach conducted during this planning phase laid the foundation for long-term community involvement. As the region moves from planning to implementation, ongoing input and collaboration will be key to building a more sustainable, resilient Central Kentucky.
