Community Outreach

Obtaining resident input is one of the most important steps in Sustainability Plan. Outreach, whether virtual or in-person, was vital in gaining resident perspective on what was most important to Charleston County residents in achieving a sustainable and resilient future.

In-Person Outreach Sessions/Events:

In 2023, Charleston County Sustainability conducted four in-person outreach sessions and attended nine events to promote Sustainability Plan to the residents, other local governments, and the business community.

• Isle of Palms Environmental Advisory Committee
• MUSC Earth Day Fair
• Charleston County Hazards Expo
• Green Drinks Climate Change Month Tabling
• Charleston Chamber of Commerce Regional Committee
• Sea Island Farmers Market
• Mingle with Your Mayoral Candidates Table
• The Hope Summit Table
• Charleston Climate Coalition CAP Engagement
• MUSC Town Hall
• College of Charleston Tabling
• John’s Island Council Engagement Session
• Coastal Conservation League Engagement Session
• UPCOMING: Mt. Pleasant Green Commission
• UPCOMING: Edisto Island Library Session (see Overview page for more information)

Webinars

Charleston County held three virtual sessions to give residents additional details about the Sustainability Plan process:

• Sustainability Plan 101: focused on what a climate action plan is and why the County is developing one.
• Action on Climate Together: gathered resident input on what important high-level topics they wanted to see in the plan.
• Action on Climate Solutions: after incorporating community input from previous outreach, session focused on high-level overview of climate actions in draft plan.

Publications

Several organizations sent information about Charleston County's Sustainability Plan activities to their memberships including the Charleston's Home Builders Association, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, and the Alhambra Garden Club.

Questionnaire

In October 2023, Charleston County Sustainability created a questionnaire that captured those residents that wanted their voices heard but did not have time or the ability to participate in an in-person or virtual session. The questionnaire received a total of 356 responses.

The questionnaire consisted six general questions, two demographic questions, and one open-ended question. Here is a sample of some of the data from the questionnaire: