City of Colorado Springs | SustainableCOS Plan

Lotus is supporting the development of Colorado Springs’ first Sustainability Action Plan. This data-driven and community-focused planning effort involved the integration of the City’s first community-wide and municipal greenhouse gas emissions inventories, the analysis of current and past planning efforts in the City and region, and the engagement of a wide network of Colorado Springs’ staff, stakeholders, and partners to identify measurable and actionable strategies and actions that the City can take to enhance sustainability across the community. Equity considerations were woven throughout the process, with specific strategies and actions focused on improving access to resources and forthcoming development opportunities in disproportionately impacted communities across Colorado Springs. The final plan will be a graphically designed document that informs the City and its partners on the work to be done over the next 5-10 years. In 2023 Lotus will be completing emissions strategy modeling to determine the greenhouse gas emissions impact of the strategies within the Sustainability Action Plan. 

The Sustainability Action Plan focuses on ten sustainability elements:

  1. Equity

  2. Agriculture and Food Availability

  3. Natural Environment, including ecological health, water, and air quality

  4. Built Environment

  5. Energy

  6. Materials Management

  7. Transportation

  8. Economic Development

  9. Health and Well-Being

  10. Arts and Culture.

Lotus facilitated focus groups for each of the 10 elements to help draft the narrative that will be integrated into the City’s Plan.