We face an urgent moment in the struggle to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Motivated by this context, at the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) meeting in April 2019, over 50 local elected officials gathered as part of an off-program, informal workshop to discuss the impending threat of climate change to our local governments, communities, and First Nations in the region. Key areas of discussion included the lack of capacity for small and rural local governments and First Nations to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and the desire to learn from each other and share best practices.
There was a great deal of excitement and inspiration generated by that discussion. Coming out of that initial gathering, three Vancouver Island Mayors convened an ad-hoc group with nominees appointed by each regional district board in the AVICC region.
This group realized early on, that in order to be successful, we needed to ground our plan in research and data. To that end, we initiated a partnership with a dedicated group of professors from the University of Victoria who are deeply committed to community-based research. They have undertaken hugely informative research, including a territorial analysis of the region and a survey of local government and elected officials.
Our Steering Committee also understood from the beginning that engagement was key to success. To build a ten-year climate adaptation and mitigation plan for the region, to address the gaps identified in the research, and to support local governments, communities and First Nations to prepare for the future, we need full participation.
In November 2020, we hosted a day-long Community Resilience Summit for locally elected officials, staff and First Nations. Over 150 people from across the region engaged in a series of workshops and began the first steps of developing a Climate Action and Resilience Plan to 2030 for the island and coastal communities.
Whilst a hugely productive and inspiring day, we realised that there were voices missing, particularly those of youth and First Nations. In response, in the spring of 2021, we held a day-long Youth Climate Summit to engage youth across our communities to get their input. We did this because youth are often left out of the policy development process even when – on issues like climate change – they are the ones who will inherit the impacts of the policy choices we make today.
Whilst both summits included some Indigenous involvement, we are now actively seeking to hear more from First Nations to better understand what is already happening in these communities, what their existing priorities and actions are, and how these Nations would like to move forward. This engagement is on-going and will fundamentally shape next steps. It is being led by Alderhill, an Indigenous consulting company based on Vancouver Island.
Together, we aim to produce a plan that will catalyze climate mitigation and adaptation throughout the region, doing so in the spirit of decolonization.
There was a great deal of excitement and inspiration generated by that discussion. Coming out of that initial gathering, three Vancouver Island Mayors convened an ad-hoc group with nominees appointed by each regional district board in the AVICC region.
This group realized early on, that in order to be successful, we needed to ground our plan in research and data. To that end, we initiated a partnership with a dedicated group of professors from the University of Victoria who are deeply committed to community-based research. They have undertaken hugely informative research, including a territorial analysis of the region and a survey of local government and elected officials.
Our Steering Committee also understood from the beginning that engagement was key to success. To build a ten-year climate adaptation and mitigation plan for the region, to address the gaps identified in the research, and to support local governments, communities and First Nations to prepare for the future, we need full participation.
In November 2020, we hosted a day-long Community Resilience Summit for locally elected officials, staff and First Nations. Over 150 people from across the region engaged in a series of workshops and began the first steps of developing a Climate Action and Resilience Plan to 2030 for the island and coastal communities.
Whilst a hugely productive and inspiring day, we realised that there were voices missing, particularly those of youth and First Nations. In response, in the spring of 2021, we held a day-long Youth Climate Summit to engage youth across our communities to get their input. We did this because youth are often left out of the policy development process even when – on issues like climate change – they are the ones who will inherit the impacts of the policy choices we make today.
Whilst both summits included some Indigenous involvement, we are now actively seeking to hear more from First Nations to better understand what is already happening in these communities, what their existing priorities and actions are, and how these Nations would like to move forward. This engagement is on-going and will fundamentally shape next steps. It is being led by Alderhill, an Indigenous consulting company based on Vancouver Island.
Together, we aim to produce a plan that will catalyze climate mitigation and adaptation throughout the region, doing so in the spirit of decolonization.