Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions 2025

An icon of a hand holding a leaf. Text says Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions.

The City of Kingston is seeking local neighbourhood leaders to engage with residents on local environmental issues and inspire climate action. The Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions will inspire, motivate, and encourage other residents to undertake community-focused actions to support the City’s Climate Leadership Plan and climate adaptation and mitigation in our community.

Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions

Participants will receive training (in-person or virtual) through a series of webinars on climate change science, climate change communications and climate action in Kingston. After the training, participants will receive a Neighborhood Climate Action Toolkit to help them engage their neighbours in discussions about climate change and develop innovative neighbourhood-focused climate action projects. The aim of the Toolkit is to identify specific Kingston Climate Leadership Plan goals the neighbourhood should target and develop a plan to reach these goals.

Climate Action Champions are required to commit at least 50 hours per year (4-5 hours per month) toward climate outreach, project development and execution.

The City of Kingston’s program will require participants to present their project’s deliverables, needed materials, their project evaluation plan, and a budget before receiving funding and entering into a funding agreement with the City. Participants will be eligible to receive a maximum of $2,000 per project.

Participants will meet with City staff monthly to discuss their neighbourhood projects and receive feedback and support.

As a Neighbourhood Climate Action Champion, you will:

  • Communicate and educate residents about environmental and climate-related topics and issues. Lead constructive and interesting conversations about the challenges of climate change and potential solutions.
  • Collaborate with residents to develop neighbourhood-focused climate action projects that account for the diverse values and needs of the community.
  • Connect and inspire a broader group of neighbourhood residents to participate in climate action to reduce their carbon footprint.
  • Contribute to advancing the City’s Climate Leadership Plan and leading climate action in our community.

Program Eligibility

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Live in Kingston
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Able to commit at least 4 to 5 hours per month to climate outreach and attend monthly meetings with City staff
  • Able to work as part of a team and have a strong leadership capacity
  • Currently engaged in climate action work; or
  • Engaged in neighbourhood or local community work; or
  • a recent graduate interested in climate action
  • Existing connections with neighbourhood networks/groups are an asset
  • Fluency in a non-English language is an asset

Applications from community leaders and residents from communities experiencing social, economic and other barriers, including people of colour, newcomers, LGBTQ2S+ persons, women, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities / disabled, will be given priority.

An icon of a hand holding a leaf. Text says Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions.

The City of Kingston is seeking local neighbourhood leaders to engage with residents on local environmental issues and inspire climate action. The Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions will inspire, motivate, and encourage other residents to undertake community-focused actions to support the City’s Climate Leadership Plan and climate adaptation and mitigation in our community.

Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions

Participants will receive training (in-person or virtual) through a series of webinars on climate change science, climate change communications and climate action in Kingston. After the training, participants will receive a Neighborhood Climate Action Toolkit to help them engage their neighbours in discussions about climate change and develop innovative neighbourhood-focused climate action projects. The aim of the Toolkit is to identify specific Kingston Climate Leadership Plan goals the neighbourhood should target and develop a plan to reach these goals.

Climate Action Champions are required to commit at least 50 hours per year (4-5 hours per month) toward climate outreach, project development and execution.

The City of Kingston’s program will require participants to present their project’s deliverables, needed materials, their project evaluation plan, and a budget before receiving funding and entering into a funding agreement with the City. Participants will be eligible to receive a maximum of $2,000 per project.

Participants will meet with City staff monthly to discuss their neighbourhood projects and receive feedback and support.

As a Neighbourhood Climate Action Champion, you will:

  • Communicate and educate residents about environmental and climate-related topics and issues. Lead constructive and interesting conversations about the challenges of climate change and potential solutions.
  • Collaborate with residents to develop neighbourhood-focused climate action projects that account for the diverse values and needs of the community.
  • Connect and inspire a broader group of neighbourhood residents to participate in climate action to reduce their carbon footprint.
  • Contribute to advancing the City’s Climate Leadership Plan and leading climate action in our community.

Program Eligibility

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Live in Kingston
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Able to commit at least 4 to 5 hours per month to climate outreach and attend monthly meetings with City staff
  • Able to work as part of a team and have a strong leadership capacity
  • Currently engaged in climate action work; or
  • Engaged in neighbourhood or local community work; or
  • a recent graduate interested in climate action
  • Existing connections with neighbourhood networks/groups are an asset
  • Fluency in a non-English language is an asset

Applications from community leaders and residents from communities experiencing social, economic and other barriers, including people of colour, newcomers, LGBTQ2S+ persons, women, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities / disabled, will be given priority.

  • Meet the 2024 Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions

    In the Climate Leadership Plan, the City of Kingston worked with residents and organizations in the Kingston community to identify opportunities for climate action, at the community level, that will help promote climate adaptation and mitigation.

    One of those actions was the creation of the Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions, a program designed to empower residents to inspire their friends and neighbourhoods to work together to advance local climate action.

    The 2024 Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions led 12 incredible projects across Kingston:

    Autumn smiles holding a basket of potatoes grown in the garden. A photo of a garden education session on a front lawnAutumn empowered community members to transform their lawns from grass to food growing gardens.

    Big poster with kids' drawings, sharing their ideas for community climate ideas. Drawings including, people, trees, birds, kites, people, soccer fields, cats and plants.Jessica collaborated with St. Martha's Elementary School to empower students to create positive change in their community through climate action initiatives that nurtured their understanding of environmental issues and created future champions of sustainability.
     Marks stands at a booth under a tent, sharing information about cold climate heat pumps and home energy retrofits,Mark worked with neighbours to discuss ways to reduce their carbon footprint, focusing on deep energy retrofits in their homes. A group of seven people stand for a group photo at the Plantiful event. They are smiling, holding plant based cookbooks and recipes.Rex worked with 350Kingston to promote the Plantiful project, leading events, sharing recipes and educating people about adopting plant-based diets, reducing emissions and local food systems.

    On the left is an image of black cherry seedlings in milk cartons, prior to being planted. On the right, Susie attends the Kingston Climate Expo, sharing information about planting little forests. Susie led the establishment of a "little forest" by helping residents of Grenville Park plant 1,000 native shrub and tree seedlings.
    Three volunteers stand on a front lawn holding shovels, as they prepare to plant a garden.Liz increased native plant gardens in the Kingscourt-Rideau District by providing homeowners with an education guide, plants (or seed packets) and for some participants, volunteer help in building the garden.
    A presenter stands in front of a classroom sharing information on how to sort recycling with a group of student participants.Neeraj and Bhavya led workshops to inform Queen's students about proper waste management practices in the city.


    Nathan leans into the seed garden, reaching for a plant. On the right, a native flower species that was planted in the seed garden.Nathan established two habitat seed gardens and led workshops to introduce the public to native plant species, the process of setting up habitat gardens, as well as seed gathering and winter sowing.




Page last updated: 14 Nov 2024, 10:49 AM