Three roundtables: exploring disability inclusion in climate change work
Across May and June, the Climate and Disability programme ran three roundtables. The events brought together representatives from key disability, climate, and nature organisations as well as the local councils and national government to explore the barriers to taking action on disability and climate change.
Cross theme roundtable 22 May
The first event was a collaboration between Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership and Sensing Climate. It took the form of a cross theme roundtable to map the blockers that are preventing the actions asked for in the community climate action plan by and for Disabled people, and to envisage solutions to these. The areas explored were nature and food, transport, resilience, energy and housing, and jobs and training.
Attendees brought fantastic insights and problem-solving to the table. Some blockers that emerged were funding, siloed ways of working, and a lack of process for engaging with Disabled people around the design of projects. Possible solutions discussed covered better communication and sharing of existing information and data, ensuring lived experience always feeds into Equality Impact Assessments and learning from examples of best practice for breaking down silos from other councils.
These inputs will be used by Sensing Climate lead Sarah Bell and Climate and Disability programme associate Emma Geen to develop resources that can be used to guide accessible work in these areas.
“It was really worthwhile and informative to be part of the roundtable. In particular, I value learning from the experience of Disabled people. We need to get better at listening to all users when designing climate initiatives, so they can guide the work.
All too often details are added as an afterthought or budgets have no provision. Government and other funders need to do better. And we need to find ways to scope projects so we’re building for everyone from the start.”
Martin Fodor, co-chair of the Chair of Bristol City Council’s Environment and Sustainability Committee
Jobs roundtable 13 June
The jobs roundtable was a collaboration between the Climate and Disability programme associate Emma Geen and Forum member Ruth Nortey whose PhD research explores how employers can be supported to make their workplaces more inclusive for Disabled people. The session explored what work already exists on helping to get Disabled people into green jobs and what work is needed for the community of Disabled people to fully benefit from the new jobs being created by the environmental sector. The areas focussed on were recruitment, inclusive workplaces and staying in work, and skills and training.
There are considerable benefits to focusing on disability in the green sector. If these jobs are created in an accessible way they could help close the disability employment gap. And many Disabled people have to become experts at problem-solving and adapting to difficult situations, so bring skillsets and wisdom that the green sector would benefit from as the country adapts in light of a warming climate.
Many themes and impactful ideas emerged. It was clear that there’s a lack of intentional recruitment of Disabled people into green jobs and training. Some identified barriers were exclusionary workplace practices and policies such as lack of flexible working options, delays in accessing support through Access to Work and difficulties in accessing reasonable adjustments. Solutions discussed the importance of the creation of meaningful jobs at all levels and across the whole industry and Disabled people being involved in co-producing policies and projects around green jobs to make sure that they meet the priorities and needs of Disabled people. Discussions made it clear that accessible jobs need to be approached in a holistic way, which means addressing wider issues such as access to public transport, accessible parking and appropriate housing.
Emma and Ruth will be writing up the findings of the event into a report with recommendations to address the issues identified during the roundtable. The report will be available for any organisation to reference when seeking funding in this area.
Energy roundtable 17 June
The energy roundtable was a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership. It presented the energy research on Disabled people and caregiver’s experience of retrofit that has been carried out by the Centre for Sustainable Energy on behalf of the Climate and Disability programme. Representatives of Disabled People’s Organisations and members of the Climate and Disability Forum gave invaluable and insightful feedback on the report and accompanying resources and recommendations that have been developed from the report.
The discussions highlighted the importance of centering the needs of Disabled people through the retrofit journey and capturing these through the individual’s specific needs, rather than what impairment group they fall into. Other emerging themes were the importance of good quality disability training for retrofit professionals, designing resources to meet a wide range of access needs and ensuring that the install of heat pumps doesn’t put more financial pressure on Disabled people.
The Centre for Sustainable Energy will be launching the report in the early autumn.
Alison Browning from WECIL said: “It was fantastic to be in a room with such passionate people, sharing their knowledge and experience, all working together on one objective. This was a great opportunity to learn from one another.”
The jobs and energy roundtables featured as part of the Community Climate Action Fringe festival. The roundtables and other work from the Climate and Disability programme will be celebrated in a showcase on 2 October.
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