For community-centered approaches to environmental justice

A word from FGM – January 2025

The Foundation of Greater Montréal (FGM) has launched a new edition of its Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition. With a total budget of $800,000 over the next two years, the Fund will support initiatives to build communities’ resilience, empowerment, and transformational capacity in the face of climate change through an environmental justice approach. Interested organizations, groups, and collectives have until February 21 to apply by completing the form provided. For more information on the Fund (including schedule, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria), please refer to the documentation on our website.

A fund anchored in the community

Today, I’d like to tell you about the work the Foundation team has carried out upstream, in collaboration with community members. This way, you will better understand the vision and values behind this latest edition of the Fund. Throughout 2024, we took part in various events, meeting with many people who are passionately involved in ecological movements and who believe in environmental and climate justice. We have tried to better understand the main challenges and obstacles they’re facing. We wanted to learn how we, as funders, could take action to support the populations most impacted by these issues.

One conclusion quickly emerged from these discussions: citizen participation must be at the core of climate action and ecological transition. Many people feel powerless in the face of these issues, colossal as they are. We must recognize and value communities’ expertise while fostering a culture that allows people to come together and take action at the neighbourhood and community scale—and help create spaces where they can do so.

The communities we have spoken with are committed to truly reconciling the issues of social justice and environmental justice in their actions, ensuring that the people most affected are included in the search for solutions. This means striving to develop inclusive, accessible discourse and removing barriers to participation. To achieve this, funding bodies must put the necessary means in place.

Climate and environmental justice concerns us all

In concrete terms, this could mean fostering collaborations and alliances between actors of various backgrounds. We must recognize that everyone has a role to play. All should be able to find their place in a larger movement that values their knowledge, skills, and lived experience.

We must also ensure that the actions we support come from the communities themselves. Technical solutions are of course essential, but we must go further. Such solutions can only have a real impact if the people involved are collectively sparking change. Environmental justice implies a profound social and cultural transformation that many communities, organizations, and groups are working hard to achieve.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone we’ve consulted over the past months. You have helped us expand our thinking and refine our direction for the Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition. Some of the people we’ve consulted will also be serving on the Fund’s advisory committee. This latest edition of the Fund will once again be guided by the principles of trust-based philanthropy and a participatory approach to grantmaking, which are now at the heart of FGM’s practices.

Until soon,

Marie-Andrée Farmer
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Community Partnerships
Foundation of Greater Montréal

Photo © Polliflora