New support to help community service organisations tackle social impacts of climate change

A new free online toolkit and tailored workshops are aiming to equip community service organisations with the tools and resources needed to respond to the impacts of climate change on people already experiencing disadvantage.

The Climate Justice and Resilience Toolkit and workshops were developed in response to Edith Cowan University (ECU) research, published in the journal Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, which revealed community service organisations are under-prepared, but eager to act, on climate change impacts.

The study, led by Associate Professor Naomi Godden from ECU’s Centre for People, Place and Planet, surveyed and interviewed community service organisation staff across Western Australia, finding most reported only a low-to-medium understanding of climate justice issues.

“While climate change impacts everyone and every sector of society, it is a social justice and human rights issue that disproportionately affects some communities more than others, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people experiencing homelessness and financial hardship, women, children and young people, people with disability and chronic illness, newly arrived migrants, and people of colour,” Associate Professor Godden said.

“Community services are already observing the inequitable impacts of climate change in communities, from families struggling with rising food and fuel costs to communities hit by heatwaves, bushfires and floods. Our research has shown they need greater support and resourcing to prepare and respond.”

As an outcome of the research, a long-term project has been developed called ‘Enhancing disaster resilience and climate justice in community services’. This project acknowledges the funding contribution of the Commonwealth Government and Lotterywest and support from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Project governance is provided by the Healthy Environments and Lives Network WA Aboriginal Steering Group and Climate Justice Union’s Lived Experience Advisory Group.

Aboriginal Traditional Owners such as Aunty/Dr Mara West from the project’s Aboriginal Steering Group spoke of the unique challenges Aboriginal people face through the impact of climate change and what service providers can do differently.

"Climate change is affecting Aboriginal communities in a big way, because we are on the frontlines and feeling the changes on Country. People just need to take a walk out in the Country to see the changes that are happening,” Aunty/Dr Mara said.

“Service providers need to be flexible when they work with community, and they need to just go and sit down with community Mob and listen. If they do that at least they know they are going some way to meet community needs, not just paying lip service to them."

Toolkit for change

The Climate Justice and Resilience Toolkit has been co-created by People with Lived Experience, Aboriginal Traditional Owners, community service organisations and climate justice researchers at ECU.

It provides free tools and resources for community service organisations to infuse climate justice and disaster resilience into their operations, policies, programs and practices.

“The toolkit provides practical guidance for organisations to prepare for climate impacts, including most importantly equitable processes for working with Aboriginal communities and people who have Lived Experience to ensure services meet their needs and honour their knowledges,” Associate Professor Godden said.

Call for partners: Workshops and funding available

The project team is now seeking community service organisations across WA to partner in hosting workshops to learn more about how climate justice and disaster resilience affect their core work and gain insight into some of the tools in the toolkit.

In addition, funded partnerships of up to $50,000 are on offer to organisations to develop trial climate justice and disaster resilience initiatives into their operations, practices or services.

Associate Professor Godden said the project is designed with ongoing cycles of learning and action.

“What we learn in these partnerships will feed back into the toolkit, making it a living resource that responds to the sector’s needs.”

If you’d like to learn more about the project or enquire about the workshops and funded partnerships, visit the activities and opportunities page of the toolkit.