When I worked in local government, I got a feel for the power community members have when they engage with their councillors. It's a small but effective action anyone can take to meet your local councillor and keep in contact with them about climate justice issues in your community (although if it's right for you, why not elect to become a councillor!?)

Do you engage with your local council? If so how what climate justice issues have you raised and how have they been received? If not, then let me invite you to start doing so today! In this blog post I want to share how I've recently engaged with my local councillor's, in the hopes it inspires some of you to do the same.

I no longer work for Local Government, but I live in the Shire of Waroona on Bindjarb Boodja where I try stay engaged through a sustainability committees and share information and opportunities with my councillors from time to time. Usually it's when there's something happening locally (like the referendum) or when I receive WALGA's Enviro News letter (which often shares consultation opportunities, programs and grants relevant to local governments in WA). I always think about how that something relates to my local context and community? Then I think about all the things I've learned from CJU and it's members and think about the climate justice issue or opportunity at hand. Then I put it all together and send them an email or have a yarn about it. 

Here's an example, that you might like to adapt to use right now (about energy efficiency grants open until April 2024), or hold onto to use another time (there will be other opportunities to advocate for free and accessible cool places):

Hello Councillors,

I hope you are very well, particularly through this hot and fire-prone weather! I'm emailing to share a grant opportunity for community energy efficiency and electrification upgrades by local governments that I just came across in the WALGA enviro news letter

I expect there are several council assets shared by the community that could benefit from energy and efficiency upgrades. In particular, I'm thinking of the pressure climatic changes put on the health and well-being of residents (for example evidence, recognised by the WA department of Health shows that heat waves and heat stress can contribute to domestic violence, pregnancy risks and many other mental and physical harm some of which can be lethal, particularly for already vulnerable populations). Many councils worldwide are working to create 'cool spaces' that residents can go to to escape the heat (or cold).

This is a particularly important solution for elderly people and low-income families who may struggle to afford heating and cooling during extreme spells. Noticing how our local dam is susceptible to potentially deadly pathogen outbreaks during increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves, I think providing cool spaces for residents is a good alternative to cooling off at our beloved and free swim hole. It's particularly important that families have access to cool places that don't burn a hole in their pocket!

However, merely providing air-conditioned spaces (even if run on solar) is not necessarily efficient and can place a strain on the durability of assets and power bills. Thus considering efficiency upgrades to buildings is also essential.

I'm sure there are many other uses for this grant inline with the strategic community plan and shire business plan's energy, sustainability and community health goals. Please do share this with relevant staff, and feel free to contact me before we next meet if you would like to discuss this further.

So that's what  I did! You can see how I related an energy efficiency opportunity to a climate justice issue and climate science, then localised it. Pretty simple, and you are welcome to use any of the above for your council (although hopefully you don't have a potentially deadly pathogen in your local swim hole!). Full disclosure, I'm still waiting on a response, but I'll be bringing it up when I next see them to remind them.

How do you engage your local council? What Climate Justice issues are relevant in your community?