Adger, Neil

Albers, Patricia

Bland, Emma

Butler, Catherine

Cotton, Matthew

Walker, Gordon

English

Teeside University's Research Repository

Evaluating community-led interventions to maximise the health and well-being of climate change adaptations for extreme events Professor Neil Adger, Dr Catherine Butler, Professor Emma Bland, Professor Gordon Walker, Dr Patricia Albers, Professor Matthew CottonIntroduction• Climate change is considered the biggest threat to human healthWHO Climate change and health fact sheet. Oct 2021. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-healthIntroduction• Prevent the increase in years of life lost due to adverse weather events• Prevent mortality due to adverse weather events• Prevent morbidity due to adverse weather events• Reduce the use of healthcare services due to adverse weather events• Climate change adversely effects those in the most deprived communities (globally)• Current project: Evaluate how groups of people within diverse communities can act to reduce the health consequences of floods, heatwaves, and cold wavesClimate risk interventions and health and well-being• Learnings from cold wave interventions could be applied to other extreme weather events (e.g. warm banks)• Identify any gaps in support and response which could prevent health burdens and harm (particularly for marginalised and vulnerable people)• Interventions designed and assessed based on risk reduction or economic impacts limited consideration for how these changes might impact or drive human health and well-being• E.g. Nature based approaches could provide many benefits for health and well-being (green space and health and well-being)Community led action for weather extremes• Community action: Any community action/ activity/ response to weather related risks• E.g. A communities spontaneous response in the aftermath of a flood• Or communities planning for anticipated risks• Could range from providing skilled services to support recovery or changes to lessen the impacts to efforts to support vulnerable people• These forms of action have great success in reducing risks from extreme weather• But the breadth or extent of these actions are not known• Nor what it is about these community-led actions that make them particularly impactful or effective in supporting health and well-beingFlood defense schemesReduced the chance of flooding from 25% in any one year, to less than 4%Flood defense schemes• Examples of ‘social learning’ between community members, researchers, local governments, and other agencies• Initiatives are community-centred, encouraging the participation of as many people as possible• Draw from as many local sources of information as possible• Pickering in part took learning from monks centuries ago• Create a local approach for managing the flood risk• Crediton Flood Resilience Group is working with the Town Council to develop their emergency plans• These plans include providing support (emergency and emotional) to the community• Ensure that vulnerable groups (disabilities or no internet access) are planned forAim and ObjectivesAim: To evaluate how places and populations can be made healthier through community-led actions aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change (specifically extreme weather events, such as extreme cold, heatwaves and floods.)• Objectives1. What are the range of existing community-led actions that address weather extremes and how are these actions inter-related and/or disconnected?2. How are community-led actions supporting better health and wellbeing outcomes related to the impacts of extreme weather events and how can this be enhanced and improved in future?3. How are systemic inequalities shaping experiences of, and being addressed by, community-led actions for extreme weather events?Methods• Project duration: 2 years (Year 1 and 2 of a larger 4-year plan)• Year 1 and 2: Evaluating community-led actions for weather extremes (heat, cold, and flooding)• Year 3 and 4: Using knowledge and networks from Years 1 and 2 to engage in action research and create new community-led actions for adapting to weather extremes, ultimately supporting the health of people and place• Work in Year 1 and 2 will be divided into two work packages:1. Community-led action review and network building2. In-depth case evaluation of community-based interventions for climate risksMethods- Work package 1Community-led action review and network building• Activity 1: • In-depth review of scientific findings, and • mapping existing evidence across different types of climate risk, identifying overlaps• Activity 2:• Review of ongoing interventions in the UK with key stakeholders (advocate for, or facilitate community-led actions) • Including work focused on inequalitiesMethods- Work package 2In-depth case evaluation of community-based interventions for climate risks• Activity 1: • Select three community-led actions (floods, heatwaves, and cold-waves)• Realist approach to evaluate the community-led actions in terms of the outcomes for health and wellbeing, and the ways they are shaped by inequality and vulnerabilities. • In-depth interviews, workshops, and document review • Retrospective evaluation of the effectiveness and social barriers• Activity 2:• Synthesise all findings (WP1 and 2) to develop a set of principles to support both the creation and evaluation of community-led actions for health and wellbeingThank you!Further questions:Professor Neil Adger (n.adger@exeter.ac.uk)Dr Patricia Albers (patricia.albers@bristol.ac.uk)

Evaluating community-led interventions to maximise the health and well-being of climate change adaptations for extreme events.

https://research.tees.ac.uk/files/58057149/ASM_community_led_interventions_PA_v2.pdf

Evaluating community-led interventions to maximise the health and well-being of climate change adaptations for extreme events.

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