Sustainability, Equity and Resilience Framework

The Sustainability, Equity and Resilience framework provides the strategic planning foundation for the policies, programs, and projects of the City of Boulder. It also serves as the organizing tool for the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, annual budget, and organizational planning processes by providing consistent goals and objectives necessary to achieve Boulder’s vision of service excellence for an inspired future.

Broadly, Boulder seeks a future with equitable access to health, prosperity and fulfillment that is not limited based on a person’s race, ethnicity, age, gender, ability, religion, sexuality, or socioeconomic status. Our community prepares, adapts, and thrives in response to current, emerging, and sometimes urgent, social, economic, and environmental shocks and stressors. This includes meeting community expectations for our core service delivery and ensuring that the root causes of inequities are eliminated through city policies, practices, programs, and financial decisions.

A welcoming and inclusive community that fosters positive neighborhood and community relations and ensures that all residents are secure and cared for during emergencies and natural disasters. Public infrastructure is well-maintained and reliable, and natural resources like water, air, and land are protected.

• Prevent crime, alleviate harm, and improve quality of life for community members and visitors while minimizing disparate impacts on community members of color and considering the needs of different cultures, individuals, and community values.
• Plans for and provides equitable, timely, and effective response and recovery to emergencies and natural disasters.
• Fosters a climate of safety for individuals in homes, businesses, neighborhoods, and public spaces.
• Leverages partnerships and encourages shared community responsibility to keep Boulder safe.
• Builds and maintains resilient infrastructure, landscapes and neighborhoods to mitigate existing and future hazards and risks.
• Operates services necessary to support basic public health including safe drinking water, removal of snow, wastewater and stormwater, and a reliable multimodal transportation system.

All Boulder residents are able to meet their critical needs, enjoy high levels of social, physical, and mental well-being, and have access to abundant recreational, cultural and educational opportunities in an environment that respects and celebrates human rights.

• Cultivates a wide range of recreational, cultural, educational, civic, and social opportunities for all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual identity, ability, or socioeconomic status.
• Supports the physical and mental well-being of its community members by providing public gathering places and programs to encourage social connection and prevent isolation.
• Fosters racial equity, inclusion, and diversity community wide.

High-performing, safe, and well-maintained buildings and infrastructure that accommodate a diverse set of community needs for working, learning, playing, and living.

• Provides a variety of housing types with a full range of affordability.
• Supports community members who are unhoused or underhoused to navigate systems, programs, and services to achieve housing security.
• Encourages sustainable and well-regulated development of buildings supported by reliable and affordable city services and public infrastructure.
• Increases the prevalence of 15-minute neighborhoods, in which individuals can access their most basic needs within a 15-minute walk from home.

A safe, accessible, and sustainable multimodal transportation system that connects people with each other and where they want to go. Open access to information is provided both physically and digitally to foster connectivity and promote community engagement.

• Offers and encourages a variety of safe, comfortable, affordable, reliable, convenient, and clean mobility options.
• Supports a balanced transportation system that reflects effective land use, manages congestion, and facilitates strong regional multimodal connections.
• Encourages diverse populations to connect through places of work, educational opportunities, retail, and nature to strengthen the larger community.
• Ensures physical and digital access to government services and public spaces.
• Enhances digital equity by investing in broadband infrastructure and providing relevant content on a variety of platforms to support democratic participation

A sustainable, thriving, and equitable community that benefits from and supports clean energy; preserves and responsibly uses the earth’s resources; and cares for ecosystems.

• Accelerates progress towards the community’s ambitious climate and energy goals through a culture of shared environmental stewardship across Boulder.
• Ensures the efficient use of natural resources in a manner that does not deplete them over time while reducing the proliferation of non-reusable materials, toxins, and hazardous products.
• Supports the natural environment and its ecosystems so they are better able to resist damage and recover quickly.
• Provides affordable programming to diverse populations to increase access to and participation in local climate actions.

A local government that provides an excellent customer experience, responsibly manages the city’s assets, and makes data-driven decisions informed by community engagement inclusive of those who have been historically excluded from government programs and services. The city organization exemplifies an employer of choice with policies and programs to support employee inclusion and well-being.

• Models stewardship, resilience, and sustainability of the city’s financial, human, information, and physical assets.
• Builds organizational capacity for advancing racial equity by normalizing conversations about race, developing a shared understanding of institutional and structural racism, confronting oppression, and operationalizing equity strategies.
• Supports strategic decision-making with opportunities for accessible community engagement in multiple languages and timely and reliable data and analysis.
• Enhances and facilitates transparency, accuracy, efficiency, effectiveness, and quality customer service in all city business.
• Furthers the city’s interests through the development and enhancement of strategic alliances and informed engagement with community partners and local, regional, state, and federal government entities.
• Provides assurance of regulatory and policy compliance and seeks to influence other levels of government to ensure policy and regulations are equitable.
• Disaggregates data by race and ethnicity to ensure programs, policies, and financial decisions do not have a disparate impact on historically excluded community members.
• Ensures that the city is a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

A healthy, accessible, resilient, and sustainable economy based on innovation, diversity, and collaboration that benefits all residents, businesses, and visitors.

• Fosters a collaborative, resource-rich, and thriving regional environment for business, educational, and public institutions
• Attracts, sustains, and retains a broad mix of businesses, entrepreneurs, and jobs, and supports a diverse and skilled workforce.
• Seeks to enhance the affordability of goods, services, and real estate that support the needs of all community members.
• Supports financial security, economic opportunity, and social mobility for all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, ability, or socioeconomic status.
• Promotes creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and provides support for small businesses and community-based organizations.
• Invests in amenities, infrastructure, and services that contribute to an exceptional quality of life and attract employees and visitors.