Impact Your World Community Luncheon Series

The Goshen City Council passed Ordinance 5014, Establishing a Department of Environmental Resilience during a regular meeting September 3, 2019, and the department began functioning as such in January of 2020. The new department’s work is to help promote and protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the community, to enhance and protect the environment, to promote economic development and to promote the planting, maintenance and removal of trees within the City of Goshen, according to Ord. 5014.

Mayor Jeremy Stutsman, when recommending the creation of the new department, said: “For many years, Goshen has been a leading community, not because we have all the answers but because we are bold and have the foresight to take the long view. We now need to find additional ways to better our physical environment and make our budgets even more efficient.”

Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley, the City Forester, is the department head, and while he will continue to work on the City’s urban forest, he also will help the City’s other departments in accomplishing goals related to green efforts, data collection, education and efficiencies both environmental and financial.

The City of Goshen’s Department of Environmental Resilience hosts a series of community presentations and meetings as a lead up to some Climate Action Planning.

Speaker: Matt Meersman, Director of the Saint Joseph River Basin Commission and past-president of the Friends of the St. Joe River Association.

Matt spoke about the value of our water resources in the context of a changing climate. As residents of the Great Lakes watershed, we have access to one of the most abundant fresh-water resources in the world. Responsibility for and stewardship of this resource are likely to be increasingly important issues for the people of our region.

The City of Goshen’s Department of Environmental Resilience hosts a series of community presentations and meetings as a lead up to some Climate Action Planning.

Speaker: Carrie Tauscher, State Community and Urban Forest Coordinator, Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Carrie works throughout Indiana with community urban forestry assistance and grant programs, advocating for the many benefits of the urban forest, and directs the Indiana Community Tree Stewards training program.

Carrie spoke about the social, economic and ecological roles that urban trees play in helping communities prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Trees are among the cheapest and most effective “infrastructure” for climate change mitigation, especially in urban settings.