Regional Climate Partnerships
The Regional Climate Partnerships are a network of eleven regional, cross-sectoral groups delivering practical action to strengthen the climate resilience of their communities, economies and natural and built environments.
The eleven partnerships are: Adapting Northern Adelaide, AdaptWest, Barossa, Eyre Peninsula, Far North, Limestone Coast, Murraylands & Riverland, Northern and Yorke, Resilient East, Resilient Hills & Coasts and Resilient South.
Partners vary from region to region, but include councils, regional organisations of councils, Regional Development Australia organisations, landscape boards (formerly Natural Resource Management Boards), and the South Australian government.
The partnerships first came together to develop regional climate change adaptation plans, which were completed by 2016. Many regions have since expanded their focus to include emissions reduction and other climate risk management initiatives.
Some examples of Regional Climate Partnership initiatives are provided below.
Where We Build, What We Build
This project mapped hazards, identified and rated the resilience of existing homes, and designed an ideal climate ready home. The project will provide information to help developers and the community to build more climate ready homes. The project was a partnership between the Australian and South Australian governments, Insurance Council of Australia, and Resilient Hills & Coasts.
Urban Heat and Tree Canopy Mapping
These two projects mapped temperature hotspots and tree canopy cover across metropolitan Adelaide, which are captured in an interactive online map. The information is being used to inform tree planting, water management, urban planning, and health and wellbeing initiatives. The projects were a partnership involving the South Australian government, Resilient South, Adapt West, Resilient East and Adapting Northern Adelaide.
Smart Irrigation and Live Air Temperature Monitoring
This project combines remote sensing technology and weather predictions to irrigate public spaces efficiently, so they stay cooler and greener at a lower cost. It includes an interactive map to help residents find the coolest parks to spend time in on a hot day. This project is a partnership between SA Water and the Regional Climate Partnerships.
Climate Ready Schools and Communities
Climate Ready Schools supports students to use local government climate data to inform practical action within their schools. The program was developed by Green Adelaide Education and Resilient South.
Climate Ready Communities is creating a network of people to lead conversations and take climate action in their communities. The program was developed by Red Cross and Resilient South.
Climate Ready Schools and Climate Ready communities are now being delivered across several other regions.
Climate Governance Assessments
The Climate Governance Assessments have adopted an award-winning methodology to assess performance in addressing climate change to help improve climate risk management by councils. Resilient South and Resilient Hills & Coasts partnered in piloting this approach, which is now being adopted in councils across several other regions.
Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot! Heatwave Hypothetical
The Hot! Hot! Hot! hypothetical guides community members through a heatwave scenario to improve preparedness and response to heatwaves. The community and service providers were engaged in a lively, interactive event that built knowledge and capacity and showcased best practice responses. The event resources are publicly available so that other organisations can replicate the event in their region. The concept for this event was developed by Resilient South and adapted by Resilient East in partnership with government and community organisations.
Adapt Now – Changing for Climate Change
AdaptNow! - Building on the Hot! Hot! Hot! hypothetical event previously undertaken by Resilient South and Resilient East, the AdaptNow event focused on the cascading impacts of heatwave, bushfire smoke, heatwave and flood risk. A recording of the event is publicly available.
Coastal Climate Hazard Mapping and Strategies
This project mapped coastal climate hazards including sea-level-rise, erosion and storm surge, and actively engaged communities to understand the risks and plan responses. Wattle Range Council pioneered this award-winning approach (Limestone Coast), which has since been taken up by Kangaroo Island Council (Resilient Hills & Coasts) and others. An online map of coastal climate hazards has been developed by the Eyre Peninsula and Limestone Coast regional climate partnerships, with assistance from the South Australian government.
The Regional Climate Partnerships work closely with the Coast Protection Board, Metropolitan Seaside Councils Committee and South Australian Coastal Councils Alliance on coastal climate risk and mitigation strategies.
Supporting Resilient and Regenerative Agriculture
Regional Climate Partnerships have delivered a number of initiatives to support farmers to manage climate risks. This includes resilient and regenerative agriculture projects to improve soil health and water retention, smart farming techniques using soil moisture probes to inform targeted interventions for climate variability, and carbon farming projects to diversify farm income and sequester carbon. These initiatives are being undertaken in the Barossa, Northern and Yorke, Far North, Murraylands and Riverland, Limestone Coast and Resilient Hills & Coasts regions.
Clean and Community Energy
Many councils involved in Regional Climate Partnerships are leading the transition to a low carbon future through solar generation, LED streetlights and electric vehicle fleet transitions, as well as by supporting businesses and households to transition to energy that is clean, secure and affordable.
A group of councils involved in Regional Climate Partnerships have jointly procured community emissions profiles for all South Australian municipalities. The profiles measure community greenhouse gas emissions across an entire local government area, and can help target efforts to cut emissions.
Adaptation Practitioners Network
The Adaptation Practitioners Network facilitates regular peer-to-peer learning and collaboration between climate practitioners from the public, private, research and community sectors across the state.
