ABOUT US

Overview

The Community Health Climate Action Initiative arose out of a growing concern on the part of members of the Alliance for Healthier Communities about the emergence of abrupt climate change as an existential threat having and adverse impact on community health and wellbeing and health equity as evidenced by the steady increase of extreme weather events. 

As a first step, a board motion was crafted, presented and eventually passed by the Alliance for Healthier Communities. This, in turn, led to the formation of the Community Health Climate Action Initiative. Our mission is to serve as a catalyst in our communities to advance deep adaptation and mitigation efforts aimed at addressing climate justice within the context of a comprehensive primary health care approach unique to community health centres.

In so doing our objects are as follows:

• To offer networking opportunities for interested Alliance members to learn from one another and exchange ideas;

• To offer and promote a conceptual framework for comprehensive primary health care centres to address climate change

• To serve as an educational platform that offers regular workshops, tools, events to the membership regarding climate change;

• To spearhead climate justice issues at the provincial levels that fall under the mandate of Alliance members
  To provide a voice for staff, board members to advocate for there to be a stronger emphasis on ecological determinants of health and climate change in particular;

• To establish cross sectoral partnerships with like minded provincial and national entities that are actively addressing climate change

• To actively pursue opportunities at the provincial and national level to advance climate change work for our members

Collective Leadership Team

Inspired and informed by the work of Margaret Wheatley in “Leadership in the Age of Complexity”, The Community Health Climate Action Initiative is committed to the concept of collective leadership that will be essential if we are to rise to the challenge of addressing abrupt climate change in a meaningful way. 

In particular, we believe that success depends on the leadership of the entire group versus the skills of one person, that everyone has unique gifts, talents, perspectives and furthermore everyone can and should lead. We are therefore committed to generating the conditions of trust, shared power, transparent and effective communication, accountability and shared learning.

Donald Cole

Olivia Perrotta Hare

David Jeffery

Andy Kroeker

Laura MacDougald

Gary Machan

Partners

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