Austin Climate Change & Health

Sectors: Climate ChangePublic Health

Challenge:

Help the City of Austin assess the public health co-benefits and co-harms associated with climate change policies.

Solution:
  • Perform a regional scan to identify the most significant climate-related environmental public health hazards in Central Texas.
  • Build capacity and interdepartmental cooperation around the links between climate change and health.
  • Create an environmental public health indicators tool linking environmental, health, vulnerability, and policy data on specific climate-related hazards to inform policy decisions and build public awareness.
  • Identify the vulnerable populations and public policies most relevant for public health input.
Services:

Consulting
  • Project development and overall management.
  • Group facilitation.
  • Developed five step methodology to integrate regional public health priorities into climate change policies and interventions.
  • Established and integrated environmental public health indicators into the climate protection program.
  • Facilitated coordination among environmental sustainability, climate change, and public health programs and initiatives.
  • Evaluate and provide recommendations for prioritizing climate change mitigation strategies that improve public health.
  • Graphic design.
  • Grant writing.

Applied Research
  • Gap analysis and needs assessment for the health department and other key stakeholders within the City of Austin.
  • Developed policy recommendations and talking points on the value of considering the public health co-benefits and co-harms of climate change policies.
  • Progress and program summary reports targeted to stakeholders, the City of Austin, and the general public.
  • Co-authored five articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals.

Training
  • Design, developed, and delivered internal trainings to stakeholders and health department managers.
  • Designed and developed a health module for the Austin Climate Protection Program City staff training program.

Client:

Austin/Travis County Department of Health and Human Services; Austin Climate Protection Program Funding: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Climate Change Program; National Association of County and City Health Officials; fellow project under Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Health Services Branch.

 

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