On June 5th and 6th, we hosted 24 attendees for our first full two-day, in -person workshop at the Pala Reservation. Professionals represented tribes and tribe-serving organizations from various parts of the country including California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Louisiana.

The workshops covered the following topics.

• Climate Change and Health 101
• Changing Climate Exposures and Health Impacts
• Assessing Health Vulnerabilities: Vulnerability Assessment
• Addressing Health Vulnerabilities: Adaptation Planning

Attendees were also fortunate to hear about State public health resources from Dorette English from the California Department of Public Health’s Climate Change and Health Equity Program. In addition, Prosper Sustainably’s Josh Simmons provided an overview of how tribal energy resilience can support health adaptation.

Facilitators Shasta Gaughen (Pala Band of Mission Indians) and Angie Hacker (Prosper Sustainably) designed the training to be highly interactive, including peer discussion and hands-on learning activities that simulated vulnerability data gathering and adaptation strategy selection processes.

Initial feedback from the training indicated a marked improvement in knowledge and confidence levels related to health adaptation. Below are examples of testimonials from trainees:

“Excellent training. It was a lot of material packed into two days, but by no means felt overwhelming. It was easy to understand the progression, and the breaks/quick discussions really helped to break it up and digest it all. Facilitators did a good job of getting everyone involved in discussion.”

“I think the training was amazing and it had everything!! I also appreciated the diversity of the group that also provided personal experiences that was able to paint a picture and understanding how adaptation plans will differ based on the needs of the community!”

“I truly believe gaining a better understanding of the different types of resources to gather trends along with previous and current data will be most beneficial for our tribe.”

Slides with many linked resources from the training can be found here.

The Tribal Climate Health Project has now introduced health adaptation training material to nearly 300 attendees in workshops, conferences and meetings across the country. Facilitators are now planning a webinar series for late summer 2019 using a modified version of this curriculum. Details will be announced soon. Please contact ahacker@prospersustainably.com for more information.