City of Des Moines and Iowa Environmental Council Announce New Resiliency Partnership
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on Wednesday, March 11, 2026
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Council News
DES MOINES — Today, the City of Des Moines and the Iowa Environmental Council announced a new partnership centered on building the city’s resilience to extreme weather and engaging more residents in sustainability work.
“We are thrilled to announce this partnership with the Iowa Environmental Council because we know the people of Des Moines care about building a more resilient and sustainable future for our city,” said Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen. “This partnership is an important step to enacting goals within Des Moines’ climate action plan, ADAPT DSM.”
The partnership, which involves IEC serving as one of the city’s Resiliency Facilitators, focuses on two key projects: developing guidance for a city-wide resilience hub program and facilitating more stakeholder involvement in the city’s existing sustainability programs, including Think Green This Spring, the Stormwater Best Management Practices Program, Tiny Trees, Earth Day Trash Bash, and more.
The partnership also ensures regular interactions with citizen-led groups to solicit input on city programs and ADAPT DSM implementation.
The creation of guidance for the city’s consideration of a resilience hub program will help collect science- and evidence-based examples of other programs across the country to guide implementation. Resilience hubs are commonly defined as locations where residents can access basic services during an extreme weather event, including reliable electricity or clean drinking water.
“The partnership’s focus on the resilience hubs program and increasing stakeholder engagement allows IEC to leverage our expertise in service of the people of Des Moines,” said Cody Smith, IEC Director of Climate Initiatives and manager of this project. “We are excited to assist the city as it seeks to achieve the ADAPT DSM goals of bolstering climate-related emergency communications and services.”
The project kicked off in January, and the partnership is expected to last at least one year.
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The Iowa Environmental Council is the state's largest and most comprehensive environmental alliance, comprised of diverse organizations and individuals working together to protect Iowa's natural environment. Through education, advocacy, and coalition-building, the Council raises awareness, generates action, and creates large-scale change. We work on federal, state, and local public policy issues to ensure a just, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans.