Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities

Communities actively shape equitable health, just transitions, and climate change and disaster resilience, including pandemics.
Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities grants in 2022/2023 financial year:
Total: $2.073 million
Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities grants in 2022/2023 financial year:
Total: $2.073 million

About

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation recognises the importance of health equity in strengthening community resilience to climate change and disasters.

Our health and resilience depend on many interconnected factors, including a healthy environment, a sense of purpose, social connections, and healthy housing. Yet, through historic and systemic disparities, such factors are not equitably distributed, making some communities more vulnerable than others to disasters and climate change.

For everyone to have equal prospects of good health and a dignified life, our pandemic recovery and climate change actions must improve these determinants of health and support community capacities to nurture healthy and climate resilient futures. In short, the determinants of health are the foundations of resilience, and health equity, the foundation of climate justice.

The Foundation is working towards achieving the following Outcomes:

  1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience

  2. Greater Melbourne’s food systems are equitable, healthy, sustainable, and resilient

  3. The health and community sectors can support community resilience to climate change and disasters, including pandemics and other shocks

Click on each of the Outcomes below for further information.

The Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities Impact Area aligns with these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals:

1. No Poverty 2. Zero Hunger 3. Good Health and Well-being 10. Reduced Inequality 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities 13. Climate Action 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Learn more

Outcomes

1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience

Climate change threatens our health in many ways. It is increasing extreme weather events such as floods, fire weather, heatwaves, and storms. It is also impacting the determinants of good health such as our environment, food systems, community cohesion, economics, mental health, and housing. Even if we stopped all emissions tomorrow, the climate will continue to change for many years, if not decades. This makes emissions reductions and resilience building critical.

Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation supports work that connects community resilience, climate change action, and health equity. We support work that seeks systems approaches to strengthening community capacities to become more self-determining, socially connected, regenerative, and adaptive.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Strengthening community capacities to advance health equity through climate change mitigation and adaptation combined
  • Urban leaders supporting community networks focused on equitable health and resilience
  • Community-driven, nature-based projects that support health and climate resilience
  • Cross-sector collaborations that support equitable disaster resilience, with a particular focus on heat

2. Greater Melbourne’s food systems are equitable, healthy, sustainable, and resilient

Increasing demand for agricultural products, urban sprawl, climate change and a range of other threatening processes are undermining the security, health, and sustainability of our food system.

Food production and consumption impacts biodiversity, aquatic and terrestrial resources, climate and a range of other critically important systems.

The food system can also produce less than ideal social outcomes, including limiting access to affordable, nutritious food.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Research to better understand the issues threatening the security, health, and sustainability of the food system.
  • Evidence-based solutions and pathways to a secure, healthy, resilient, and sustainable food system.
  • Research and demonstration projects that influence or produce food system security, health, resilience, and sustainability outcomes.
  • First Nations' and locally-led food enterprises and capacities
  • Demonstration of more sustainable, low-carbon urban agricultural approaches.

3. The health and community sectors can support community resilience to climate change and disasters, including pandemics and other shocks

The World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) describes climate change as the 'greatest challenge to human health globally', affecting determinants of health including a healthy environment, food security, community cohesion, and housing.

Community service and health organisations are on the frontlines of the health implications of climate change. Because they understand determinants of health and are deeply connected with the communities they serve, they are critical actors in climate resilience. Given health is influenced by so many factors that lie outside the community and health sectors, improving health equity requires collaborative, systemic action.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Increasing the capabilities of community and health organisations to understand and respond to the health implications of climate change.
  • Building community awareness and capabilities regarding climate and health to prevent and alleviate adverse health outcomes.
  • Research that leads to improved policy, focusing on the population health benefits of proactive climate change adaptation and mitigation.
  • Innovative collaborations between community, health, and environmental organisations responding proactively to the population health implications of climate change.

Climate change threatens our health in many ways. It is increasing extreme weather events such as floods, fire weather, heatwaves, and storms. It is also impacting the determinants of good health such as our environment, food systems, community cohesion, economics, mental health, and housing. Even if we stopped all emissions tomorrow, the climate will continue to change for many years, if not decades. This makes emissions reductions and resilience building critical.

Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation supports work that connects community resilience, climate change action, and health equity. We support work that seeks systems approaches to strengthening community capacities to become more self-determining, socially connected, regenerative, and adaptive.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Strengthening community capacities to advance health equity through climate change mitigation and adaptation combined
  • Urban leaders supporting community networks focused on equitable health and resilience
  • Community-driven, nature-based projects that support health and climate resilience
  • Cross-sector collaborations that support equitable disaster resilience, with a particular focus on heat

Increasing demand for agricultural products, urban sprawl, climate change and a range of other threatening processes are undermining the security, health, and sustainability of our food system.

Food production and consumption impacts biodiversity, aquatic and terrestrial resources, climate and a range of other critically important systems.

The food system can also produce less than ideal social outcomes, including limiting access to affordable, nutritious food.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Research to better understand the issues threatening the security, health, and sustainability of the food system.
  • Evidence-based solutions and pathways to a secure, healthy, resilient, and sustainable food system.
  • Research and demonstration projects that influence or produce food system security, health, resilience, and sustainability outcomes.
  • First Nations' and locally-led food enterprises and capacities
  • Demonstration of more sustainable, low-carbon urban agricultural approaches.

The World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) describes climate change as the 'greatest challenge to human health globally', affecting determinants of health including a healthy environment, food security, community cohesion, and housing.

Community service and health organisations are on the frontlines of the health implications of climate change. Because they understand determinants of health and are deeply connected with the communities they serve, they are critical actors in climate resilience. Given health is influenced by so many factors that lie outside the community and health sectors, improving health equity requires collaborative, systemic action.

The Foundation's support is focused on:

  • Increasing the capabilities of community and health organisations to understand and respond to the health implications of climate change.
  • Building community awareness and capabilities regarding climate and health to prevent and alleviate adverse health outcomes.
  • Research that leads to improved policy, focusing on the population health benefits of proactive climate change adaptation and mitigation.
  • Innovative collaborations between community, health, and environmental organisations responding proactively to the population health implications of climate change.


Recent grants

Explore all grants
Urban Farm, Food Justice and Training Network
Sustain: The Australian Food Network Ltd
Status
Active grant
Grant Amount
$96,500
Grant Type
Initiative
Year
2022/2023
 
1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience.


Sustainable development goals
2. Zero Hunger 13. Climate Action
Refugee Women Designing and Implementing Climate Resilience Pathways
Wellsprings For Women Incorporated
Status
Active grant
Grant Amount
$90,000
Grant Type
Initiative
Year
2022/2023
 
1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience.


Sustainable development goals
13. Climate Action
Building Climate Resilient Communities: Ascot Vale Public Housing Estate
Wingate Avenue Community Centre Inc
Status
Active grant
Grant Amount
$25,000
Grant Type
Initiative
Year
2022/2023
 
1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience.


Sustainable development goals
13. Climate Action
Darebin Neighbourhoods Uniting for Climate Justice
Jika Jika Community Centre Inc
Status
Active grant
Grant Amount
$100,000
Grant Type
Initiative
Year
2022/2023
 
1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience.


Sustainable development goals
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities 13. Climate Action
Regenerating Melbourne's Ecological Corridors: Unlocking biodiversity networks for community health and climate resilience
University of Melbourne
Status
Active grant
Grant Amount
$49,787
Grant Type
Proactive
Year
2022/2023
 
1. Communities shape regenerative and just climate change resilience.


Sustainable development goals
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

Collaborate with us

Does your organisation's work align with the Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities Impact Area? Speak to:
Dr Karyn Bosomworth
Program Manager - Healthy & Climate Resilient Communities