How Well Are We Adapting?

Aim: Create a climate change adaptation monitoring, evaluation and reporting program for Victorian local governments, to learn about climate change risks, impacts and responses across council services and assets. Its purpose was to:

• Build capacity for monitoring, evaluation and reporting for climate change adaptation.
• Embed climate change adaptation considerations across council service and asset portfolios.
• Enable council decision-makers to create an evidence base for informed decision-making, identify where services might be impacted in the future, and ensure residents most at risk to climate impacts will be protected.

Outcome: How Well Are We Adapting is the result of an extensive co-design process to develop a framework and attendant indicators with relevant service owners within council. The framework and indicators are supported by a web-based tool, with both internal and external reporting features.

The tool was developed from 2013-2017 by the WAGA Councils in partnership with RMIT University, Net Balance Foundation and Federation University Australia, with funding assistance from the Victorian Government. In 2018, WAGA and RMIT University received a grant from the Victorian Government, pursuant to the Supporting Our Regions to Adapt program, and additional funding from WAGA and non-WAGA Councils to undertake the expanded project. Twenty Victorian councils participated in this project phase.

From November 2020, How Well Are We Adapting has run as a council-led tool and program to support participating, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on climate change adaptation. Funding support was received through subscriptions from participating councils, and staffing hosted through the Climate Change Exchange.