EL Hosting Events to Address Climate Change’s Impact on Older Residents

This August, East Lansing will hold a series of events to address the impacts of climate change on an aging population.

There are three upcoming events to engage the community in discussions about climate resilience. The events come as part of the city’s updates to the comprehensive plan. 

The first event is an author talk with Danielle Arigoni, who wrote “Climate Resilience For An Aging Nation.” It will be held at the East Lansing Public Library on Monday, Aug. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Arigoni was invited to speak by East Lansing Principal Planner Landon Bartley.

“I listened to her on a podcast and then met her at a conference,” Bartley said. “I said this stuff you’re saying is very timely, we’ve been seeing these climate impacts already starting in East Lansing.”

Bartley gave the increasingly frequent heavy rain and flooding events as a local example of harm caused by climate change.

“Considering last month, we had two or three big [rain] events, which is very unusual,” he said. “Whether it’s rain or more intense blizzards, we need to do the work to be prepared. We need to make sure we’re protecting our most vulnerable.”

In her book, Arigoni explains how older populations have the highest risk associated with climate change and environmental disaster. 

“Our country is aging,” Arigoni said. “In fact, in 2034 we’ll reach a tipping point where we will have more people over 65 than under 18 for the first time ever. At the same time, there is the increasing climate crisis with more deadly disasters and more extreme conditions throughout the year. These two trends conflict in that climate change is disproportionately harmful to older adults.

“So I make the case that communities are best served by grounding their climate resilience plans in the needs of older adults,” she said. “Because you are not only addressing those social needs, but you are creating programs and policies that benefit all ages.”

Planning for an older population requires municipalities to account for common challenges like transportation. 

“I think the question that local leaders in particular should ask is who are our older adults, where do they live and how do they get around?” Arigoni said. “Older adults generally outlive their ability to drive by about seven to 10 years. So that means there are lots of people in the community with unmet travel needs. Whether there’s inadequate public transit or an unsafe pedestrian environment.”

Housing is also a critical component when planning for an older population. Many older adults may require help when living alone, especially when there are unexpected challenges like cleaning up after a flood. 

“There’s a presumption that most older adults live in nursing homes,” Arigoni said. “In reality, it’s a very small number, like 2% of all older adults live in nursing homes. So the vast majority live in the community and often alone.”

She suggests things like zoning for multi-family housing, accessory dwelling units, closer-knit communities, and even programs that match younger adults with older adults who have houses too large to maintain on their own. 

“Creating housing that organically puts people closer to one another ends up creating a community safety net that really makes the difference in times of crisis,” she said. 

The impacts of climate change are inevitable, now is the time to prepare and adapt. Arigoni and experts like her are finding ways to minimize the damage already done.

“The great news about strategies like these is that they are also climate mediation strategies because they require less energy for heating and cooling,” she said.

According to the US Census Bureau, 8.8% of East Lansing’s population is 65 or older.

“That’s all the more reason for a diverse set of housing options,” Arigoni said. “These options are great for older adults who may want a smaller house and to live close to the community, but [there are] also good options for college students.

“Rather than being isolated to just student-only buildings, they can create a natural intergenerational connection,” she said. “This fosters the kind of community where older adults will fare better.” 

“It’s exciting,” Bartley said. “It’s not the most common that comprehensive plan updates specifically call out things like climate change and social equity.”

Following Arigoni’s talk, which ends at 1 p.m. Aug. 19, there will be a listening session at the library hosted by the Prime Time Seniors Program to open up the discussion to the community.

“This will be an age-friendly listening session, but we hope to focus the discussion on the older community,” Bartley said.

The final event is a community planning workshop scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 21, 6-8 p.m. at Patriarche Park. All the events are free and open to the public, but due to limited space, the city is requesting attendees register for at least the first two events. Find more information on East Lansing’s website.