What we tried to achieve

In response to barriers facing local government on climate change, a strategic intervention by the Victorian Government was the employment of three Local Government Climate Change Mentors for a two-year pilot project (2014-2016).

The Mentor project aimed to:

• Provide practical information, assistance and advice to Victoria’s local government sector to support effective climate change risk management, strategy development and action and help embed climate change thinking in to day-to-day business and across whole-of-council.
• Build stronger relationships and links between the state government, local government sector and relevant experts to influence and enable innovative strategies and action.
• Provide a conduit for local government into state government policy development (e.g. Victoria’s Climate Change Framework and the development of the second Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Plan).

 How we made it happen

The activity phase of the pilot is to be completed by end of June 2016. Based on the identified need for the pilot and extensive consultation by the mentors, four key priority actions were implemented:

• Training and capacity building for senior executives and CEOs of councils.

• Information hub (refreshed www.climatechange.vic.gov.au website)
• Acting as a conduit into state government policy making
• Communications and engagement strategies to underpin the above

 What the presentation will cover

• A discussion on barriers facing local government in tackling climate change
• The mentor pilot project as a strategic state government intervention
• Key insights gained along the way
• Evidence of how the mentor program created positive change