TOPICS: What topics have been prominent in Climate Ready Philly in different years?

TOPICS: What topics have been prominent in Climate Ready Philly in different years?

Over the years, the topics presented at the Climate Ready Philly Workshops have changed, but all have retained a central focus on climate change in Philadelphia, air quality, and respiratory health. In 2014, the first Climate Ready Philly Workshop, “Be Air Aware: A Healthier Home in a Changing Environment”, kicked off the workshop series with a focus on how climate change impacts both indoor and outdoor air quality. The workshop curriculum emphasized that Philadelphia is becoming hotter and wetter through climate change. Community health workers also taught attendees how they could manage their respiratory health by checking daily air quality and local weather, as well as by identifying neighborhood and domestic pollution sources. The workshop also highlighted how alternative cleaning products could be used in the home since bleach and other chemical-based products could trigger asthma.  

In 2015, the “Talking about Climate Change” workshop shifted gears to focus on climate change communication. During this year, workshop curriculum still focused on climate change and air quality, but the facilitators added activities that taught attendees how to share their climate experiences with others, and to actively join the climate change discussion beyond the workshops. 

In 2016, the workshop’s aim shifted again to a train-the-trainer format. Using curriculum from 2014 and 2015, workshop attendees learned how to give the Climate Ready Philly presentations in their organizations, for their constituents.  Although this was the only year Climate Ready Philly ran train-the-trainer events,  Deepa Mankikar of the National Nurse-led Care Consortium (NNCC) has adopted this format for a national training webinar. 

In 2017 there was a noticeable shift in the workshop’s topics. Most notably, the number of topics increased and became more diverse. The “Staying Cool in a Changing Climate” workshops centered on heatwaves, the connections between health and home, emergency preparedness as well as the dynamics of air quality during summer months. With the Philadelphia Department of Public Health now a Climate Ready Philly partner, there was a greater emphasis on expanding knowledge and access to local public health resources as well. As in 2017, the 2018 “Breathing Easy in a Changing Climate” workshops also addressed a wide variety of topics including severe weather events such as flooding, home weatherization, emergency preparedness, and mold issues. The 2019 “Weather Ready Homes” workshop, focused on emergency preparedness and housing infrastructure including: mold, weatherization, repair, pest management, and access to resources.