On Friday, June 2nd, Village President Adduci accepted the 2023 Small City Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards from the U.S. Conference of Mayors on behalf of the Village of River Forest and the Cross Community Climate Collaborative (C4). President Adduci and Denver, Colorado Mayor Michael Hancock, are the 17th class of mayors being recognized by The U.S. Conference of Mayors for local actions that reduce carbon use and emissions in their cities. River Forest beat out fellow finalists Brookhaven, Georgia; Central Falls, Rhode Island; Duluth, Minnesota; and Largo, Florida to win the Small City Category. More information on the the 2023 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award winners and honorable mentions can be found here.
About C4
In June of 2022, the Village of River Forest, along with the villages of Oak Park and Broadview, launched C4 - which is a partnership between the municipaliteis and other near west suburbs to tackle the challenges of climate change and achieve equity outcomes. The partnership now includes 14 communities and is designed to bring together Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and non-minority communities across income lines to share ideas, secure resources, and drive large-scale projects within and across communities that achieve agreed upon greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, equity and sustainability goals. C4 projects include community solar through Illinois’ “Solar for All” program that provides reduced-rate electricity for low-to-moderate income (LMI) residents, Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure plans and funding for C4 communities, workforce development training and jobs for BIPOC residents related to solar and EV project development, residential curbside food scrap collection and school-based Zero Waste Schools programs. Sustainability working groups/commissions in C4 communities were also created to ensure community engagement.