(Even) Better Homes and Gardens: understanding options for home adaptation upgrades
Photo credit: City of Greater Bendigo, Building Resilience: Making homes climate ready, https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-10/Building-Resilience-Making--Homes-Climate-Ready.pdf
CVGA is partnering with the Castlemaine Institute on this 12-month, community-based research project, supported by the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).
The project aims to identify practical options for residents living in houses that are more exposed to the impacts of climate change, to 'upgrade' or 'retrofit' their homes and gardens to enhance resilience.
Many households in regional Victoria have experienced property damage because of climate-related extreme weather events, including bushfires, storms and floods. Much of the housing stock in the region has not been designed or constructed to withstand projected increases in temperatures and extreme weather events under climate change.
Increasingly the finance, mortgage, and insurance sectors are also taking an interest in how households may be impacted by a changing climate, and what households are doing to reduce associated risks. The Climate Council recently released a report, Uninsurable Nation: Australia’s Most Climate-Vulnerable Places, outlining the top 20 federal electorates most at-risk from climate-related extreme weather events. Seven of the ten local government areas in the Loddon Mallee region are within the top 20 most at-risk electorates.
Retrofitting existing homes to enhance climate resilience can benefit residents by improving overall liveability, health and wellbeing outcomes, and reducing costs associated with property damage, higher insurance premiums, and year-round heating and cooling.
The project will work closely with a cross-section of community members from Mount Alexander Shire as a case study site that is broadly representative of housing typologies across regional Victoria. Through a desktop study and participatory research activities (such as surveys, interviews and focus group discussion), the project will:
The project will be guided by reference groups with representatives from the community, and local and state government, across the CVGA region to ensure that research findings and any resources produced are relevant and accessible.
Preliminary research findings will be shared with stakeholders in early 2023. The project is expected to be completed by June 2023.
Opportunities to get involved:
1. Join our Community Reference Group
We are establishing a Community Reference Group to help guide and support this research. The group will meet 3-4 times over the next nine months, from October 2022 to June 2023, to share and discuss information and emerging research findings from the project, to coordinate research activities, and to identify opportunities to connect with different members of the community to understand their lived experience of climate change. If you are interested to join the Community Reference Group, please email us at admin@cvga.org.au.
2. Share your story
We will be undertaking a survey, interviews, and focus group discussions across Mount Alexander Shire over the next six months to understand the lived experiences of different people in the community when it comes to taking action to protect or upgrade your home from climate risk and extreme weather events. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact us at admin@cvga.org.au. Stay tuned for more information on how to participate in our research activities.
3. Upcoming Events
Please check back for updates on upcoming project event and opportunities to get involved.
The project aims to identify practical options for residents living in houses that are more exposed to the impacts of climate change, to 'upgrade' or 'retrofit' their homes and gardens to enhance resilience.
Many households in regional Victoria have experienced property damage because of climate-related extreme weather events, including bushfires, storms and floods. Much of the housing stock in the region has not been designed or constructed to withstand projected increases in temperatures and extreme weather events under climate change.
Increasingly the finance, mortgage, and insurance sectors are also taking an interest in how households may be impacted by a changing climate, and what households are doing to reduce associated risks. The Climate Council recently released a report, Uninsurable Nation: Australia’s Most Climate-Vulnerable Places, outlining the top 20 federal electorates most at-risk from climate-related extreme weather events. Seven of the ten local government areas in the Loddon Mallee region are within the top 20 most at-risk electorates.
Retrofitting existing homes to enhance climate resilience can benefit residents by improving overall liveability, health and wellbeing outcomes, and reducing costs associated with property damage, higher insurance premiums, and year-round heating and cooling.
The project will work closely with a cross-section of community members from Mount Alexander Shire as a case study site that is broadly representative of housing typologies across regional Victoria. Through a desktop study and participatory research activities (such as surveys, interviews and focus group discussion), the project will:
- Explore lived experience, knowledge and awareness of climate-related risks, household exposure, and home adaptation options;
- Identify the resources, services, and incentives that are available (or needed) for residents to retrofit their homes; and
- Develop recommendations for local and state government to encourage and enable residents to implement home adaptation solutions.
The project will be guided by reference groups with representatives from the community, and local and state government, across the CVGA region to ensure that research findings and any resources produced are relevant and accessible.
Preliminary research findings will be shared with stakeholders in early 2023. The project is expected to be completed by June 2023.
Opportunities to get involved:
1. Join our Community Reference Group
We are establishing a Community Reference Group to help guide and support this research. The group will meet 3-4 times over the next nine months, from October 2022 to June 2023, to share and discuss information and emerging research findings from the project, to coordinate research activities, and to identify opportunities to connect with different members of the community to understand their lived experience of climate change. If you are interested to join the Community Reference Group, please email us at admin@cvga.org.au.
2. Share your story
We will be undertaking a survey, interviews, and focus group discussions across Mount Alexander Shire over the next six months to understand the lived experiences of different people in the community when it comes to taking action to protect or upgrade your home from climate risk and extreme weather events. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact us at admin@cvga.org.au. Stay tuned for more information on how to participate in our research activities.
3. Upcoming Events
Please check back for updates on upcoming project event and opportunities to get involved.