This workshop featured presentations from Theresa McClenaghan and Jacqueline Wilson from CELA and the Low Income Energy Network (LIEN), Randy Sa’d from REFOCUS, and Claire Bennett from City of Kitchener, who presented their upcoming research and collaborative partnerships to bring stakeholders (municipal, academic, equity groups, and social innovators) together to explore how to put equity goals into practice in climate action planning. This was an interactive webinar and all the feedback/input is compiled in the Proceedings from the Equity Workshop (PDF file).
Presentations:
- Theresa McClenaghan and Jacqueline Wilson – Climate Law and Vulnerable Communities 2020
- Randy Sa’d – REFOCUS – Ontario Municipal Network Presentation
- Claire Bennett – Sustainability at Kitchener
- Clean Air Partnership – Proceedings from the Equity Workshop, feedback from chat box and MENTI
Resources:
(additional resources can be found in Proceedings from Equity Workshop file)
- VERiS Sustainability Justice Call for Partners: Cities can join the project/partnership development process which will continue through 2020. By signing up using the instructions within the attached, individuals will receive access to all of the materials REFOCUS has shared, and the opportunity to join the group of partners developing the project. This includes the possibility of, like the City of Kitchener, becoming a case study participant in REFOCUS’s multi-year applied research program focused on integrating social justice and accessibility into Climate Action Planning through innovation in municipal planning.
- The following are references to several management innovations central to the Enterprise Evolution program that were mentioned in Randy’s presentation. The references themselves are all free to access and quite informative:
- Kitchener Corporate Climate Action Plan- The plan includes the risk score findings, screenshot of which was presented in Claire’s presentation.
- 2018 Healthy Environments and Climate Change Guideline – Ontario Public Health Standards require health units to assess health impacts related to climate change.
- Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals- Module 7 of the Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals addresses the policies and programs that have been implemented by communities across the country to protect people from climate change impacts and/or to increase community resiliency. Vulnerable populations are considered throughout.
- OPHA #MakeItBetter Campaign- This project by Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA) in partnership with leading health and environmental organizations is working to protect children’s health.
- Energy Poverty by Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners (CUSP)- Energy poverty affects households with diverse income ranges, and individuals who live in a variety of housing types all across Canada. CUSP created Energy Poverty and Equity Explorer tool to help the understanding and addressing energy poverty, and support policymakers to progress on a number of these critical priorities and ensure we “leave no one behind” in the low-carbon transition.
- Low Income Energy Network (LIEN) – This site is designed primarily to share information with the Network about LIEN’s activities, and activities of its members on issues related to addressing the energy needs of Ontario’s low-income households and energy issues. The low income energy programs’ design explicitly recognize that there cannot be upfront capital contribution requirements from the participants, and also that the programs need to be “turnkey” – the residents in these programs need to be left with fully functional results and not, for example, having to finish work such as wall finishes etc. Conservation programs reviewed at the Ontario Energy Board have adopted modified “total resource cost” analysis for the low-income programs in particular, in recognition of co-benefits like health and many others to accommodate this problem of how cost benefit is traditionally done.
- Town of Ajax map on social vulnerability in relation to heat island and tree coverage- This study examined the relationship between tree stress and climate variables such as temperature and precipitation. These results provided city planners with tools needed to plan for the predicted increase in extreme heat events and mitigation of the effects on the community. The study used Stat Can and municipal data.