About
For the past seven years, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation has been working to address the implications of climate change for the health and wellbeing of people already experiencing disadvantage. It now applies a climate change lens across all of its Impact Areas.
An Initiative Grant to Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places in 2021, has resulted in the recent launch of a Collaboration Action Plan, which is part of a larger project, Mobilising Climate Justice and Resilient Communities in Melbourne’s West.
The Foundation's Program Manager for Healthy and Climate Resilient Communities, Dr Karyn Bosomworth said, "The project will build and grow the climate resilience of communities in Melbourne’s western suburbs through stronger networks and collaborations between health and community service organisations."
To help inform the Action Plan, the Centre for Just Places conducted a series of consultations and engagement sessions with 44 community service, community health, and other organisations such as local councils, to map existing networks and identify where networks could be developed or strengthened. There is now a comprehensive stakeholder map that documents the social network of community service and health organisations in Melbourne’s west.
Melbourne’s western suburbs are some of the fastest-growing municipal areas in Australia, with the cities of Melton and Wyndham leading the way in population growth. The Collaborative Action Plan showed that with this urban growth, comes high heat exposure due to the loss of vegetation and an increased risk of health vulnerabilities due to higher temperatures.
"This project is part of the Foundation’s commitment to increasing community resilience to withstand major social and health challenges due to climate change, as well as building preparedness and resilience to extreme weather and disasters," added Karyn.
Download the Action Plan