The Community Climate Action Working Group of Belfast Climate Commission has commenced an innovative research project on community climate action in the Belfast City Region.

As the first working group to be established by Belfast Climate Commission, the Community Climate Action Working Group (CCAWG) is an exciting partnership of individuals and groups from the community, voluntary, environmental and public sectors who are committed to transformative climate action in partnership with and in communities across Belfast.

The CCAWG’s ‘Mapping Community Climate Action’ research aim to explore different forms of community climate action being undertaken across the Belfast City Region. Using mixed research methods, the group intends to study existing forms of climate action (conventional and unconventional) within communities and gain insights into possibilities for future collaboration. 

This participatory action research is a starting point for the Community Climate Action Project, an evolving initiative led by the Community Climate Action Working Group, and the group intends to use research findings to support and enable further collaborative community climate action.

Acting on behalf of the Community Climate Action Working Group, Dr Amanda Slevin is Principal Investigator (PI) for the 'Mapping Community Climate Action' research project; CCAWG members are Co-Investigators in this research. Amanda works as Policy Fellow with the Place-based Climate Action Network (Queen's University Belfast) and she co-formed and chairs the CCAWG.

Speaking about the ‘Mapping Community Climate Action’ project, Amanda said, “this research offers an exciting opportunity to connect with communities across the Belfast City Region as a starting point for understanding what communities are already doing in relation to climate action.

"This research will also uncover future possibilities for collaborative climate action undertaken in partnership with and in communities, an important task as it is only by actively involving communities in multi-level climate action that our society can transition towards a healthier, fairer and more sustainable future.”

For those interested in participating in this research, please read the Participant Information prior to commencing the ‘Mapping Community Climate Action’ Survey. You must be situated in the Belfast City Region

The research has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast.

Image: Nils Nedel, Unsplash