As part of the Health Climate Action Project the Enfield Racial Equality Council held two focus groups each with about 12 people attending. The idea was to explain the project to them and then get their comments on how it  might develop. People there came from Eastern Enfield or from Groups and organisations working in Eastern Enfield. The comments were useful and important in helping us develop and design the project You can see the ;points raised below.

 

First Community Panel Focus Group July 5th

 

• Importance of community surveying

• To let people know where the report is going

• Will we have case studies in report

• Importance of education

• Will report have recommendations

• The importance of air pollution and asthma

• Local authority should promote it well

• Planning before house building takes place to achieve net zero

• We should address how we live and consume - and food is central to this and impacts on health and climate change in many ways

• We should also look at behaviour change - and projects that help like the library of things

• Mental Health should be a central issue - and Mayor might be interested to led their support

• We might involve local companies for publishing to their employees and for possible funding

• The importance of traffic calming

• Make sure churches/mosques are involved

• Can we get a local celebrity toped one or both panels

• The importance of continuing the project beyond the end date and importance of looking for local funding

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CLIMATE CHANGE FOCUS GROUP. 27th July 2022

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• The importance to build bridges with Enfield Council and to work together with them

• The need for training for Climate Health Champions and clarifying the type of training

• The importance of Climate Health Champions and the value of working with Enfield Voluntary Action (EVA)

• The importance of making people aware of the climate emergency and the anxiety this is creating

• How climate Cafes could be organised to address that anxiety

• Developing these cafes in venues that already hold cafes so as not to recreate the wheel.

• The importance of emergency and contingency planning and finding out what Enfield is doing in that regard

• The real emergency of heat stress and what we do as it will increasingly impact on health. What are the authorities contingency plans.

• Similarly what are the contingency plans for flood alleviation.

• What is the evidence locally of measures like tree planting and wetland development in carbon capture.

• Importance of working with young people and schools and looking at the possibility of youth ambassadors.

• The contribution to building to emissions and the need for better regulations - in the type of build, extensions and insulation.

• Having more information about local infra structure development like for example solar heating.

• The importance of purchasing and supply chains when developing infra structure strategy

• To provide more community help for recycling, compositing and the reduction of waste

• The value in involving Capel Manor in what we do.Helping communities in vegetable growing

• The importance of working with residents and being able to demonstrate to them outcomes.

• The importance of green space especially Parks but this should be done in in a strategic way that also looks at safety. All policy development has consequences.

• Finally it was emphasised the great value of a project on climate change and public health as these are rarely linked in the public mind or often with statutory authorities.