The African Nova Scotian Climate Justice Ambassadors Program is being funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change and began in 2024 and will conclude in 2027. As part of this project, workshops were held in 13 African Nova Scotian communities in 2024 to engage residents in discussions on climate change preparedness, climate resilience, and climate justice. In 2023, the ENRICH project led a project funded by the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund that involved similar workshops held in 12 African Nova Scotian communities. Therefore, workshops on climate change have now been held in a total of 25 African Nova Scotian communities.
Black communities face disproportionate exposure to the impacts of climate change and are often underrepresented in discussions and actions addressing these challenges. This project aims to address the underrepresentation of African Nova Scotians in climate change discussions and actions, despite their heightened vulnerability to its impacts.
The primary goal of the African Nova Scotian Climate Justice Ambassadors Program is to collaborate with the project funder the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change and key partners—including African Nova Scotian Western Service Providers Network, the Association of Black Social Workers, CLIMAtlantic, How We Thrive, African Nova Scotian Affairs, and HalifACT—to enhance climate change preparedness across 13 African Nova Scotian communities. The workshops were designed to:
- Assess participants’ awareness and knowledge of climate change and preparedness strategies.
- Provide opportunities for participants to share personal experiences of how climate change has impacted them, their families, and their communities.
- Facilitate discussions on the social, economic, and mental health impacts of climate change.
- Conduct interactive simulation exercises that encourage solution-oriented
- dialogue on addressing climate impacts, emergencies, and building climate resilience.
Racism, income insecurity and poverty, low socio-economic status, and residence in neighbourhoods with poor quality public infrastructure and housing disproportionately expose Black communities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to intense heat waves, flooding and other climate disasters. That is the premise of the documentary A Matter of Justice: Climate Change in Black Communities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Based on a project conducted by Dr. Ingrid Waldron to build capacity around climate change preparedness in Black communities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), this urgent and timely documentary provides a revealing look at the social, economic, political, and geographical factors that make Black communities in the GTHA more vulnerable to climate devastation. This documentary was released in 2024 directed by Rayne Grand. Dr. Waldron is the executive director.