The Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC), acting on behalf of 4 Maine municipalities — Biddeford, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Kittery — is soliciting proposals for consultant services to assist with public engagement and facilitation activities for its Local Climate Action Planning Cohort ("Local CAP Cohort") effort, as well as assistance developing resource materials for a climate action planning toolkit. The Local CAP Cohort will be led by SMPDC's Regional Sustainability and Resilience Program. SMPDC will lead the communities through a collaborative cohort process to develop a unique local climate action plan for each municipality.

SMPDC and the Municipalities have budgeted $155,000 for public engagement, facilitation, and resource development services.

SMPDC will lead the communities of Biddeford, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Kittery through a collaborative cohort process to develop a unique local climate action plan for each community. The process will leverage collective resources and utilize a regional approach, while specific work to develop the plans and identify local climate impacts, vulnerabilities, goals, and strategies will be tailored to individual communities.

SMPDC is seeking a consultant to support the cohort with community-specific and regional public engagement and outreach activities, facilitation. The consultant will also develop tools and resources to support the cohort municipalities and other communities in the region with climate planning. The selected consultant will have a broad range of expertise but will have a particular strength in inclusive public outreach and engagement to ensure that all community members are able to participate in the planning process in a meaningful way. The consultant should be experienced in leading innovative (i.e., technology based) public engagement activities. Preferably, the chosen consultant will have experience with multi-municipal projects and will be skilled at balancing the needs of multiple communities and stakeholders while keeping a project on track. The consultant should also be capable of producing high-quality, graphically compelling templates and resources for municipal use.

The Consultant will work directly with SMPDC and the community task forces to lead public engagement and facilitation throughout the cohort process. The Consultant's portion of this project will consist of 4 main tasks: public engagement resource development; information and template resource development; cohort-wide and community specific public engagement activities; and facilitation of meetings and communication.

View the full RFP and submission requirements here: https://smpdc.org/vertical/Sites/%7B14E8B741-214C-42E2-BE74-5AA9EE0A3EFD%7D/uploads/SMPDC_Local_CAP_Cohort_-_Consultant_RFP_5.16.22.pdf