Education Programs
Building Community Resilience in a Changing Climate
Human-induced climate change is one of the most pressing global issues of our time. How humans have historically lived, played, and dreamed is changing. The impacts of climate change are felt across all sectors of human society: water and food systems, housing, health and sanitation, employment, industry, finance, security, and migration, to name several. Additionally, actions being taken around climate intersect with the interests of many civil society actors, such as those seeking gender justice, upholding and honouring indigenous rights and knowledge, and social movements mobilizing around environmental concerns, youth voice, and a just transition for workers, among others. Within this context of overlapping crises in a changing climate, the ways humans think, our relationships with more-than-human natures, and how we organize our societies must change.
As people, organizations, and institutions work on these changes across scales, communities are mobilizing to build their resilience in the face of crisis. This course offers foundations to engaging in climate change work – addressing injustice, (re)building relationships, exploring solutions – at the community level. Starting from an understanding that all people and communities have strengths, skills, and knowledge, this course supports participants to share their experiences and knowledge (and those of their communities, where appropriate) to engage with community climate resilience topics in a way that is meaningful in their own contexts.
DATES
September 15, 2025 – November 7, 2025
Registration closes September 2, 2025, or earlier if we reach the enrolment cap of 30 participants..
FACILITATOR
Marian Turniawan
DURATION
8 Weeks
COURSE TYPE
Online
Who can register
Personal benefits
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- explain basic climate change science and key concepts using accessible language and imagery;
use an intersectional gender-based lens to explore examples of differentiated impacts of climate change within their communities; - analyze the elements constituting community climate resilience (i.e., adapting to the impacts of climate change and addressing its root causes through mitigation) using a climate justice lens;
- examine climate mitigation and adaptation approaches in the context of their communities;
- compare deficit- and strengths-based approaches to community resilience; and
- examine arguments around the extent to which dominant approaches, models, and ways of thinking must shift and discuss alternatives, such as circular economy and degrowth.
Time requirement
You should prepare to dedicate 6 to 8 hours per week over the course of 8-weeks. This course includes a combination of 14 live sessions (for one hour on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays), asynchronous learning activities, and independent work time. Participants are expected to engage with their peers in the online space to complete course assignments.
Fees
Coady Institute is committed to ensuring that practitioners and community members dedicated to community-led development worldwide have access to its courses. Thanks to the generous support of individual, institutional, and corporate donors, the tuition fee of $1,500 CAD has been reduced to $400 CAD plus HST.
Full bursaries are available for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members residing in Canada, as well as individuals residing in Nova Scotia from African Nova Scotian communities and Nova Scotians of African descent. To request a full bursary, please contact us at coadyadmit@stfx.ca.
If paying by credit card is not an option, please contact coadyfinance@stfx.ca to arrange an alternative payment method.
This course is online. You will need a computer, reliable internet access (high speed is recommended), speakers and microphone.