Extreme heat kills more people in Australia than all other environmental disasters combined. And they are getting hotter and more regular. How can you keep yourself and those most at risk in your community safe?

The coming summer is expected to be extremely hot, power outages are a possibility, and the rising cost of living means many people are worried about their electricity bill.

So, it’s more important than ever to share how to keep safe without relying on air-conditioning and to check-in on people on hot days, especially those most at risk – older people, people with young children, people living with disabilities and chronic illness, people who live in hot homes, and people who are socially isolated. 

We explore what makes a heatwave, what to do before to prepare and what to do during a heatwave to stay cool. As well as how to keep yourself safe, we cover how to keep others safe, considering more than half of heatwave deaths occur in disadvantaged areas.

The Victorian Government’s investment in climate adaptation needs to be larger and ongoing to enable the immediate and extensive adaptations to prepare for now unavoidable climate impacts.

Victoria is at the forefront of emissions reduction, but it is falling behind on climate adaptation, despite the risks of not investing in preparedness being clear.

Victoria is one of the most vulnerable states in the world - it is in the top 5% of highest risk states globally. There has been a 74% increase in damage to property in Victoria from 1990 to 2050.

Climate impacts and disasters are costing the Victorian Government billions and escalating social problems. Funding adaptation now will reduce recovery costs, as well as ease pressure on our health system and economy from climate impacts.

We need to spend money now to protect people later, as waiting to respond to these disasters greatly increases the long-term monetary and societal cost.

Act on Climate facilitated another community resilience mapping session hosted by the South Monash Legal Service team in Greater Dandenong in November 2024.

The session highlighted that even when there are big obstacles communities face in progressing climate adaptation, they have the knowledge on what needs to be done, and have creative ways of accessing resources. 

Many communities have people who are aware of what needs to be done, and are passionate to get started, but haven't connected with one another or found resources needed to progress their ideas. Mapping what risks your community is facing, what assets you have and any gaps that need to be addressed, is a great way to start working toward climate adaptation. 

Having appropriate and relevant climate resilience initiatives are key to keeping communities safe. Community resilience mapping helps communities to understand their unique challenges and strengths, and which climate impacts they’re most at risk from, so that they can implement appropriate solutions. It identifies the residents most at risk, where a community has strong climate resilience, and where the gaps are in its climate impact readiness.

We're offering support to anyone who wants to facilitate the activity in their own community. Check out our Community Resilience Mapping Facilitation Guide, which you can use to guide the running of your own event!

Community Resilience Mapping is used to achieve good climate resilience, through community members brainstorming strategies that keep community members safe. The session:

• Helps inform adaptation and emergency response plans & the prioritisation of time and resources
• Results in practical community-led solutions & knowledge of how can stay safe

Through identifying: 

• Exposures: various climate impacts
• Sensitivities: who/which areas most at risk
• Assets: what already in place to reduce impacts
• Adaptive Capacity: where are the gaps

This activity was adapted from the Climate Resilience Project.

Read more on what community resilience mapping is and why to do it.

Read on for more about the community resilience mapping we did at SMLS's community resilience mapping session and its outcomes.

Act on Climate facilitated a community resilience mapping session as part of North East Neighbourhood House Network's (NENHN) emergency management workshop at Mernda Uniting Church Hall in October 2024.

The activity once again showed how the knowledge is in the community and this session in particular highlighted how networking with neighbouring communities and working with other council areas is essential.

Climate impacts don't stay within boundary lines drawn on maps and the closest refuge or easiest route to safety for you may be in a neighbouring community. We can also learn from or expand excellent adaptation initiatives being implemented just one town over.

Good climate resilience strategies that keep community members safe - this is the outcome of Community Resilience Mapping. The activity aids the exploration and understanding of a specific area's risk to climate impacts. It identifies the residents most at risk, where a community's has strong climate resilience, and where the gaps are in its climate impact readiness.

We're offering support to anyone who wants to facilitate the activity in their own community. Check out our Community Resilience Mapping Facilitation Guide, which you can use to guide the running of your own event!

Read on for more about the community resilience mapping we did at NENHN's emergency management workshop and its outcomes.

Friends of the Earth attended the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) Gathering 2024 on Bundjalung Country in Lismore last month, September 2024. The gathering showcased Indigenous leadership and excellence in disaster resilience, emergency management, community recovery, and caring for Country.

It was a privilege to be present for the gathering’s Indigenous-led dialogue and the Indigenous knowledge that was shared. The gathering included on-Country activities, such as a cultural burn.

The event really highlighted how Indigenous people caring for the land reduces disaster risk, as well as the need for First Nations people to be not only part of the conversation, but leading the conversation around climate resilience. As stated by a speaker at the event, “the colonisers have shared their ideas, it’s time to turn that around and for mob to share their ideas.”

Act on Climate and EGCAN's community resilience mapping activity in East Gippsland really highlighted the area's exposure to climate risk due to its vastness and isolation and resulted in the identification of opportunities for improvement and development.

Good climate resilience strategies that keep community members safe - this is the outcome of Community Resilience Mapping. The activity aids the exploration and understanding of a specific area's risk to climate impacts. It identifies the residents most at risk, where a community's has strong climate resilience, and where the gaps are in its climate impact readiness.

We're offering support to anyone who wants to facilitate the activity in their own community. Check out our Community Resilience Mapping Facilitation Guide, which you can use to guide the running of your own event!

Read on for more about the East Gippsland community resilience mapping event and outcomes, as well as more about EGCAN's Climate Ready Communities initiative and its next steps.

Good climate resilience strategies that keep community members safe - this is the outcome of Community Resilience Mapping. The activity aids the exploration and understanding of a specific area's risk to climate impacts. It identifies the residents most at risk, where a community's has strong climate resilience, and where the gaps are in its climate impact readiness.

Read on for more on community resilience mapping and how to map your community's climate impact preparedness.

Act on Climate's first community resilience mapping activity saw highly engaged attendees develop innovative, clear, and ambitious climate adaptation ideas for Frankston. The collective facilitated this activity at Sweltering Cities' HeatSafe Frankston event in February.

Good climate resilience strategies that keep community members safe - this is the outcome of Community Resilience Mapping. The activity aids the exploration and understanding of a specific area's risk to climate impacts. It identifies the residents most at risk, where a community's has strong climate resilience, and where the gaps are in its climate impact readiness.

We're offering support to anyone who wants to facilitate the activity in their own community. Check out our Community Resilience Mapping Facilitation Guide, which you can use to guide the running of your own event!

Read on for more about how Frankston mapped its community resilience and the outcomes.

The Victorian government is running an Inquiry into Climate Resilience, which will look into the preparedness of communities facing climate disasters across the state. This is an opportunity for you to share your experiences, stories, concerns and ideas for climate adaptation. Do you think Victoria is prepared for incoming climate impacts? What do you think the state needs to do to prepare?

Our submission guide below lines out the submission process and makes it easy for you to have your say to ensure VIC's climate adaptation is community led...

To prepare for locked-in climate impacts, we need ongoing funding for community-led adaptation work. 

Will you call on the Victorian government to support communities in building resilience to climate impacts?

When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, every inch of a degree of warming that we can prevent by rapidly reducing emissions still matters. But climate impacts like bushfires, floods, drought and extreme weather are already inflicting blows on communities around the country. We know we need to prepare for a certain amount of warming that is locked in.

The majority of funding to address climate impacts is currently put into disaster relief, but we can’t only be on a reactive footing to climate impacts. Communities want funding in advance of climate disasters to build resilience and lessen the damage of impacts when they hit.

We call on the Victorian government to establish a permanent Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund (VCCAF). The fund would distribute money annually to community groups that apply to undertake localised adaptation and resilience projects. This approach would help the government meet its obligations to the Victorian Climate Change Act (2017) and ensure Victorian communities can enhance their capacity to adapt to impacts.

When the Victorian government has provided one-off grant programs for communities to carry out adaptation work in the past, they have been dramatically oversubscribed. It is clear that there is strong demand for support of local solutions that empower communities.

The government can build on its previous successful grant scheme models by establishing a permanent VCCAF. The nature of the fund would take into account the highly localised nature of climate impacts, and accordingly take a bottom-up approach of dispersing money to local groups that know the unique needs of their communities well.

Add your name to show your support for a permanent Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund.