Curious About Climate organisers say it is a step towards fighting the effects of climate change, by getting people to think about new ways of approaching challenges.

It's driven by the philosophy that one conversation can change a person's direction. So, the event will get lots of people together to talk about local solutions.

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Organiser Karen Corr said people often felt overwhelmed by climate change because it was talked about at a national political level. The Curious About Climate event aimed to take the politics out of it, to ask what it means for regional communities.

"There's not strong policy around addressing climate change issues and supports or solutions. So rather than wait around it's what people in the communities can do themselves," Ms Corr said.

"We need to be thinking about this as our own regional communities and be proactive."

It's part of a broader program to increase resilience in communities across central Victoria.

LaTrobe University's Associate Professor Simon Egerton will present findings from the Clever Weather Project, which identified micro-climates across Bendigo.

Pods placed around Bendigo feed data back to a central point, from where it's visualised on the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Associate Professer Egerton said this meant there was an overview of local climates, instead of the one point of climate data recorded at the Bendigo Airport.

The data showed there could be as much as a seven degree difference from the north to the south of Bendigo, he said.

This information about microclimates allowed council and the like to make decisions using area-specific data, he said.

"If something makes data available. The more data we have then the more potential we have to understand what's going on within the environment," Associate Professor Egerton said.

"It's also creating awareness, if you as a member of the public have one of these connected devices in your garden, you're going to be more aware of your surrounding environment.

"The project is really about bringing this information closer to the people, so we can take ownership of the data and help shape their views on what's happening."

Emergency management supervisor Wayne Collins will talk about Ready 2 Go Victoria program, which aims to protect vulnerable people from extreme weather.

Mr Collins said predictions suggested more frequent, more severe extreme weather events.

But there were few mechanisms on the ground to help communities prepare for climate extremes, he said.

Through the program volunteers work with older people who want to stay independent, to help them cope with extreme heat, fire or flood.

Ms Collins said rural communities would come under stress when now marginal farmland became unusable. He said small towns would need to reinvent themselves

"The outlook for small towns that don't actually take action and start thinking these things through is not going to be good," Mr Collins said.

"But I think some towns are making really good progress in terms of reinventing themselves."

Curious About Climate, Rochester Shire Hall, June 20, 5.30-8.30pm, free.

Register at: bit.ly/curious-climate

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