The Green Resilience Project (GRP) is an opportunity for community members to take action or explore connections between climate change, income security, and community resilience.
Community resilience—understood here as a community’s ability to meet, respond to and recover from major challenges like the ones brought on by climate change—is an essential part of any plan to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Today, community resilience in Canada is under threat in many different ways: from fossil fuel workers worried about job losses; to farmers facing drought, uncertain markets and local depopulation; to communities experiencing high cost of living, suppressed wages, failing social systems, poverty, systemic racism, heat waves, wildfires, flooding and more.
This project is motivated by the understanding that we need bold policy and action at the intersection between climate change and income insecurity, and we need buy-in across the board. Our team identifies partner organizations who are already engaged in efforts related to climate change, housing, transportation, anti-poverty initiatives, income security, anti-oppression work, food security, or similar issues. With these organizations, we focus on recognizing opportunities for activities that bolster the partner’s existing work by incorporating either a climate lens or an affordability/or income security perspective.
How does the Green Resilience Project work?
Local partners across Canada are designing and organizing their own conversations to discuss how economic conditions and climate change impacts are affecting their communities, how those issues are connected to each other and other issues – from housing to food security to systemic oppression to mental health – and what can be done at the local or national level to address these issues together. Some groups are engaging in action oriented engagements to move forward with plans.
The GRP team provides funding and support to local partners hosting conversations or engagements. Partners are encouraged to shape the project experience, from content to format, in order to ensure the project meets their own needs, gains traction on local efforts, and reflects the needs of their community.
Who can participate as a partner?
The GRP partners with organizations or individuals working on a range of issues. Past partners have included environmental organisations, anti-poverty organisations, a healthcare worker, a health policy researcher, Indigenous-led communities or organisations, basic income pilot sites, a cultural organizer, three youth-focused organisations, a think tank, a community economic development organisation and a member-based farming organisation.
The most important consideration for participating in the Green Resilience Project is that a community conversation or action oriented engagement on these topics will move the work of the host forward for community benefit.
As we learned in our initial Green Resilience Project conversations about climate change and income security, there are often connections between issues, even if they are not obvious at the beginning of the conversation.
What kinds of support will the Green Resilience Project provide?
The GRP offers community partners $3,000 in funding to be used as needed, and our team members are here to support your project. We have materials available to help host conversations (the use of our materials is optional). Our staff will work with you to help ensure you have the resources you need to design your conversation or engagement in the way that best suits your community’s needs.
I am (or might be) interested in hosting a conversation. What’s the next step?
There is no formal application process. Get in touch with us so we can figure out together whether this is a good fit for us both. You can get started by sending a quick email to our Project Manager, Giselle Lee Hausman. Briefly let her know:
-Your name (and organisation, if applicable)
-Why you are interested in hosting a conversation or engagement
-How this opportunity will benefit your community / advance your work within the community