Community’s response blows away climate action organizers
Kamloops, January 30, 2023 – The three local organizations leading a community resilience-building initiative are flabbergasted at the response from residents: over 190 people have signed up for the program.
“It’s not a small commitment, so we weren’t expecting such high numbers,” says Kamloops Food Policy Council’s Jess Payette, who is serving as communications coordinator for the project. “We knew that there was a lot of concern about climate change here, but frankly we’re blown away by the response. It’s clear that the impacts we’ve seen in Kamloops over the last few years, like heavy wildfire smoke and supply chain interruptions from flood-damaged roads, have really highlighted our vulnerabilities and inspired people to take action.”
Kamloops’s climate action program starts at the end of January, so it’s not too late for folks to sign up. Registrants include a wide range of ages, something Payette was particularly pleased to see.
The initiative starts off with a twelve-week online course (approximately two hours per week) which takes a systems-level approach to examining current practices and the resulting impacts on people, the economy, and the environment. Program participants will learn about ways other communities have taken action to strengthen local food systems, democratize finance, and steward resources for the common good—then apply this knowledge to the context of Kamloops. There will be multiple opportunities for participants to get to know each other and build connections throughout the program, including in person study groups.
The action projects will be chosen by the program participants themselves―and there’s money available to help implement them. The program is funded by the Synergia Cooperative Institute, the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, and Athabasca University, making it free for all participants.
To learn more about this grassroots community action project and to sign up, visit www.transitionkamloops.net.