The Armidale Climate and Health Project (ACHP) recognises that the health of our environment and its people, especially Indigenous people, is intertwined. As climate change impacts worsen, they are also likely to be felt inequitably by the most vulnerable and marginalised in society.
"Some places will warm faster than others and some communities and people are more vulnerable than others to the health impacts -physically, socially, emotionally and culturally," says project co-facilitator Dr Jen Hamilton, of the University of New England. "We're committed to putting Indigenous knowledge at the centre of the local response to climate change and to building community resilience by fostering new connections and understanding. The climate crisis represents an opportunity to create a healthier, more equitable and just society."
ACHP had its origins in a time of drought, just before the destructive 2019 bushfires ignited, when the think-tank known as the Community Weathering Station was launched. Jen and her co-facilitator, GP and UNE adjunct Dr Sujata Allan, who works at the Armajun Aboriginal Health Service, have since secured an Adapt NSW grant to consult and collaborate with Indigenous leaders and other community members to stage a series of workshops and a festival that will take a uniquely holistic approach to restoring human and environmental health.
After almost a year of discussion, the workshops are about to kick off and will explore the health implications of Indigenous access to Country, the justice-based food movement and environmental education for future medical professionals. They will also support the efforts of frontline health workers trying to link Indigenous rehabilitation and work training programs with environmental rehabilitation and caring for Country, as part of Armajun's health care approach.
Anaiwan Elder and project partner, Uncle Steve Widders, said access to Country is the key to Indigenous health.
“Connection to Country is about who we are and what we are," he says. "Aboriginal people are part of the land and the land is part of us; they’re one in the same. Our relations with land, sun and water are reflected and symbolised in the Indigenous flag. Inland, connection to land is vital. Good health of the land makes sure that people have good health themselves.
"The land is a giver of life, along with the sun. Not only to people, but to every living thing. Aboriginal people always saw water as the blood of the land. While ever the water flows, it gives life to the land; when the water stops flowing, things die. If you look after the land, the land will look after you. A healthy environment equates to healthy people. It was quite good until colonisation started. This year’s NAIDOC theme is ‘Heal Country’ and if you heal Country, you’ll heal people.”
Dr Allan said the health effects of climate change are felt more by the elderly, those with chronic disease and the disadvantaged. "Health disparities already exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, courtesy of the systematic injustice caused by colonisation and dispossession of land," she said. "These health disparities are potentially worsened by climate change, through the effects of heatwaves, droughts and other extreme weather events.
"We know that the health of the environment directly impacts human health, which is what Indigenous people have known and lived for tens of thousands of years. Climate adaptation, then, offers an opportunity to transform our society - to address climate change in a way that improves peoples' health at the same time."
Taking a community action approach, ACHP partners will collaboratively design and then test climate change solutions. "There is a sense of urgency, but we need to be thoughtful in our response," Dr Hamilton said. "Aboriginal people have already lived through an apocalypse and our efforts to mitigate against climate change need to embed their health and knowledge in the sustainability discussion without repeating colonial harms. If we’re aiming to make Australia sustainable, but the health of the people in the world’s oldest living culture on the planet is at risk, then we’re not doing it right.
"I hope our project will strengthen community relations, bring together scientific knowledge of the individual health effects of the environmental crisis, and consider bigger questions about how we live and work together in this region. It's a way to address climate stress, community health and social injustice in one move, as well as tackling some of these systemic injustices affecting Indigenous health. By the end of the year, the team hopes to have seeded several actions along the way to this big goal."
The project is a partnership between the Community Weathering Station, Armajun Aboriginal Health Service, the University of New England and Sustainable Living Armidale. By pioneering new ways to successfully "weather" the climate change storm, facilitators hope to develop a model that might be adapted to meet the needs of other communities across Australia.
You can learn more about the Armidale Climate and Health Project at an open day to be held at the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place in Kentucky Street on 15 May. The open day will feature live music, traditional Aboriginal dance, a creek walk and orienteering, as well as information sessions. Limited spots are available for the walk, so to get more information, go to www.armidaleclimateandhealth.com.au or book your spot at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-armidale-climate-and-health-project-open-day-tickets-151403031543
