Gigatonne Challenge
Spring 2021
Priority Area: Climate Action
Dates: Apr. 2021 - May 2021
Status: Completed
The Outpost partnered with Complexity University to offer the Gigatonne Challenge, an intensive, advanced-learning program building practical skills to tackle the climate crisis.
In the two-week session that started in early April 2021, municipal staff from Halifax Regional Municipality's Government Relations and External Affairs (GREA), Environment & Climate Change, Solid Waste Resources, and Parks & Recreation departments worked with representatives from the Province of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Power, Dalhousie University, Halifax Water, Ecology Action Centre, Clean Foundation and others to learn the collective impact approach to problem-solving and to develop and test solutions in the areas of electric vehicles and e-mobility, climate change leadership, and climate adaptation.
The April 2021 Gigatonne Challenge generated local prototypes to address climate change, one of which was Storm Kits for Newcomers. HRM and the Public Libraries are developing storm kits for newcomer families to Halifax to help them better understand and prepare for severe winter storms. Ten newcomer families at three libraries were engaged. The intention is to include translated materials in the kits with additional community information and to scale up the production and distribution of these customized kits.