Course

Becoming Climate Ready September 2025

Self-paced

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Full course description

About this course

September 2025 Cohort - Register Your Interest

We have several cohorts planned to deliver in 2025. Registrations will open for each cohort once the previous closes. If you are interested in attending the September 2025 cohort please Fill out our Interest Form here and we will let you know once the cohort is ready for registrations. Dates for when the cohort will commence and specific workshop dates will be confirmed when registrations open.

Local councils are at the heart of the community, and the services provided are critical to support the foundations for people across Australia to build a prosperous economy, liveable communities, and a healthy environment. Proactively managing climate risk through adaptation and transitioning to a net zero economy, can not only help to respond and manage climate risk, but also take advantage of the opportunities that arise from a changing climate.

This course will provide foundational knowledge and build staff capability for climate risk management.

Looking for a Group discount? Contact us for a 20% discount if you are looking to sign up 3 or more staff at becomingclimateready@griffith.edu.au

September 2025
Workshop dates TBC
10 Weeks
You’ll be an expert in no time!
Online
Mix of self-paced and facilitated learning
2,085
GST Inclusive (Group discounts available)

Course Snapshot

What are the course learning outcomes?

In this program you will learn the context, tools, and concepts you need to develop strategies to help your council manage and respond to climate risks and opportunities. Participants will learn how to identify their organisation's current positioning and the necessary factors needed to execute effective and efficient climate risk management.

Participants will develop knowledge and skills to be able to:

  • Understand the role of executive leadership, governance arrangements and responsibilities that are needed to support climate risk management.
  • Identify how to communicate and engage others in climate risk management.
  • Identify physical and transition climate risks and how they relate to different service areas in local government.
  • Integrate climate risk into existing corporate risk management practices.
  • Examine climate risk capacity and capability gaps and opportunities across the organisation.

Understand the opportunities for monitoring and reporting on climate risk management, and the increasing requirements climate financial risk disclosure.

What core topics are offered?

The course will consists of 8 modules in total. Please find below the topics that will be covered. 

  • Module 1: Climate change and the science for decision making 
  • Module 2: Physical and transition risk types 
  • Module 3: Communicate for engagement in climate risk management 
  • Module 4: Enabling responsive leadership and more effective climate governance 
  • Module 5: Integrate climate risk into corporate risk management 
  • Module 6: Identify and prioritise climate risk 
  • Module 7: Building capacity and capability and strategic action planning 
  • Module 8: Monitoring, evaluating, and reporting progress on climate risk management 
Who is this course suited to?

Executives, senior leaders, and managers of local councils across all service areas. This program is tailored for all service areas, including those working in service delivery, corporate strategy and finance, risk and disaster management, community and economic development, and sustainability and climate change.

What are the course credentials?

Participants will earn a digital badge upon completion of the course which can be shared across varous online platforms so you can showcase your demonstrated skills and achievements.

What does my course schedule look like?

What does my course schedule look like?

The delivery will be interactive, self-paced and all online over the course of 10 weeks. There will be three (3) facilitated online workshops and a commitment of approximately 2 hours each week is required.

The dates for the workshops will be confirmed once registrations open.

Who are the course facilitators?

The course will be brought to you by the Climate Ready Initiative (CRI) a key pillar of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon. CRI is a partnership-based social impact initiative that works with society to help shape a prosperous and just future for all. We seek to enable climate action by unlocking the economic and social development pathways that value net-zero emissions and climate resilience.

The course development was led by Cheryl Briars, Project Manager and Business Analyst at CRI. The course draws on practical experience and expertise from some of our CRI Associates and academics across Griffith University. A selection of facilitators below will be engaged for each cohort.

 

Professor Brendan Mackey

Professor Brendan Mackey is Director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University. The Beacon seeks to develop the knowledge, leadership, capacity, and responses to enable effective and just climate action throughout society and focuses specifically on interdisciplinary research and cross-sectoral practice collaborations as catalysts for climate action. He is also Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Chapter 11 – Australasia. He has a PhD in Ecology from The Australian National University and has authored over 250 publications in the fields of environmental science and policy.

Amy Lomax

Amy Lomax is a Program Manager, leading the Climate Ready Initiative within the Climate Action Beacon. She is an experienced environmental professional with a career spanning integrated water management, environmental management, sustainability, and climate resilience across Aotearoa and Australia. A driven collaborator, Amy is dedicated to advancing strategy, good governance, awareness, and community participation to foster resilient, adaptable, and inclusive outcomes that reduce climate risk and improve resilience.

Dr Wade Hadwen

Dr Wade Hadwen is an ecologist with over 25 years of experience exploring how natural resources are used, valued, impacted and managed. He has experience and skills in projects in Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific exploring the ecology of aquatic ecosystems, water resource management, sustainable tourism and climate change adaptation. Wade is a passionate and dedicated educator and has contributed to teaching at Griffith University since 2005, designing and delivering shorts courses along with postgraduate and undergraduate courses focusing on environmental science, climate change and sustainability. 

Tracey Stinson

Tracey Stinson is an accomplished executive, board director and facilitator. She has held executive positions within local government and run her own successful management consulting business. She is currently the QLD Director, Policy and Impact with the Clean Energy Council, helping to drive the renewable energy transition in QLD. Tracey has a proven ability to respectfully challenge the status quo and assist organisations and teams to realign their strategic direction to plan for and manage risks and opportunities, particularly those associated with climate change. She has an MBA, a Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution, a Bachelor of Economics and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Donovan Burton

Donovan is the Director of Informed. City and is a highly experienced climate change practitioner with a diverse portfolio of experience. Over the past 18 years he has worked on over 350 climate change projects.  Donovan has recently worked closely with clients in financial service sector developing climate integrated scenarios, quantifying transition and physical risk, mainstreaming climate change into core governance, as well as helping organisations with their climate-related financial disclosure. Donovan has carried out detailed climate change governance assessments with over 100 Australian local governments.

Doreen Erhart

Dorean’s 30-year career has successfully united systems and design thinking to deliver understanding of and responses to complex problems in managing climate change, the Great Barrier Reef, biodiversity conservation and invasive species management. She has designed nationally and internationally recognised programs and managed the successful delivery of multi-million dollar projects, including: Queensland Climate Resilient Councils; QCoast2100; Wipe Out Weeds; and SEQ Fire and Biodiversity Consortium (now statewide). Dorean led and co-authored training and guidance for climate risk practitioners, including the Climate Risk Management Framework for Queensland Local Government and guideline, the QCoast2100 Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy Minimum Standards and Guideline and the first nationally accredited climate risk management Certificate IV and skill set. Dorean Erhart is currently a director and lead climate risk management specialist at Linden Climate Advisory, a boutique company providing climate change risk management advisory and capability building services. She maintains advisory roles in Great Barrier Reef conservation management and climate change adaptation.