In Waterloo Region, an initiative is shifting the lens of climate response from top-down strategies to bottom-up solutions rooted in lived experience. Led by the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region (SDC), the Climate Resilience Strategy seeks to address the disconnect between formal municipal climate plans and the real-world challenges faced by marginalized communities. Ultimately, their hope is to inspire other jurisdictions looking to identify and support grassroots initiatives doing climate resiliency work.

“For decades, SDC has adopted an approach known as Lifelong Engagement,” explains project manager, Leah Connor. “This means elevating the voices of people with lived experience – those living in poverty, with disabilities, as seniors or newcomers – as the true experts.” For SDC, Connor says, “the only way to achieve our vision of fair and equitable access to social, economic, and political life for everyone in Waterloo Region is to start with the grassroots and then see if we can scale up to other players in the region.”

The urgency of this approach is echoed by Dr. Manuel Riemer, Director at Wilfrid Laurier’s Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability (VERiS), a key partner in the initiative. “The project is about recognizing that there are gaps in the formal climate strategies and that community-led initiatives are often overlooked,” he explains.

The consequences of this oversight are not abstract; they’re felt most acutely by those already marginalized.

“The issue is that climate response efforts are led almost exclusively by municipalities that don’t tend to effectively engage with communities,” says Riemer. “Yet the impacts of climate change are often more acute for the people who are often overlooked in policy and actions.”

The initiative aims to reverse that reality. “Ultimately, the goal of the project is to identify, map, and uplift three to five grassroots initiatives that are already underway or in development,” says Riemer. The team’s focus is not on directing these projects but on supporting them.

At the heart of the strategy is a model of engagement built on ethics and fairness, and that champions lived expertise, from start to completion. Key to that ethical methodology is the compensation that SDC is offering participants for their expertise, something that would not have been possible without the grant from Gore Mutual Foundation.

The richness of lived experience can’t be found in a book or government report. And it offers a perspective one wouldn’t get otherwise. “It’s foundational to our work,” says Connor. “It’s been monumental.”

The ability to research and capture insight is also made possible by the grant. And it’s given participants the potential to impact communities beyond their own. “We want to learn as much as we can and then share it with others who might want to do something similar,” shares Connor.

“The number one learning: solutions already exist in the community; you just need to open your eyes. People are already engaging in mutual aid, for example. Folks are putting out sprinklers in the middle of the heat wave to help their neighbours cool off. Food programs have been running for decades. Solutions are there, whether or not they’re formally identified,” Connor says.

But systemic change requires structural shifts. “Municipalities must relinquish control and opt instead to facilitate collaboration among existing players,” Riemer argues. That includes respecting the leadership of grassroots communities, even when it means rethinking how institutions engage.

“Getting them to respect grassroots-led action is a challenge,” Riemer continues, “especially as the work touches intersecting issues of housing, affordability, migration, and disability rights. If you truly want to make meaningful progress on any of these complex challenges,” he emphasizes, “giving the community a leadership stake is crucial.”

“Our output is meant to be replicated,” Riemer adds. “Each community will have its own needs, but the core approach – centring on lived experience, resources, grassroots leadership, and funding ethically – holds broader potential.”

This collaborative model is already setting a new standard for climate resilience planning in Canada. “It prioritizes community wisdom,” Connor says, “and I am really grateful to be a part of it.”