On Friday 26 June, Ealing Council held a webinar as part of London Climate Action Week. They were sharing what it had heard so far about a climate resilient Ealing from its pre-election engagement work. The message wasn’t that people need to be convinced about climate change. Rather it’s that they want help to act on something they already recognise as part of everyday life.
The conversation was grounded in what people are already experiencing locally: overheating homes, flooding on familiar streets. Also the impact this has on day‑to‑day health and wellbeing. Survey responses backed this up, with around 70% concerned about extreme heat and 65% about flooding. Plus many saying they do not feel fully prepared for what’s coming.
What was the outcome of the research?
Areas came through consistently from the engagement:
- People are concerned less about abstract, long term ‘resilience’ and more about staying healthy, safe and comfortable, especially at home
- There is willingness to act locally. However it’s often held back by cost, lack of clear information, or knowing where to start
- Community networks, including faith groups, are already doing a lot, but need better support and coordination
- There is a strong preference for visible, practical changes. So more shade, greener streets, and spaces people can use during extreme weather
Taken together, this points in a fairly simple direction. This is much of the effort will come from people, neighbourhood groups and local organisations themselves. The council can help this to make a Climate resilient Ealing easier. Doing this through small grants, clear guidance, or linking groups up so they’re not working in isolation. Funding from national government will be essential to back this up.
For more tips on keeping cool see our article Keep your cool in heatwaves in Ealing.
Next steps
Informed by its engagement and research in the last 2 years, the council has been putting together what this looks like in practice. This is a 50‑piece delivery plan, setting out the role of different partners across the borough. These partners including businesses, the NHS, faith groups and community organisations, and where they can lead or work with the council.
Those actions will be adjusted in line with advice from people in these groups. Then it will be published in a final strategy that serves as a blueprint for everyone, not just the council. The council has a further set of actions just for itself.
As another heatwave moves towards us, the need to act to make a Climate resilient Ealing has never been clearer.
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