Toolkit for Communities to Address Climate Change
23 March 2010 at 1:07 pm
Called Liveable & Just, a Toolkit has been launched for local governments and communities to address the social and equity impacts of climate change.
The toolkit is the culmination of a joint project run by the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA), the Brotherhood of St Laurence, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and funded by the Victorian Local Sustainability Accord.
VLGA’s CEO, Maree McPherson says climate change, heat waves and other extreme weather events hit those hardest who are already isolated or who need support.
McPherson says in response to the outcomes and recommendations of climate change workshops conducted across Victoria, the Liveable & Just Toolkit has been developed to assist councils to integrate social and equity issues into efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The toolkit offers practical ways that local governments and communities can:
- Make the case for local government action on the social and equity impacts of climate change
- Identify who is most vulnerable within communities, and do something about it
- Engage the community effectively on climate change
- Understand community resilience to climate change and ways to strengthen it; and
- Integrate responses to the social and equity impacts of climate change across council.
The toolkit is designed for the use of those in roles of varying seniority in local government, and across a range of council activities including sustainability, health and wellbeing, community development and planning.
The toolkit can be viewed at www.liveableandjust.vlga.org.au
