Marisol Suárez-Roldán
Researcher in Climate Change and Health
Universidad de Antioquia
Biological Engineer, Master's in Environment and Development, and Anthropology in training. I have extensive experience in environmental management and coordination of community participation processes and other stakeholders in climate change management. In implementing the Climate Change Adaptation Plan from Environmental Health for Antioquia, I served as one of the coordinators of the Dialogue component. Together with the team, through the activities carried out, we were able to engage with various life stories and community perspectives on climate change adaptation and salutogenic practices.
For our health and communities' contribution to climate change adaptation in urban areas
Keywords:
Health, Gardens, Climate Change, Salud Mental, Huertas, Cambio Climatico
In the Valle de Aburrá, a sub-region of the department of Antioquia, Colombia, a diverse group of people meets periodically with a clear purpose: to transform their territory to protect human and environmental health. The Management Team of the Valle de Aburrá, composed of community leaders, representatives from various governmental and non-governmental institutions, has managed to consolidate a workspace where knowledge, experiences, and the will for transformation converge.
Years of community and institutional work by each party separately formed a powerful partnership with the creation of the Climate Change Adaptation Plan from Environmental Health for Antioquia – PACCSA in 2021. It all started online, where older adults, youth, women, and members of the LGTBIQ+ community, all with passion and leadership, recognised various economic, social, and age-related vulnerabilities exacerbated by climate change.
The first step was to recognise the vulnerabilities and the impacts of climate change on the health of the territory, in other words, on the health of people and the environment. The second came when they began to participate in implementing the Plan. In 2023, they prioritised the promotion of healthy environments through knowledge-sharing, as the challenges related to access to healthy food, mobility, and the protection of green public spaces are common and fundamental issues for the health of all people and the environment. Participants from Barbosa in the north and Envigado in the south gathered in Medellín in the centre to share their diverse experiences from across the sub-region, ranging from knowledge of the territory and community impact on local planning to urban gardens, composting, recycling, seed guardianship, and consultations with experts on climate change, mobility, and disaster risk management.
Recognising and seeing that they face similar vulnerabilities leads to the feeling of “knowing that it is possible”. Thus, in 2024, the agenda focused on mental health, a topic that was quickly identified as needing to be explored, going beyond economic situations, migration, disaster events, or high temperatures, and is approached by communities with various strategies. Therefore, it was decided to create three videos and five infographics for dissemination on social networks to raise awareness about the topic. Two of the videos highlight community practices such as urban gardens, both for food and for aromatic and medicinal plants, which, according to participants, provide peace of mind, promote physical activity, increase awareness of nutrition, connect them with nature, and thus care for their physical and mental health. At the same time, organic farming is recognised as a way to adapt to climate change and improve access to food. The third video calls for responsible consumption and proper management of solid waste. Through this, the territory is being transformed from within the communities.