Women 4 Climate Resilience
Women for Climate Resilience (W4CR) is a youth-led, two-day workshop series based in Western Sydney, exploring the intersection of climate change and gender justice. It was built by Our People Said, collaborating with AYCC, School Strike 4 Climate, and Banish Sustainability Hub to create a space that reflects the realities of our communities. W4CR centres lived experience and creates space for young women to engage with climate justice in ways that feel relevant, accessible, and empowering.
Day 1: The Action Hub
Day 1 was about understanding the bigger picture and who climate change impacts most. Participants moved through interactive stations exploring climate and care work, sustainable cities, disaster response, and imagining a Sydney 2035. Along the way, we unpacked global case studies including Hurricane Katrina, Gaza, the Rana Plaza collapse, and Ghana’s textile waste crisis. The focus of the rotating action hub wasn’t just on information, but on conversation and creating space to reflect, question, and connect these issues back to our own lives.
Day 2: Plastic Waste, Shadow Places and Volunteering at Banish Sustainability Hub
Day 2 shifted from discussion to action. Hosted at Banish Sustainability Hub, participants explored the gendered impacts of plastic waste and fast fashion, and how everyday consumption connects to global systems, particularly in shadow places. Through hands-on recycling, more than 3,000 plastic lids were transformed into reusable pens. It was a practical, tangible way to engage with circular economy principles and to see how small-scale action links to broader change.
Impact
W4CR brought over 30 participants on Day 1 and over 25 on Day 2, building a strong and engaged community space. In a post-workshop survey participants rated the workshops highly and expressed incredible interest in continued climate action! Since then, many have stepped into advocacy spaces locally such as in the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. The impact of W4CR goes beyond the workshops and into building confidence, connection, and pathways into ongoing climate organising
Why It Matters
Climate change doesn't affect everyone equally. Its impacts are shaped by gender, access, and systemic inequality, yet these perspectives are often missing from mainstream climate spaces. W4CR exists to change that. It creates space for young women in Western Sydney and broader Sydney to not only be part of the conversation, but to lead it. It's about making climate organising more accessible, more representative, and more grounded in lived experiece.
READ MORE ABOUT THE GENDER X CLIMATE INTERSECTION HERE
The W4CR Toolkit
The W4CR Toolkit was created to continue the conversation beyond the workshops. It is a free, accessible resource exploring the workshop conversations and the intersections of climate change and gender justice. From environmental racism to care work, health, and disaster response. Whether you attended W4CR or are just starting to explore these issues, the toolkit is designed to help you learn, reflect, and take action in your own community.
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