The Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) has released a new resource to assist Australian councils with climate risk assessment and planning activities.
Entitled Climate Adaptation Manual for Local Government: Embedding Resilience to Climate Change, the manual highlights leading case studies and practical resources from Australian municipalities and overseas.
It also includes a step-by-step framework for effectively embedding climate risk into council operations.
The resource will be useful for council staff involved in climate risk assessment and planning such as asset managers, strategic planners, and corporate and community services staff.
In launching the resource the City of Canada Bay Mayor, Angelo Tsirekas said his council recognised the challenges and impacts of climate change on Australia.
“Our commitment to the environment starts at the top with innovative strategies, developing partnerships and working together with key stakeholders to realise this vision.”
“We are proud to have played an important role in developing this manual in collaboration with Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and a number of other councils around Australia, and I am confident the manual will become a practical tool for other local governments to make practical and important changes to protect their environments and communities.”
ACELG Director, Associate Professor Roberta Ryan also welcomed the project.
“This resource addresses a gap about translating existing research about climate change into practical guidance for the benefit of all councils locally.
“A concerted local capacity is vital to respond to and lead communities about adapting to climate change, and I congratulate the partner councils on their involvement in the project – their support has been invaluable.”
The project was developed with local councils from all Australian states.
A workshop hosted by the City of Canada Bay (CCBC) after the launch allowed a number of local government professionals to experiment in applying a number of ‘how to’ steps from the Manual to their local council circumstances.
