Community Awareness

Community Engagement

So, if you have a local green group, a network of local groups, and a community plan. What next?

Imagine the potential impact of a coordinated community engagement campaign, with each member of the community network contributing a project or activity for their members, all under the theme of climate action, and all supporting a strong, resilient, vibrant community!

An integrated community campaign could include:

  1. community awareness activities, hosted by numerous groups, schools, libraries
  2. climate solutions, presented at a Climate Fair run by ratepayers or other community groups
  3. business engagement, such as Climate Action for Business, run by the local BIA or Chamber of Commerce
  4. resident engagement, such as Climate Action for Homes, run by local groups and school clubs.

See below for some ideas, or our 50+ Ideas for even more suggestions.

A good campaign will raise awareness and interest across the community, it will help people take action, and it will help to identify opportunities for additional projects to go deeper in implementing climate solutions.

Project Ideas

These are some of the specific project ideas for climate action. They can be done independently, or bundled as part of a community campain. Feel free to adapt and adopt!

Community Awareness

Whether we are dealing with a neighbourhood, a membership organization, or a large-scale campaign, the first step is to raise public awareness.

Adapt and print our cards and posters for distribution in local stores, libraries, places of worship and other public locations. Let people know that climate solutions are at hand. These cards can be tailored to include the logos and websites of the lead partner and any sponsors. These cards are best used as a lead-up to a community climate fair of other community outreach projects.

WHO: anybody
COST: cheap
DURATION: ongoing

Climate Worksheet

This worksheet lists ideas for actions that can help you adapt to or mitigate climate change. It can be used to find ideas to make your home climate ready; for community workshops to identify possible community projects, identify business opportunities; or to design a comprehensive local, provincial or national plan.

You can use it for a community meeting, school project, or as a handout at a community-organized climate fair.

The goal is to map out a course of action that improves our lives at the same time as it reduces our carbon footprint.

You can download the worksheets in MS Word or PDF format. Feel free to adapt them to your needs. For example, if you can add  links to local, provincial or federal initiatives, support services, and funding, or if you are hosting a climate fair you can highlight services and types of products on offer from the participating groups and businesses.

 

WHO: ratepayer group, community group, municipality
COST: low (printing costs)
DURATION: short

Climate Fairs

Host a climate fair in your community and invite local groups and businesses to showcase their products and services. You can invite speakers to kick off the event, then open the floor up for an hour of browsing the tables, followed by a wrap up.

Focus on:

  1. preparing for extreme weather
  2. energy conservation
  3. green power
  4. safe cycling
  5. e-bikes and e-vehicles
  6. local food options
  7. organic and vegetarian options
  8. building community

Be sure to highlight any incentives that are available from your governments, utilities, or other sources.

WHO: ratepayer group, community group, municipality
COST: low ($200 to $5,000 depending on staff costs)
DURATION: short

Tagging

Climate action is all around us. Let's make it visible!

Tagging is the simple act of identifying an activity as a climate action. This is a simple and low-cost way to raise awareness of the many different kinds of activities that help save energy, reduce climate emissions, or help us become more resilient to the effects of climate change. Tagging can be as simple as including the climate action button on website pages and literature describing projects and activities that are climate friendly. With a bit more money, you can invest in stickers for bicycles, electric vehicles, or product displays. Or you can wear your commitment with a climate action t-shirt.

We'll have information on how to order stickers, buttons and t-shirts coming soon.

WHO: anybody
COST: cheap / free
DURATION: ongoing