Earth Day last week had us reflecting on the climate crisis and our role as an organization to address its disproportionate impacts on equity-deserving genders.
Across the world women and gender non-conforming people face more barriers to pay equity, access to resources, and seats at the decision-making tables. We know, firsthand, that women take on the brunt of caregiving responsibilities. These factors combined have made equity-deserving genders more vulnerable to the impacts of our changing climate.
At Women Transforming Cities, we’ve been taking the following steps to work within our community toward tangible solutions.
Researching extreme heat
We’ve been expanding on our Hot Pink Paper Campaign (HPPC) policy ask to protect tenants from heatwaves by researching how cities can support residents who are most vulnerable to extreme heat. Last month, we partnered with UBC Urban Planning students and Columbia Institute to provide input and an equity lens for their capstone project on local government responses to extreme weather, which resulted in a comprehensive framework for action at the municipal, neighbourhood, and regional levels.
We also joined Columbia Institute at their High Ground Forum to moderate a panel on what local governments can do to protect residents from extreme heat. The panel centred the experiences of equity-deserving residents and community-driven solutions, with wisdom shared by the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, Workers Solidarity Network and Urban Planner Amina Yassin.
This month, UBC Sustainability Scholar, Radhika Singh will join the WTC team to advance this research. We are looking forward to learning from her experiences supporting community-led solutions to extreme heat in SRO communities in the Downtown Eastside.
Advocating for climate and transit funding
We’ve been following up on our other two HPPC asks that focus on fully funding climate emergency responses and advocating for affordable and accessible transit. One of the ways we’ve pursued these asks is by supporting the Transit for Teens campaign.. Our community amplified the rallylast week at Premier David Eby's office to showcase the widespread support for free, sustainable, transit in BC.
Workshop Learning Series
We’re partnering with the Climate Reality Project Canada to present a workshop for our members on current initiatives related to climate resilience that are taking place at the local level. Together, we’ll explore ways for participants to get involved where they live and take action. This workshop will take place on Thursday, July 11 at 10:00 am (PDT). If you’re interested in joining, you can grab free tickets here.
Tamarack Institute Climate Transitions Cohort
A team of WTC staff and volunteers are participating in the Tamarack Institute’s Climate Transitions Cohort across 2024 to strengthen our organization’s approach to climate justice, build relationships and identify other areas for action.
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