Get Involved: Yes, you can make a difference
Start by finding the AdaptWest information that’s most relevant to you, your family or business. Read about similar projects in other communities – we can learn from their mistakes as much as we can be inspired by their successes. Find the resources, tools and like-minded fellow ‘Westies’ to help ready, respond, and create resilience. Find out about Charles Sturt, West Torrens and Port Adelaide-Enfield councils’ programs to adapt for climate change.
You can become a ‘community champion’!
At Home
You don’t have to be a scientist, a politician or captain of industry to do your bit – you can adapt for climate change in your own backyard.
The AdaptWest Climate Change Adaptation Plan identifies ways in which local people can address local issues in their local area – and nothing is more ‘local’ than your home.
In particular, families are key players in the high-priority strategy of increasing urban greenness: The existing canopy cover in Adelaide’s western suburbs is the lowest of any region in metropolitan Adelaide. Increasing urban greenness through additional tree planting, vegetation and irrigating open space will assist in lowering the urban heat island effect as the climate warms and the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events increase.
At Work
Climate change awareness in the workplace is good for business – and for you.
Whether you operate your own business or like most of us are a salary-earner, you are an important contributor to the Western Region economy. You are ‘on the ground’ where practical measures can be taken and improvements made, for the benefit of your organization and the community to which it belongs.
The AdaptWest Climate Change Adaptation Plan identifies ways in which you can make a difference at work; supporting priority strategies such as designing climate-resilient workplaces and practices, assessing risks and contributing to community connectedness.
At School
Adapting for climate change can be a whole-of-family experience, and it begins in the classroom.
As well as the ‘old-school’ values of the ‘3 Rs’ – Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic’, the 49 schools in Adelaide’s Western Region now teach the new values of sustainability with some schools signing up to a program that directly relate to modern-day community concerns of environmental sustainability.
Find out what your local schools are doing towards adapting the West.
Learn more about the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative – South Australia (AuSSI-SA).
Find out what schools are in the Western Region.
Changing for Climate Change