Climate change and social justice: The role of local government in building just and resilient communities
Join us on Thursday 23 February at 2pm AEDT for a full panel line up with the Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places and the City of Greater Dandenong as they discuss climate change, social justice, and the role and responsibilities of local government in building just and resilient communities.
Background
Climate change is exacerbating existing social inequities and disproportionately impacting people experiencing marginalisation and disadvantage. There is growing attention on the justice implications of more frequent and extreme weather, with some State and Territory governments now legislating local governments to consider climate change in municipal public health and wellbeing planning.
The complexity of these emerging climate justice priorities is demanding collaboration across traditionally siloed departments in local governments, beyond the environment and climate change teams. In the face of the unprecedented storms, floods and fires, we have also seen shifting community expectations from local elected officials and leadership within Councils to move beyond traditional approaches towards partnering with the community in making decisions about how to meet their needs.
This webinar has been designed by the Centre for Just Places to share learnings, provide guidance, and promote the enabling environment for the collaborative, cross-sector action that is required to mobilise and support climate justice from the perspective of local governments.
Drawing on project partnerships from three LGAs, Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places will provide practical insight into how councils are responding to these emerging risks, building climate resilience and reducing risk in their communities through cross-sector, collaborative partnerships between community health and service organisations, community leaders and diverse departments within Council.
Join us to:
- Understand the ‘top-down’ mechanisms that enable climate justice – i.e. the key legislative and policy frameworks and government resourcing that exist, how they have enabled action, and gaps for further work.
- Understand ‘bottom-up’ approaches to climate justice, in considering the role of different sectors and service providers, including practical examples of ‘how to do’ climate justice in the context of local governments.
- Understand the skills, capacities and capabilities required for collaborative climate justice initiatives, and the strategic interventions to enable this in the local context.
This webinar will be held online on Zoom, please register via Eventbrite below to receive the Zoom link. All member council officers with access to our online collaboration platform Council Connect will also be sent a calendar invite with the Zoom link and do not need to register separately.
Please email [email protected] with any questions.