Methods
COALESCE brings together seniors, students, researchers, and community partners to explore how climate change impacts older adults and to co-create climate resilience strategies that are meaningful, actionable, and inclusive.
We use a community-engaged, mixed-methods approach, grounded in climate justice, equity, and lived experience. Older adults are not just our participants - they are co-researchers, actively shaping the questions we ask, the tools we use, and the solutions we test.
Our research focuses on three key areas:
Participant Led Rapid Realist Review
Older adults and student researchers work in pairs to lead a participant-driven evidence review. Together, they identify and synthesize research on how climate change impacts older people and what interventions have worked in similar contexts. This helps us ask: What works, for whom, and in what settings?
Life Course Interviews
We conduct open-ended, story-based interviews with seniors to explore how past experiences, decisions, and transitions shape their current climate resilience. These interviews reveal how factors like gender, income, housing, and health intersect across the life course - helping us understand how resilience is built over time.
Home Sensor Data Collection
With support from building science experts and student researchers, seniors use home sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, and air quality. Training and resources from partners like Technical Safety BC, RDH Building Science, and Cool 鈥楬oods Champs help co-researchers identify climate-related risks at home, test simple adaptations, and take action as community changemakers.
Our Approach
Citizen Science
Seniors are trained to collect and interpret data, contribute to academic reviews, and co-develop practical solutions. This builds confidence, inclusion, and agency.
Intergenerational Collaboration
Older adults work alongside graduate students in Urban Studies and Gerontology, fostering dialogue, mentorship, and shared learning.
Climate Justice Lens
We work with older adults from diverse backgrounds. By including this full spectrum of experience, we gain a deeper understanding of how climate change affects seniors differently which will help shape age-friendly, climate-resilient solutions.
Intersectional Place Perspective (IPP)
We consider how age, gender, health, income, and place combine to shape climate vulnerability and resilience across the life course. This ensures our interventions are relevant, tailored and equitable.
View IPP Diagram
Why It Matters
By combining personal stories, scientific data, and practical knowledge, COALESCE helps inform climate-resilient, age-friendly communities (AFCCs) that are grounded in the realities of older people鈥檚 lives. Our research not only supports individuals but also informs policy, community planning, and education鈥攍ocally and internationally.