The Act on Climate collective at FoE is departing on a listening tour this July, visiting climate impacted communities along the Vic coast. We'll be connecting with communities on the frontline of erosion and sea level rise to understand the climate impacts which are already being experienced.

This winter series of road trips provides opportunities for hearing the local climate concerns of coastal communities, amplifying their calls for action and building solidarity across the movement towards solutions and resilience.

The demand for disaster response preparation and adapting to a changing climate is guiding our work in supporting solutions proposed by impacted communities. Local coastal groups are already acting to resist climate affects through tracking receding coastlines, observing the changing landscape and speaking up on these issues. FoE recently launched a Mutual Aid Network to provide direct practical aid to communities affected by climate disasters. 

FoE’s core work is mitigation – taking action to reduce emissions - for example, by advocating for stronger Emissions Reduction Targets. However, over the past few years, more and more of the communities that we work with have been badly impacted by erosion, sea level rise, heatwaves, floods, and fire.

Acknowledging this and the fact that some climate impacts are now unavoidable, the Act on Climate collective is re-engaging with work that informed the creation of its People's Climate Strategy in 2020, shifting focus to resource grassroots led climate adaptation and resilience.

Our winter series of road trips to coastal communities will form two parts:

1) West Vic Coast tour (July 17-24)

• Torquay & Surf Coast: Surf Coast Surfrider x FoE Meetup, Monday July 17 
• Apollo Bay: Coastal impacts community meetup, Tuesday July 18 
• Warrnambool: 'Power On' film screening at Warrnambool's Secret Cinema, Friday July 21
• Port Fairy: Coastal community beach monitoring (TBC)
• Portland: 'Power On' film screening, Saturday July 22
• Cape Bridgewater: Walk & community erosion control success story, Monday July 24

2) East Vic Coast tour

• TBC

Sign up to receive updates about the road trips we're organising to climate impacted communities on the coast. Dates, locations and details will be confirmed shortly and shared.

These road trips aim to:

1. Build relationships of solidarity with impacted communities and channel resources to support the frontlines
2. See impacts and listen to communities experiences, amplifying frontline calls for action and solutions
3. Highlight the links between the impacts being experienced by coastal communities and the climate crisis across the movement