The Climate Equity Policy Center was delighted to partner on a project with CDC’s Climate and Health Program from 2022 to 2024. With other partners, including lead partner UMass’s Prevention Research Center, we’ve worked to revise the CDC’s framework for assisting public health departments in working on climate change. The revision involved an update to the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework. The updated framework and Implementation Guide are now available.

The update focuses on:

• Integrating equity and racial justice more deeply into the framework, including the identification of populations at greatest risk and inclusion of community voices in adaptation and mitigation planning and implementation

• Adding mitigation activities that slow the pace of climate change, so that health departments focus on reducing contributions to climate change, as well as protecting communities from emerging climate dangers

• Providing context and tools to strengthen the implementation and usability of the framework

The team was led by the Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan Medical School; other partners include Climate Equity Policy Center, Health Resources in Action, Center for Climate Change and Health, American Public Health Association, and the University of New Hampshire.

More can be learned in this journal publication about the methodology of the revision, which included work with an expert panel, landscape analysis, key informant interviews, revisions, and drafting. 

The revised framework and the accompanying suite of technical guidance and capacity building materials and tools were published in January 2025. These resources will help public health practitioners to work with community in strong and respecful partnerships and to plan and implement climate and health adaptation and mitigation interventions.