The Town of Essex is looking for feedback from residents about how climate change may impact them.
"We often think and talk about climate change in the context of how it will affect institutions, like governments or businesses," said Climate Change Analyst, Niharika Bandaru. "This exercise is really designed to focus on the individual level. Not only will it provide more information to the team on how Town of Essex citizens perceives climate change, but it's also an opportunity for respondents to learn about how individuals may be impacted by climate change differently."
The online exercise presents six fictional characters, including a winemaker, a janitor, and a researcher. Each character is designed to represent some common attributes of residents in the town.
Once the participant reads the character's biography, they are invited to identify how each will feel the impacts of climate change.
In March 2019, the Town of Essex received a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to hire a climate change analyst. Last November, town council passed a motion to develop a Climate Change Adaptation Plan.
The Climate Change Adaptation Team is made up of residents and stakeholders. It has been meeting throughout the year to complete the plan.