Reports and submissions
Victorian Resilience Community of Practice State Election Platform 2022
October 2022
In the lead up to the 2022 Victorian election the Victorian Resilience Community of Practice, coordinated by the Centre, put forward a state election platform calling for strong climate action and urging the incoming Victorian Government to resource a range of measures to strengthen place-based climate adaptation and resilience. Learn more and download the Platform.
Prisons, climate and a just transition discussion paper
August 2021
This discussion paper explores the overlapping social and ecological harms of the prison system, making the case for why a just transition to a zero greenhouse gas emissions future must include a focus on decarceration.
Learn more and download the paperSubmission to Victoria’s emission reduction target for 2035
June 2022
The Centre contributed to this submission which calls for a Victorian emissions target of net zero by 2035, achieved through a just transition which ensures those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are resourced to adapt and build resilience. Learn more and download the submission.
Submission to the Inquiry into the Protections within the Victorian Planning Framework
March 2022
The Centre contributed to this submission which calls on the Federal Government to do more to improve the national response to housing stress and homelessness. Learn more and download the submission.
Roundtables and Communities of Practice
Place-based Action Research Community of Practice (the Real Deal Project)
The Centre has joined together with the Sydney Policy Lab and its Real Deal project, the Centre for People, Place and Planet at Edith Cowan University, and Australia Together to run a nationwide community of practice on place-based action and research.
Resilience Community of Practice, Victoria
The Centre established the Resilience Community of Practice with seed funding from the Greater Melbourne Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The Victorian Community of Practice brings together over 20 metropolitan and rural organisations and 40 active members from across community health, community services, and local government, established to support strong partnerships and cross-collaborations between organisations, and re-orient systems towards climate equity.
Roundtable on place and social disadvantage
The Centre has joined with the Brotherhood of St Laurence – Social Policy and Research Centre (SPARC) and ARC Centre for Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course at Melbourne University to run a series of roundtables which explore the potential of place-based, community-led initiatives and policies for addressing disadvantage and promoting equity and sustainability.
In the news
In the era of global boiling, a just transition must focus on keeping people out of prison
August 16
In this piece, our Executive Director, John Ryks, says the extreme temperatures that are being recorded around the world highlight the importance of reorienting justice systems to focus on keeping people out of prison, as well as ensuring safe conditions for those who are incarcerated.
Place-based approaches to policy are crucial (Pro Bono)
December 2022
In this piece, our Executive Director, Susie Moloney, and Research and Partnerships Manager, Haydie Gooder, discuss the Centre’s recently research on what makes place-based approaches effective in addressing inequity and disadvantage, and building community resilience to crises.
Read the articleCommunity sector vital to climate crisis response (Pro Bono)
December 2022
This article reports on the Centre’s recently published Collaborative Action Plan for climate justice in Melbourne’s west.
Read the articleLocally and globally, what will it take to reorient to climate justice? (Croakey)
November 2022
In this piece, our Executive Director, Susie Moloney, and Project Officer, Andrea Wolf, discuss the importance of a justice lens for addressing the root inequities behind the climate crisis. Specifically, in being able to answer a complex question – justice for whom?
- July 2023 – Building a cross-sectoral coalition for climate justice in the Northern Territory, Australia (Promotio Iustitiae)
- June 2023 – National disaster fund to support preparedness in the Yarra Ranges (Star Weekly)
- February 2023 – Jesuit organisations to renew global advocacy strategy (Australian Jesuits)
- December 2022 – Climate change and social justice: how councils can build a just community (Council magazine)
- November 2022 – Sharing the vision for creating climate justice in the west (Star Weekly)
- August 2022 – Plea for planning reforms to reduce the impact of heat, floods in Melbourne (The Age)
- March 2022 – A heart-felt, hands-on, and holistic response to the refugee situation: The Ecological Justice Hub of Jesuit Social Services Australia (Ecojesuit)
- December 2021 – A tale of two webs: A strengths-based approach to place-based disadvantage (Eureka Street)
- September 2021 – Centre for Just Places: Building community resilience to climate change impacts, enabling ecological justice (Ecojesuit)
- May 2021 – Connecting climate change to health in planning practice (The Fifth Estate)
Media releases
- June 2023 – New funding for place-based collaborative action plan will strengthen disaster and climate resilience in Yarra Ranges and Campaspe communities
- March 2023 – Australia must build climate resilient communities as an issue of justice
- April 2022 – Zero emissions transition plan must prioritise affected communities
- March 2022 – Emphasis on place-based responses an effective way to prevent crime
- March 2022 – National policies and place-based solutions crucial to address climate change
- May 2021 – Victorian Budget investments will build stronger communities
Insights and stories
Resources
Guidance on climate action and resilience planning for neighbourhood house networks
In a community emergency, neighbourhood houses are often the first to respond, and they play an essential role in rebuilding communities. Importantly, they also take a preventative approach, building the resilience of communities by addressing the underlying drivers of vulnerability in their every day work. In early 2022, the Centre for Just Places worked with a network of six neighbourhood houses in Darebin to co-design a climate action and resilience framework for neighbourhood houses. We used what we learnt from this process to develop a guidance document.
For community sector organisations: Climate and Ecological Justice Resource Pack
The community services sector plays a unique role in supporting community adaptation to climate impacts – not only responding to emergencies, but also adapting and coping with the long-term impacts by building individual and systemic resilience.
This pack included information about:
- climate change concepts and response frameworks
- government responses to climate change
- research and evidence of the impact on people and the sector
- tools for advocacy
- tools for home and family
- local climate action and education groups
Climate and Ecological Justice Resource Pack
Cities Power Partnership webinar: Climate change and social justice – the role of local government in building just and resilient communities (2023)
In this webinar, the Centre and the City of Greater Dandenong discuss climate change, social justice, and the role and responsibilities of local government in building just and resilient communities. Drawing on project partnerships from three LGAs, the Centre shares practical insight into how councils are responding to these emerging risks, building climate resilience and reducing risk in their communities through cross-sector, collaborative partnerships between community health and service organisations, community leaders and diverse departments within Councils.
ACOSS climate campaign webinar (2021)
In this webinar, the Centre’s Executive Director, Susie Moloney, speaks alongside community sector leaders and experts in climate science and climate justice on what climate change is and why it matters to people experiencing inequity and injustice.
