On March 24th, almost 30 residents from the North Planning District gathered at Esperanza for a workshop about climate resilience and climate change. The workshop was part of a larger effort led by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability and the Hinge Collective to inform a climate resilience plan update for the city. Working with community partners like Esperanza, the city is seeking to hear from residents from all over the city about their experiences when it comes to climate change, and their ideas to help communities in Philadelphia cope with the results of climate change, such as extreme heat, flooding, and poor air quality.
The workshop at Esperanza was a special one, being the only bilingual (Spanish and English) opportunity available to residents for this city initiative. Esperanza’s Housing and Economic Development division stepped in to provide interpretation and translation for this workshop to ensure language accessibility. This same division is also working on a climate resilience plan for the Hunting Park neighborhood, so they were well-prepared! Thanks to the recruitment by Esperanza, the participant group was diverse, with youth, adults and elders interacting from different neighborhoods and in different languages.
Morgan Doyle, program manager for environmental initiatives for Esperanza’s Housing and Economic Development division, said that “It was inspiring to see so many people from across the district come together for the future of their communities .”
As residents arrived, they participated in some fun opening activities, including an arts activity about things that give them hope. The Office of Sustainability, Hinge Collective and Esperanza then co-facilitated a presentation about the changing climate and how it affects the city. Afterward, participants engaged in some storytelling about their experiences with climate change in their everyday lives and then visited different “stations” around the room to prioritize actions for climate resilience (and tell the city where more resources need to go), share what they feel is working that the city is doing, and also what they care about when it comes to climate hazards. For their participation and time, residents were provided with food and a stipend.
Overall, the workshop was a success, with enthusiastic participation and activities that were enjoyable over several hours into the evening. One resident, Jeniffer Santiago, told me that, “We learned and shared experiences and ideas in the workshop; promoting education through information is essential to understand these changes and know what to do in the face of natural disasters.”
The next steps will be the creation of a climate toolkit with resources, tools and strategies to help understand climate risks and build community resilience, as well as another bilingual virtual workshop for the North Planning District on Thursday, April 30th, 6-7:30 pm. Sign up at this link: https://tinyurl.com/PhilaClimateTalks. If you have questions or need help signing up, please contact Morgan Doyle at 267-710-5265 or mdoyle@esperanza.us.
The climate resilience plan that is being updated by the City of Philadelphia (and published in 2027) is intended to benefit all Philadelphians, including those most vulnerable when it comes to the changing climate. Esperanza is proud to be a part of this effort, helping to ensure that our communities are heard and their experiences reflected in the plan.