Examples of the work CCN Members are carrying out in their communities. Photo credit (clockwise from top left): Sheetal Rao, Blake Ellis, Cory Pouliot, Max Cawley, Cemelli de Aztlan, and Cynthia Robertson

By Jamie Durana

Small forests of native plants that make green space more available in urban areas. Community sessions to build collaborative action around local health priorities, like developing strategies to improve air quality. Education programs for first responders that improve equitable access to health care services during disaster response. Civic engagement opportunities that address climate anxiety among young people. Farms on a hospital rooftop to provide nutritious foods for community members.

These are just a few examples of the ways that the members of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Communities Network (CCN) are taking a hands-on approach to mitigating the effects of climate change in their own backyards.

Innovative, local-level ideas like these are being put into action all over the United States, but, when it comes to opportunities to bring those ideas to full fruition, inequity slows progress. The frontline communities most affected by climate change—and its negative impacts on health—often do not have equitable access to the resources and infrastructure needed to scale up the resilience, mitigation, and adaptation approaches they know will work.

The CCN was created to facilitate fairer access to resources and partnerships that can support communities as they take their effective strategies to new heights.

Building a Community of Practice

Central to the CCN model are its members, a cohort of leaders from community-based organizations working to address climate-related health inequities in areas disproportionately impacted by climate change. Together with strategic partners from government agencies, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, academia, and industry, they are working to build and implement innovative, locally driven solutions.

The inaugural cohort is 18 members strong and spans ten states and Puerto Rico. They represent communities with a wide range of priorities related to health inequities and the climate crisis, including air and water quality, emergency preparedness, education and awareness, youth engagement, and more. The members and their organizations serve communities disproportionately affected by climate-related health risks, and are located in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast/Gulf Coast, Southwest/Southern Great Plains, and the U.S. Caribbean.

CCN Members

Bay Area Women Coalition, Incorporated: Leevones Fisher; Boston Medical Center: Cory Pouliot; CDU-Kedren Mobile Street Medicine: Jerry P. Abraham; Centro Froanterizo del Obrero (dba) La Mujer Obrera: Cemelli de Aztlan; Chico State Enterprises: Blake Ellis; Dade County Street Response: Armen HendersonPlanet Detroit: Laprisha Berry Daniels; Hollygrove Dixon Neighborhood Association: Raymond Sweet; La Clinica de La Raza, Inc.: Lily Kelly; Lifelines Counseling Services: Chandra Brown; Maryland Latinos Unidos, Gabriela Lemus; Micah Six Eight Mission: Cynthia RobertsonMycelium Youth Network: Lil Milagro Henriquez; Nordson Green Foundation: Sheetal Rao; The CLEO Institute: Joanne Perodin; The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science: Max Cawley; University of Puerto Rico: Maria del Carmen Zorrilla; University of South Alabama Center for Healthy Communities: Ashley Williams

Visions of Change

“Our community leadership is needed at the table. We need as many voices and resources as possible to help others understand the community impacts that we are experiencing.” – Chandra Brown

“This is an important opportunity for cross-community learning about what works, what doesn’t work, and where we might go together to ensure our efforts are collaborative, effective, and equitable.” – Max Cawley

“We hope to share the experiences of frontline populations, the impacts on our most vulnerable populations – children, women and elders – and the alternatives we implement and advocate for to address and combat historical environmental racism.” – Cemelli de Aztlan

“I grew up feeling the effects of climate change and have felt it everywhere I have lived. Today, it is hurting our patients at the clinic where I work, and we are only just beginning to be able to help them protect and prepare themselves. This network is an opportunity for me to learn best practices and share our work in the hopes that we can save more lives.” – Lily Kelly

Read more insights from CCN Members.

A Journey Together

Every other month, the National Academy of Medicine brings the members and strategic partners together to provide dedicated time to co-develop, collaborate, and iterate on community-specific and network-wide activities. The group is a supportive community, where participants share wins and challenges, exchange updates and advice, discuss new resources and workshop ideas for future meetings.

The CCN and its members are a critical part of the broader climate and health portfolio at the Academy. The CCN brings a grounded environmental justice perspective that underpins the organizational goal of communicating about climate change as a public health crisis that must be attended to with equity in mind.

To that end, members of the CCN have provided critical insights about locally focused solutions at several of the Academy’s recent events, including the landmark Climate and Health Day and a virtual convening on setting a climate and health research agenda. The members also offer guidance in several other areas of the Academy’s climate and health-focused activities, such as participating in a project committee creating plain-language resources about the health impacts of climate change and serving on the Grand Challenge on Climate Change, Human Health, and Equity Steering Committee.

Looking ahead, the members will design community-level action plans with the support of strategic partners. These plans lay out concrete steps for putting solutions into action—in some cases, they will scale up existing approaches, and, in others, they will build brand-new practices. The key, always, is that every solution is tailored to priorities of the communities that the members serve.

 

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