The city of Sydney Community Engagement Strategy was adopted to support the implementation of Sustainable Sydney 2030. In this webinar, Andrea Beattie from the City of Sydney in collaboration with Yvette Andrews and Jen Guide, both managers of the Community Consultation group, will discuss Sydney’s community engagement strategy in the context of developing inclusive climate action. It will focus on Sydney’s strategy to engage their residents, particularly those that traditionally didn’t take part in participatory processes, and how this effort successfully increased connectivity and trust in the government. We will also learn about the projects’ milestones, as well as the key challenges and recommendations which have come out of such a large scale engagement project.

The lessons highlighted in the talk will be used to inspire and open up a discussion about how Sydney’s approach to community engagement for climate actions could be applied in other city contexts, and ultimately allow for a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive decision-making process for city residents.

Climate change, and often the responses to it, are unfair. People who are socially, economically, culturally, politically, institutionally or otherwise marginalised are especially vulnerable to climate change. Moreover, these communities cannot always access the benefits of climate action.

If addressing climate change does not meet the needs of city residents, mayors and governments risk losing permission to act.