Co-lead Amber Fletcher takes CCRC stories to COP 29
In November 2024, CCRC Principal Investigator Amber Fletcher attended the 29th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Amber spoke on two panels at COP 29, one at the Canadian pavilion and the other at the Civil Society pavilion. She shared the stage with representatives of various international organizations, including the Sendai Framework Stakeholders Engagement Mechanism, the Climate Investments Fund, ActionAID International, and the United Nations University. Her presentations were informed by the CCRC project.
At the Canadian pavilion, in response to questions about how climate-induced disasters are impacting equity, and how we go beyond dominant approaches to ensure equity in resilience building, Amber discussed the necessity of broadening how climate impacts are understood. She noted that in addition to the dominant focus on economic and infrastructure impacts, we need to understand the less tangible consequences of climate disasters. Disasters affect people’s mental health and cultural wellbeing. These social impacts may persist long after clean-up is complete and buildings are rebuilt.
To truly increase resilience for everyone, we need an equity lens to examine how different groups of people are affected differently. Drawing on CCRC findings, Amber suggested that the less visible impacts of climate change are best understood through collaborative, partnered research with the communities and individuals most affected by disasters. Collaborative community-campus partnerships help ensure that climate adaptation and disaster response serve the needs of everyone.
At the Civil Society pavilion, Amber spoke about the financial impacts of climate disasters for farm women in Canada. She noted the importance of gender-based analysis (GBA+) when designing environmental and climate policy and programming. She argued that community-engaged research is the best way to understand what kind of policy and program supports are best suited for diverse communities’ needs. Drawing on the deep expertise within communities is the most effective way of ensuring that climate adaptation is responsive and effective for those who need it most.
Co-lead Magda Goemans shares CCRC learnings at the University of Ottawa
Closer to home, in February 2025, Magda Goemans participated in a bilingual workshop at the University of Ottawa titled, “From Lessons to Action: Shaping the Future of Community Engagement on Environment and Climate Change”, where she spoke about the CCRC project with other participants during breakout discussions. The UOttawa Community Engagement team is a Knowledge Sharing Partner in the CCRC Knowledge Exchange Network.
Comments made during the UOttawa workshop frequently recognized the deep value of authentic community-campus engagement. Many perspectives were exchanged about student contributions to projects. Workshop participants noted their appreciation for the energy that students bring to projects, and suggested that students can often be more motivated in their involvement in community-engaged efforts when activities and outcomes are concrete and tangible for them, and when they are involved in off-campus activities.
Session participants also spoke about environmental/climate change challenges and priorities, including chronic underfunding of community organizations in their efforts to make meaningful progress, goals for broader representation in environmental initiatives, and requirements for clear communication between the environmental community and the general public as well as increased climate change preparedness across Ottawa.