Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So I hope you've all been having a great summit so far, and are feeling really energized here on day 2,
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: as with the other workshops, we
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: would invite you to put the webcam on. If that's a possibility for you, and particularly in the times where we're not sharing the slides and and presentations. When we're kind of all together, it's nice to see folks.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and please do stay on mute. When you're not speaking you can use the zoom chat for any technical challenges. You're having any questions you have for the speakers and to connect with others.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: And please do you share your learnings and experience on social media. Don't forget to use hashtag summit for strength and to tag Tamra.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I see some folks are still coming in, but we've got a good number here, so if it's.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: if it's possible, if you're there right now, and you can come on, camera even for a second, just to give us a wave and love to see everybody. Just see you in the room. Virtual room with us.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Yeah, Felicia.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Good.
Claudia Santillana PIC: Hey, Kathy?
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So again, no need to keep the of him on the whole time. Just wanted to say a quick hello at minimum. It's nice to to do that in the virtual space. It feels like we're kind of in the same room together. So
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: oh, just admitting some new folks. Okay.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So before we begin the session. i'd like to acknowledge that i'm on the traditional and unseated territory of the Canenka Haga people in Joe Jaggeri colonially known as Montreal.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and this is a place that has long served as a site for a meeting and exchange amongst nations.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: And we're all joining virtually today, calling in from many locations. So I invite you to reflect on the place you're joining from today, and your relationship to that place.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: If you're not sure of the traditional lands you're on native land. Ca: is a great resource for that. So I will. Just What's that link in the chat
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: There we go, and also invite you to check in in the chat, if you like, introducing yourself with your name, organization, or affiliation, and where you're calling in from today.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: so we'll get folks a minute to do that.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Hi! To those who joined in the last couple of minutes.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Hey, welcome, Kathy
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Sharon, Claudia.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Alicia Marisha! Great!
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Thank you all for introducing yourselves, and you can keep doing that in the next couple of minutes.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I'll just start introducing the session and the
Interpreter sofia carrero: yeah. Sorry. I think it's done now. Sorry it's not.
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: It's not okay. Give me a
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Okay, Thank you. So we just a reminder. We have simultaneous interpretation here. The session will be in English and will be interpreted into French. So
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: we'll just get that sorted.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Okay. So
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: i'm very excited about our topic today. So, as mentioned, i'm. Leading tamaracks, climate and sustainability work. And from day one we've been approaching this through a multi solving lens, thinking about how we can mitigate climate change transitioning to a net 0 economy.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: while adapting to its effects and building resilience and improving equity and social well-being at the same time.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: all of these issues are, of course, deeply interconnected and really inseparable, and we need to be pursuing solutions that have multiple benefits, and Don't address single issues in silos.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: so aligned with the conference theme of building, resilience and strength. This workshop will really explore the topic of climate, resilience, and how it intersects with poverty, reduction, efforts, and strengthening inclusion and equity.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So for our agenda today we'll hear from our 2 speakers, have a discussion and a question and answer period, and then go into breakout groups, using a mural to have some more intimate discussions, and then come back for some closing reflections.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So quick check in with the interpretation. Is it sorted out.
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: Yes, it's working
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: thanks for
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: fabulous.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So our 2 speakers. Today we have Dr. Ian Moreo, who is the executive Director of Pacific Institute for Climate solutions and Professor of Environmental Studies at University of Victoria.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: holds a a bachelor in environmental science doctorate in geography, and is a former Canada research chair and has held faculty positions at Mount Allison University and University of Winnipeg.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and we have Sharmoline Mendes Miller, who is senior manager, research
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: partnerships and evaluation with partners for action based out of you. Waterloo and Charlene is a mixed methods. Geographer by training. His research focused on Canadian unesco biosphere reserves.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: She's worked for several interdisciplinary research centers focused on advancing community well-being and social justice through community partnerships, program evaluations and learning opportunities.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So before I pass it off to the the speakers. We have a quick poll for everyone. So 2 questions and I'm going to ask route to launch it. There we go.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: The first is, Are you currently working at the intersection of poverty, reduction in climate, resilience, yes, somewhat or barely or not at all. And what made you choose to join this session? And I think for 2 you can choose all that apply. So we have a few here. I worry about the impact of climate change. We'll have on poverty in my community. I'm. Seeking strategies and best practices for advancing climate, resilience, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: reducing property. I'd like to connect with other communities, thinking about these intersections, and I don't know much about this topic, and I want to learn more.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So look at folks a minute to do that.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and then we'll share the results.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Okay, just a few more seconds if you Haven't submitted. Yet
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: so interesting to see these results.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Okay, it looks like we have 13 of 19 participated. But I know some of us are back end and speakers and things so brute! Why, don't you share the results with everyone?
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: Sure, I don't know if everyone sees it, but I clicked share. So it looks like a lot of people.
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: There's a lot of people who
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: somewhat work in the field, and someone a lot of people Don't really do. And then in terms of why they join the session. A lot of people are seeking strategies and best practices for.
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: and also they will like to connect with other these intersections.
Ruté Ojigbo, Tamarack Institute: What do you worry? Awesome. Thank you.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: That's really great, really helpful. As we for framing as we get into this. So welcome Amanda and Rosalie just joined. Feel free to introduce yourselves in the chat, name organization where you're calling in from, if you like.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and we will now kick it off with charmeline first. So over to you.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Thank you so much. Now I don't know if I shared the right thing. So let me try this again. I thank you to Laura for telling me a a new fancy, dancey way of sharing things.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and i'm just hoping that worked. How does that look?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So? All good? Okay, Thank you. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of this summit, especially to Laura for organizing, and I'm really looking forward to connecting with all of you and hearing from you
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: more during this session. So, as Laura said, I'm, i'm Charmaline Mendez, Millard, and I have some thoughts from our work at Partners Fraction at University Vorderloo on how to take an inclusive and equitable approach to fostering climate, resilience in your community.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and just like to acknowledge that I live, work in play on the Haldeman Tract, which was promised to the 6 Nations. This is the traditional territory of the Anishnabe neutral, and who initially peoples.
But I hail from out West first Nation territory also known as White Rock, BC.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So today i'll just touch on a few things as I share some examples and some insights from the research that we've done at partners for action or P. For a. I'll talk about what we've learned. A little bit of of what we've learned about inclusive and equitable approaches to climate resilience.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: who's just most disproportionately impacted by climate change, and especially the extreme weather events that we're experiencing, and some inspiration and ideas of what data is being collected on vulnerabilities to support greater inclusion. And I I want to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: preface that, too, by saying that
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: there's all kinds of data out there qualitative, quantitative, based on lived experiences based on census data.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: All of them combined can give us a picture of what's happening on the ground, but really at the heart of the people like yourselves, who are on the ground, and who are doing such meaningful work to reduce poverty, to engage with communities.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: That's where the real magic happens. And so I want to just say that whatever you are doing already
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: is actually
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: of value to helping us work towards more climate, resilient future for everyone, not just the the most advantageous advantageous of of us.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So a little bit about us that partners fraction. We're an initiative of the faculty of environment at the University of Waterloo. And our mission is to empower Canadians to be more flood resilient
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: by promoting awareness and preparedness actions that are inclusive and evidence-based
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We are focusing on 3 buckets, applied research, climate, justice, climate, action, and climate adaptation. Taking a systems based approach, and applying an equity and justice, led lens. So really
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: the bottom line is.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: we recognize that different groups of people and different situations require different actions.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that equality is not equity; that there are differences in how we should be approaching problems and approaching solutions based on people's lived experiences.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So I thought i'd just preface this whole conversation by the latest report on Canada's national adaptation strategy that was just released.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We do know that climate change impacts are very real. We need to adapt to what's here anticipate what's coming. And really we're all experiencing things like increased severity and frequency of floods, heat waves.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: high winds, All of those things are impacting us. Climate change has other impacts. But what I'm going to focus on is how we are preparing and adapting to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: natural hazard events specifically, ones that can be
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: really disastrous for people and have very very real negative health and other outcomes.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So part of this strategy really is to focus on what you can do at the local level.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: to work together and to figure out who can make what distinction.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: so that people who are disproportionately impacted by climate change
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: are included in that decision making process, and at the table.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Part of the framing here is to think about not only the disaster risk reduction cycle, so traditionally we think of
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: preparing for a natural housing event. Then something happens like a flood. We respond to it. We recover from it, and we learn from it, and we try and lessen the risk and lessen the impacts for later.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: What we're finding with climate change is that that cycle is not really working in a
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: linear
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: step by step fashion that we've got cascading hazard events that people barely have time to recover before something else happens that not everyone is prepared.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and especially those who are at the margins of our society who are underserved. They're the ones hit most just like with Covid.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So really, this cycle to me, and even how we think of Risk, who's at risk.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: It can apply to other things like Covid.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: so risk we can think of it in terms of the Hazard or in Covid case, the Covid, the the pandemic
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: times. How people experience vulnerabilities. You know what makes them susceptible to negative impacts.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and then that's offset by our capacity to cope
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that's our strength in our community in terms of social, cultural, spiritual, physical, environmental strengths. Those are all things that bolster our ability to lessen the impacts of climate change.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So who is disproportionately impacted by climate change?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We've got some research on
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: various groups
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that are disproportionately impacted. But I want to highlight that indigenous people have unique
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: impacts, and I encourage you to to visit this indigenous climate have some more information, but because indigenous people
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: have threats because of climate change to their ability to exercise their rights
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and their traditions.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: That's a huge factor that not everyone experiences. And then there's more listed here.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So what other factors contribute to people's vulnerability or experiences of vulnerability. I have to shout out to Felicia, Water out. Who's on this call? Felicia is our slide master, and also does a lot of the research for us at partners fraction. So I just want to thank you
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: for all the slides that you put together for us today.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So here's some factors that really affect
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: people's resilience and their ability to recover from cope with and seize opportunities that come with climate change.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So we've got a few factors. Economic security is one. So that includes disposable income housing quality.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: your social networks.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So we know that when something happens, actually the the social connections amongst us really matter who can help whom and how that that matters so so so much
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: health indicators? So people who have chronic illnesses or pre existing health challenges, who experience disabilities.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: They also have
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: more vulnerabilities and certain circumstances, because our society, our emergency preparedness and response mechanisms, how we deal with climate change.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: They're not always designed for everyone in mind
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: so well. While you're thinking about climate change impacts and how you experience climate change, think about the systems and the supports that are there, and who they're designed for.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We've got mobility constraints Again, this this has to do with access to transportation. How easy is it for you to evacuate.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Demographic factors also have a role here, and those really have to do with our systemic issues of colonialism, patriarchy, systemic racism, all those things, all those isms that have left a legacy in our policies and our structures
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: have a negative impact on some people. So not everyone has the same access to resources, or it gets the same opportunities
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and finally location. So where you are matters what the resources are around you, how exposed you are. If you think about the neighborhoods that have a lot of
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: green greenery and a lot of trees, you can imagine that those areas during heat waves, For instance, people have an opportunity to get cooler versus areas that are paved over and that Don't have very many trees.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So I've got other slides. We're gonna be releasing a report later on this year that talks more about who is most disproportionately impacted. So I've got some examples here. For instance, loan single parent households
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that kind of thing, and how people are impacted. I can come back to that if anyone wants to know more.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: But what I want to focus on is the concept of intersectionality, and how
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: all of those
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: variables, those social identity, characteristics, and those factors that I showed before. Of course they don't operate in silos that
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: the intersections of those variables of of those factors
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: makes a difference. So, for instance, disabled Canadians who had single parent households, 80% of which are women.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: They it disproportionately experience abject poverty, for example.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and what we know from the experience of Covid, and also from research on climate change, resilience and vulnerabilities is that whoever is already experiencing
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: some kinds of deprivation or or disadvantaged in our society.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: they're the ones that we need to include and need to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: uplift the most, because they're the ones that are most impacted.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So i'll move over to just a little bit about the some of the research that we done at partners for action.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I can see my i'm so sorry i'm gonna just pause. My husband can't get in the door. My, my my Mom locked it. So I apologize. I will be right now. But oh, he made it. Okay, Good.
It's
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: okay, anyway. So inclusive resilience. We we had a project funded by the Canadian Red Cross on how people perceive, learn about and prepare for floods, wildfires, and earthquakes. We wanted to know with risk communications. How do people find out about
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: what's happening and what to do? And how do people actually prefer to receive that information? What can we learn?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So if we go back to this slide. The disaster reduction
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: circle. Here we're talking about the green preparedness part of this diagram. And really what we're trying to do is increase the capacity to cope
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and to prepare. So
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: we undertook this public outreach research, and we found a few things pertaining to women people with low income
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: newcomers to Canada, indigenous peoples and older adults. For example.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: indigenous people reported strong confidence in their ability to handle emergencies. They have many people to turn to for help, and so they got that strong social cohesion and connections that really increase their resilience.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: even heard of an example recently of I think it was the last in first nation who, on paper with census data, might seem to have a lot of impacts from a flood. For instance, the most vulnerable. But in fact they weren't because they had
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: people go door to door, and they had every single person accounted for and counted and taken care of because of their social network and their structure
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: newcomers to Canada. They might not have those contacts. They might not know who to ask for help. Older adults. They prefer physical
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: papers and pamphlets over
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: apps and digital information. So there's a lot that we can learn from from this study, and we have a report coming out soon, and the executive summaries is online, so I can share that in a bit.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We had other recommendations for risk communications based on what we learned. So again, that's all in the report. But really
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: the bottom line is to have trusted credible people to convey messages to help people out. And again, this is where I feel the people on the ground like yourselves, or whoever is
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: working already to reduce poverty. This could be a role for you
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: now, when it comes to thinking about social vulnerability. Yet again.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: there are different ways. We can assess this.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So what we've done is come up with a way to map who people are and how they live, not just for all people live, but we're
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: people who are most disproportionately impacted, based on those factors before where they live.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I want to emphasize the fact that social vulnerability isn't a inherent characteristic of people. So even though we might use demographics to understand this.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: it really is about the conditions that make it harder for people to prepare for cope for and cope with and recover from a hazard. So we use demographic data as a proxy, but really at the end of the day
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: it they're pot. See indicators for what actually impacts people. So, for instance, we might have ethnic groups that we say, okay, they might be disproportionately impacted. But there's the why behind that right? So
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: why? Because they might experience discrimination.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: etc.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So we have a map that we've created, where you can map where people are. and
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: who is most at risk in terms of their social vulnerability. And let's say their flat exposure or wildlife, or sorry wildfire exposure, etc. So we have different tools that communities can use different indices to say, okay, here we're going to pinpoint where we're going to put our efforts.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: And that includes indices like this economic security index. So for again for reducing poverty, if you think about, not just income, but the different variables that contribute to economic security like, do you have?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Are you living in crowded housing? Are you living in dwelling 50 major repairs. Those are all things that increase your vulnerability.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Okay. So now for the inspiring part of the top. So you got an understanding of
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: climate impacts, risk vulnerabilities. Now, what
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I think really the bottom line is, how do we integrate local knowledge, indigenous knowledge, local data, and local lived experiences into plans, into strategies into how things work on the ground.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So there are some people and some organizations that are co- designing adaptation and emergency response efforts. And i'll give you some examples.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and i'll also leave you with some advice.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: to to take away
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: for those who want to think about the impacts of climate change on poverty, and how to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: how to leverage what you're already doing for
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: the greater good.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So one thing that's happening, this exciting is is thinking about flood maps in a different way, not just where people are and what properties are affected, but taking local and indigenous knowledge into account in the actual mapping process. So there are a lot of community mapping processes
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that are really exciting, and I encourage you to find who's doing community mapping in your area, because that's one way of bringing people together to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: inform
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: plans and think about your disaster, planning your resilience, planning what should really be taken into account.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Right?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: There are organizations like the first nations emergency services.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: You can see at the bottom, they're thinking of that cycle of disaster. Risk reduction in terms of providing support to first nations in terms of mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery. They've got all kinds of programs, and I encourage you to look at what they're up to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: locally here in Waterloo region. The Social Development Center is doing really great work, and I wanted to lift them up because they're doing something that I I know that others are doing as well, which is centering the lived experience of
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: most the most marginalized people. So providing processes, providing forums, providing employment opportunities
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: for those who are traditionally
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: not invited to the table.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I think this is a really great model, because that's how you get climate resilience plans that actually take people's realities into account. They're the experts of their own lives. And so
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: how can you include them?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: As this quote says, You know, even when their experiences demonstrate the inadequate systems of support. Those are often treated as individual failings. As and, as I said before, it, really isn't about individual
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: vulnerability. It's about the conditions, and who are our systems designed for?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I encourage you to just put yourself in somebody else's shoes. If you think through what would happen
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: when a flood comes through this area who would be reached, and how that kind of thing.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: 2 more examples. Again, the Social Development Center has launched this study that
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: takes maps, but also include stories. So each of those pinpoints
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: links to an audio file and a story of Someone's experience of displacement. Again, that's a local data source that could inform climate, resilient planning.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: And finally, there is a a really great one day workshop
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that walks people through the steps of thinking about your strengths, your community assets, thinking of what your experiences of floods and other hazard events have been, and what you can do about it.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: It's called. We're ready, and there are tools, there are templates. You can take whatever's there and adopt it to your own community, and and have sessions with cultural organizations, with seniors, with kids, whoever all together with arts based methods to really come up with a plan
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: that will address people's actual needs.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So my final thoughts for you are
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: where to start. Being globally, act locally. Apply the lessons you've learned from COVID-19, and reframe those in grant applications, or anything that you're wanting to work towards.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: so that you can take advantage of the funding that's coming through for adaptation and anything aligned with the national adaptation strategy. I just encourage you to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: really leverage what you know
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: for those brand opportunities connect with and support indigenous and first nations led work.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: They're leading the way in so many ways. Take stock of what? Who is doing? What? When it comes to climate, justice and action, plans, emergency preparedness and planning, social and cultural services and cultural associations? You know you could start with the United Way who's linked to so many organizations?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: And of course you've got your local governments.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: And then, finally, oh, my little box moved here.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Not only think globally a Mac locally, but think, think
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: long term and act locally is another thing i'd like to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: suggest, which is thinking about who's at the table. Really, climate, justice, and equity work is all about power sharing, who has access to resources, who has a say over decisions.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and how to better connect local change makers and champions with organizations doing that great work.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: think of different ways of convening people, governance structures that are supported by a backbone administration.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and you know, together with your collective vision, with your collective experience, you'll be able to.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: you know, make a good start. So thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Thank you. Surely that was a fabulous presentation. Learned so much. And
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: yeah, lots of lots of people clapping here really appreciate it the way you broke down social vulnerability. And
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: you know that point around social vulnerability not being a permanent condition, because I think often people, especially the government. I see this a lot, and I used to work at employment, social Development, Canada. And there's an ongoing debate about the use of like. It was just like vulnerable populations, and when they'd be like
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: indigenous communities and people with disabilities, and so on and so forth. And then we're just. We're like. They're all vulnerable, and and by we like, I mean, this is the sort of this was the norm, and my group was pushing back against this, saying, You know this is actually not, because, like indigenous
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: people, would not still be here today if they weren't extremely resilient and and strong, and so categorizing people like that as vulnerable is not helpful, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I think that you know you spoke to some of the differences across populations as well in terms of being more resilient in the face of emergencies and disaster and indigenous communities, having that really strong social network and community and sense of belonging
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: which is another one of tamaracks practice areas deepening community. We have a whole network around that. That's such a key piece, right? And so yeah, there's these really important distinctions, and it really needs to be unpacked. And then, of course, intersectionality really playing in this.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So there was so much there. I've had some people ask me in the chat directly, if we'll get the Powerpoint, and yes, you will so stay tuned for all the materials coming out after the session.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: But i'm going to pass it over now to Ian for your presentation, and then we'll have a discussion. So start thinking about your questions and feel free to start popping them in the chat already, if you want, and I can queue them up.
Ian Mauro (he/him): Can everybody see the slides? Okay. Yes, yes.
Ian Mauro (he/him): I just want to thank chairmeline for an excellent presentation. And what an opportunity to kind of set the stage in a wonderful way, framing out the various issues, the ways that we can kind of think about this, and and and the different kind of you know projects that that demonstrate this in action and in the pre planning with Laura we kind of dovetailed this a little bit, and and I think it works really really well in terms of what i'll be presenting on. And so again I'm. Ian Morrow, the executive Director of the Pacific Institute for Climate solutions
Ian Mauro (he/him): here at the University of Victoria. We're at Network, which i'll speak about in a moment. But before I get started I I want to kind of produce and introduce this this kind of land acknowledgment that we've been working on here in DC. Obviously it's really important to to be operating in a good way. And so we with development. Co-development with first nations, colleagues and indigenous colleagues have been working on this Pix is grateful to live. Learning be in relation with first nations and indigenous peoples from across many
Ian Mauro (he/him): traditional and unseated territories, covering many regions of Vc. We on our indigenous stewardship that has protected the earth, water, and sky, and seek to be good ancestors in our work. We commit to reconciliation, decolonization and indigenous led climate solutions that support current and future generations.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so it's tricky. We're a multi university organization, and we span the province and so trying to acknowledge. You know, territories across this kind of broad geographic area that is indigenous lands I'm. From in Victoria right now, and I put in the chat in La Kong. And speaking area of the is why malt Songies, and with Saanich people. And so I just started at the University of Victoria in in November
Ian Mauro (he/him): I'm. A settler, scientist, and filmmaker, and so I have had to learn these things and learn these practices, and I've had many good teachers along the way in terms of how to think about inclusive and equitable practices. And I don't really work at the interface of poverty. But it obviously is Charmoline was saying. You know, climate change connects everything, and climate change is a causes cascades and cumulative impacts, and there's so many things that we need to be kind of thinking about and considering. And so
we do see how poverty and climate change intersect in that intersectional lens that was was discussed, and how important that is.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so, just to give a bit of context around picks. It was established in 2,008, with an endowment from the provincial Government, and it brings University, Victoria, Sfu, Unbc, and Ubc. Together to kind of inspire and and fund and implement climate solutions. And when you think about you know the creation of this organization. 15 years ago. These intersectional and and and and various kind of connected issues weren't as well understood. We were kind of thinking.
broad and holistically, and talking about transdisciplinarity. But this stuff is really evolved in a family has kind of shown the interconnections, and we can really see how this stuff
Ian Mauro (he/him): fits together, and and we need to kind of be producing a different kind of research in that context. And so we we focus on climate impact, mitigation, adaptation, education and capacity, building knowledge, mobilization. This is from the original kind of mandate letter from government.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and over, you know, in the past number of years, you know, looking at IP. See science, and how this all fits together. We've been as an organization trying to kind of figure out how you know, we produce good research that connects to community, and and it's been a journey. And this is kind of showing that journey without kind of getting into the details
Ian Mauro (he/him): and the research topics that that Pix has kind of taken on span these massive parts of society from energy and transportation and built environment to natural environment, negative emissions and policy, and so trying to think through how we support communities across these big issues. Link to climate change is a really really important
Ian Mauro (he/him): part of our thinking here at the organization, and and as the organization has from transcended itself, you know, starting a a lot with technical science, you know, thinking about climate change and climate impacts and climate solutions and mitigation and technology. The organization kind of started to shift under the previous executive director into this real collaborative research model around co-designed co-development and code delivery of climate solutions and as Sharmoline was saying, You know, we we
Ian Mauro (he/him): to be working in partnerships if we're going to have diverse knowledges in forming diverse solutions that speak to the diverse needs of different kinds of people facing different kinds of climate impact. And when you think about that complexity rippling over time and space, you know the way in which research can kind of be done in partnership can create huge opportunities to to meet the needs of of diverse constituencies facing diverse issues. And so, again, this partnership model is really important.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and to take you to one of the real kind of exciting projects that picks has right now. We have living with water project. and it focuses on coastal adaptation, and it's led by a a person at Ubc. Called Case Lockman and Vanessa Lewik. Here, in our group, kind of our joined together, and they're working with first nations in a a place called Vancouver, you know. Must we have a territory and flea with to territory and and and those kind of areas right in around Vancouver and looking at a different, you know, way of thinking about coastal adaptation.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And it's really really interesting. They're taking a a a values-based approach, and it looks at sea level rise as an opportunity to build new relationships with water along the southern coast of BC. And so obviously reconciliation is critical to this process, bringing multiple ways of knowing and relating to the world into this process. And they mentioned to I, seeing there and Sherman and talking about that, or had that in the slide, and I'll, i'll mention that in in further parts of the presentation and land water people, and how we bring this together around healing and restaurants
Ian Mauro (he/him): and systems, thinking and inter connections, and they have done some really really neat work. And so there was a design challenge. And if you take a look at. you know, thinking about sea level rise, and you think about all of the complex issues on a coastline. And you think about the built environment. And you think about colonization. You think about indigenous, you know, stewardship and and and and the land before, and thinking through how we can kind of move forward. This idea of language, and how values kind of inform a different way of talking about these issues. We normally talk about resisting the change.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and the indigenous partners in this project have said, we need to acknowledge the change. We actually need to listen in a different way, and it's sort of accommodating. You know we need to actually reciprocate. We don't just kind of, you know. Try to to figure it out. We actually have to give back to the land if we're going to actually figure out a good way forward, and instead of moving and avoiding and just kind of retreating, we actually have to move towards re repairing these relationships and our relationship with the land. And so this whole Co. Development process
Ian Mauro (he/him): and bringing values and indigenous knowledge into the process is actually changed the way that we're listening the way that we're talking, the way that we're framing the issues. And that makes a big difference. Language, actually, you know, has a huge impact on how we collectively think about this. And so this project is actually redefining the kind of narrative and language around. How we actually think about adaptation, and it's doing a lot to kind of build different relationships with the coastline. So a really neat example of how this stuff plays out in practice.
Ian Mauro (he/him): You know this is a paper that's a little bit dated, but you know people have looked at the Ipcc. You know the highest level of science in the world, you know, and around climate change and thinking about. You know how indigenous knowledge fits into this in this paper, you know, looked at the fourth assessment report, and we're we're far along in that process, and things have changed, but the coverage at that point was generally limited. It's open length very little critical engagement around indigenous knowledge systems, and the historical and contextual kind of complexities of indigenous experiences often overlooked.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so you often see where indigenous knowledge is is used as a data point to confirm what the science says, and it's not actually taken for its full value, and the contribution that it can make in a new way of thinking about climate change. And so my work is is really centered on that, and i'll talk about that. And so this is changing, but there's still a struggle over, you know, the dominance of knowledge, and who actually has the authority and the influence to change the systems and indigenous communities through reconciliation and through. You know, really amazing examples of how
how their knowledge is been at the forefront of understanding change. You know that conversation is changing, and those dynamics are changing. And that's that's very much welcomed in terms of creating a a safe and livable future for our kids and grandkids.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and so I cut my teeth on these issues in the Arctic, and I travelled to the Canadian Arctic in the early 2,000 S. As a student and got up to a place called Pagnerton on Bathroom Island. This is actually a photo from Mikl there.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and I talk about tipping the tipping point. You know we hear about tipping points and science, the loss of the sea ice, seeing you know the multi year, you know, sea ice, not coming back. People are talking about this, and this has huge impact on Arctic ecosystems and and communities. And so in in that process I was living in the Canadian Arctic over the past decade of the early 2 thousands, and up there on a travel study course, I became an instructor. I was teaching up there, listening to the elders understanding the change, seeing the impact
Ian Mauro (he/him): communications on communities who had huge kind of social capacity to navigate change in the we have been in these regions for millennia, and at the same time the social conditions of poverty and all of these things. You know lots of stress on these communities, but lots of capacity as well, and I made a film called Kevin, and you acknowledged, and climate change with Zapparice Kuno the Great. You know filmmaker that made up to now, you at the fast runner, and that started this journey of of deep listening to communities across landscapes made a film called Climate Change in Atlanta, Canada, and the film with David Suzuki
in British Columbia, and that idea of listening and exchanging knowledge is and trying to understand those lived realities. Those local knowledge is indigenous. Knowledge is not only that pointed out as being so critical. I've done this through film and storytelling, and those films are available, and I can put them in the chat.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so this idea of storytelling, you know, cameras at the center of a conversation where we actually are building trust in relationships, co-creation, synthesis and feedback and sharing and cameras are this wonderful thing where if you're using them in a participatory way, you know another methodology, you know participatory film, you know. That's a really really powerful way to kind of bring agency to communities to help them kind of co-create and tell their own stories, and that's been central to the work that I've done.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and these stories are often so different. I was travelling around Baffin Island. This is in a place called Cumberland Sound, and we were traveling around this huge iceberg, and as we came around the one side of it we saw this this literally image and and and likeliness of a person on the ice, and you can see that, like physical form there, literally. You know this kind of you know, person coming out of this iceberg and a music national if the late elder who's now passed away, and he was the oldest man in in in Pangerton at the time he talked about how I
Ian Mauro (he/him): is alive, and how this ice has a mind and sentience, and it can kind of shape things, and as we lose that kind of ice, we lose that sentence of the planet, and you know, as it's Western train scientists trying to introduce this to colleagues. There's challenges around, how we talk and think, and we need to create space in our minds and our hearts to allow these new and very old ways of knowing to kind of be part of the discourse
in terms of storytelling.
Ian Mauro (he/him): This is beyond climate. The film I made with David Suzuki. Looking at awareness, despair, open action as we go into these issues. It's very complicated, right. We we. We get overwhelmed by the complexity. But we have to kind of find ways to kind of build out of that despair into hope and action. And you know, David will say, hope is action. We have to be building strategies that are very concrete and and realizing opportunities for solutions in the real world to maintain that kind of hope in that that
between kind of positive and negative outcomes.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and you know, in my work I've had a great opportunity to sit down with all kinds of elders. This is Joe Nordley, from up in the Robson Valley and the is peak in the Canadian Rockies, in northern BC. At the kind of border of Alberta and BC. And and we met Joan Nordley, and he wanted us to come to her home to see the salmon that we're returning all the way up
Ian Mauro (he/him): from the Pacific Ocean in the Fraser River all the way to the Rocky Mountains, and this was nearly 1,300 kilometers, and she wanted to show us that the salmon were returning on the same day every year in the bend in the stream where she lived and grew up, and she wanted to show us that salmon and the resilience of ecosystems were still in place. And when we think about climate, adaptation and the struggles that we have and the challenges that we face. If salmon can you know, swim from the Pacific Ocean
Ian Mauro (he/him): all the way to the Rocky Mountains. You know. I know that we can actually, you know, deal with climate change. The ecosystem show us that there is so much capacity for resilience and and and for maintenance of these ecosystem. And so, looking at nature and and looking at these kind of wise people in all forms is really really important.
Ian Mauro (he/him): Quickly to the climate Atlas of Canada. Making these films, we realized we wanted to connect narrative with data. And so we built the climate at Atlas, of Canada, which is the first national climate portal launched in 2,018, with then Minister of Environment, Katharine Mckenna. And this has been used for applied adaptation across the country. People actually using this kind of climate data tool to to plan for climate resilience.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And as part of that journey and and kind of building relationships with communities through map-making, as as Sharmoline said, is a really important way. We knew that we were not doing enough, and we needed to be more inclusive of different kinds of communities. And one of the colleagues in our group. A woman named Laura Cameron, she said. We have to be working with the disability community and and working through a disability kind of justice lens to make sure that we're not kind of missing people. And this this this film is really really powerful. I can put it in the chat. I just help kind of raise the money to kind of build it, and I learned so much about the gaps and the issues that we are not kind of addressing in
in the climate discourse and the national adaptation strategy that was mentioned. One of the big criticisms was that the the disability got this community was not really included in a meaningful way. And this film speaks to that, and the importance of of listening to all kinds of people. And so that's a a neat one that that i'd like to point you to
Ian Mauro (he/him): in terms of indigenous engagement. We built a climate Atlas, and if you go to a climate outlook at the map of Canada you can go into all and every single community and region and get climate data, and when we launch it we knew it was very innovative, and also wholly inadequate, because it didn't include indigenous place names and indigenous communities as much as we would like. We had films that we were developing. We developed an advisory community and board the great, you know, climate, advocate, and others. This is a a meeting at Turtle Lodge, where we brought elders from
and and and knowledge keepers and community members from met in you and first nation communities together to talk about, You know, thinking through how to make a different kind of climate Atlas.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and then I idea of 2. I seeing Albert Marshall, the Mcmahon elder. We we've learned from him and met with him and talked to him about this, and he talks about, too. I, seeing, learning to see from one eye with the strengths of indigenous knowledge, and how you bring these, you know, ways of knowing, together with 2 eyes for the benefit of all. And so that idea of 2. I team is very, very powerful, and you see it being used and applied in all kinds of ways. And so, working with the assembly of first nations.
Ian Mauro (he/him): we went to their national gatherings we documented with Afn and worked with their regional climate change coordinators. How we would build a different kind of Atlas making films again. This is up in colony, first nation, territory in in in Yukon and other regions, and and showing how we take films back to community members, and we make sure that they see these things before films are released. That co-development process
Ian Mauro (he/him): working with the Mit National Council there's films in here and it that you typically Academy we also we're we're discussing with them how we ensure that this kind of distinctions based approach, making sure that we honor the kind of diverse indigenous communities. And and we think about first nations. There's so many nations within first nations in new communities. They're so diverse met communities so diverse and so distinctions based at this kind of criteria is a very high level, and and that diversity we must embrace as we come
to move towards the various communities. But if you take a look here.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and this is the climate Atlas, and we launched it in 2,022 the with indigenous place names every single first nation community with their own climate data by their region, and place every single Inui community by their region in place, and then Metis projects across the Metis homeland, and you can go to this tool and click through the sliders and get data for these regions. And so, seeing indigenous place names on the map, you know the map is a is a is a form of land acknowledgment. It actually shows.
Ian Mauro (he/him): you know, how we need to think differently about presentation of data and and the relationship to build around it. And so you can go to that as a tool in your work you can go to the the the kind of panels on the side when you click in. This is slay with Tooth nation, and there's climate reports, and so you can actually click into these climate reports, and you'll see the interactive tools to kind of get different climate data in different time periods and emissions, scenarios, and that fits out climate data for the specific reserve communities. This is in case first nation can be to stay with tooth nation, and so it it. It creates and packages data in a in a format that the communities have been asking for.
And then all the films that go along with that. If you go inside the climate atlas, there's films literally from coast to coast to coast, with all of the kinds of nations, and all kinds of stories, and all kinds of considerations.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and just to kind of end the kind of conversation here, you know, thinking through the climate, Atlas, we work very closely with Elder day for shame. The late elder Dave Krishna, at a place called Turtle Lodge. This is intrudy one territory in the Sagene first nation, just outside of Winnipeg, where I used to live.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and we brought together indigenous knowledge Keepers from around the America is actually in a conversation about indigenous perspectives on climate change, and
Ian Mauro (he/him): what the elders were saying, and the knowledge keepers were saying is that the human values of greed, arrogance, anger, dominant selfishness, you know, disrespect, ignorance. They lead to the behaviors of extraction, exploitation, pollution, war and violence, and the impacts or climate change and biodiversity, loss and other kind of issues. And, as elder cushion would often say, You know, climate change is the symptom.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and the cause is the human condition.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so we really need to reframe how we identify problems when we think in that way it's not getting down emissions. It's actually getting ourselves in check as a society. And the elders are really kind of guiding us to think like that. And the importance of, you know, indigenous knowledge is leading to indigenous like climate solutions that really do address the problems at source, and and that reframing of the values that we have as human beings, and the importance of thinking about diverse communities, diverse kind of
Ian Mauro (he/him): ways of knowing, and how we can kind of fit these together to actually create solutions that really solve the problems in in a good way. And so, epics, you know, we're realigning, we focusing and renewing under my new leadership. And the kind of main thing here is. You know, the stories we tell have a huge impact on the way we frame. You know the opportunities of the future. The language that we use, as I mentioned earlier, frames the way in which we cognitively think and allow ourselves to consider options. And so
Ian Mauro (he/him): we have to tell diverse stories. We have to tell stories around the art of the possible and the ability of us to imagine a future that is actually, you know, one where we have again a safe and livable future for our kids and grandkids. And if we can imagine that future, if we can tell that story. I think we can race with all the technologies and solutions and research to that, and I keep my mind open to that imaginary possible, and telling that story in a good way, together with diverse communities, so that we land
Ian Mauro (he/him): in in, in, in, in the kind of future that we all want. and so i'm not. I just want to thank you, and I've got some contact information there, and we'd be happy to keep in touch.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Amazing. Thank you, Ian. That was terrific.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I think we got all the links in there as you were speaking links to to the films you've produced. We got. We got
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: all all 3 there, so I'm personally really excited to to check all those out. So we have all got things to watch this weekend. We're looking for a Saturday night movie night.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Everything you're speaking about. You know the importance of indigenous knowledge, and how this hasn't been centered in IP and c. Reports and the mainstream narratives, how we speak about climate change and our response, and the need for indigenous led climate solutions resonated so much. Of course.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: the role of storytelling and arts and mapping that you and Sherman spoke about, and the links between the 2, because indigenous people have been telling stories, and They have been storytellers here since time of memorial, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and that is, those pieces are so so closely linked, of course, and climate. Atlas is such a fantastic resource that I've been using a lot the indigenous knowledge section of it as well. We've been sharing these with our climate transitions, cohorts that we've hosted a 10 month learning journey last year in this year.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and then that last point around, you know, climate change
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: being a symptom, and the cause being the human condition resonates for me
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: a a lot, because we think here about the when we speak about climate transition, it's really much more much broader than just getting to net 0 net 0 emissions, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: it's about decolonization, and it's shifting away from the extraction mindset and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: reimagining capitalism. And the way we structured our society into so much. And that's where where we really try to make these links between our work reducing poverty and deepening community and social belonging and supporting youth, futures, and climate, here at tamarack and other issues, housing affordability so many others, too.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So that was was really great. The way you show that in so many amazing visuals. You're clearly such a fantastic storyteller. You both are. So thank you for sharing that
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: keen to see. We have a few minutes. If there are questions. So I've been watching the chat, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I don't think I've seen any questions come up in the chat, some great a feedback, and and some summaries of what people are hearing. If there's any questions, please feel free to put them in the chat, or use the right hand function, just come off mute. It's always nice to
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: hear from people directly. and in the meantime we are going to go into breakouts in a couple of minutes. Kathy, go ahead.
Kathy: Yeah, you know what I I Honestly, I personally struggle with this as well
Kathy: like, I believe all of this stuff like, but i'm not living it, and and a lot of people in Canada are not living it. And you know, I think in general most people
Kathy: want a good environment.
Kathy: and I think you touched on these at the end you touched on the human values. And you know the the data, the information that everyone knows what they know. Everyone knows it.
Kathy: but nobody's changing. and people can blame. You know the government, but we vote for the government. The government's only going to do what
Kathy: people want. So really people don't want it.
Kathy: People don't. People want to drive their cars. People want, you know. to slaughter their animals, you know, whatever. So
Kathy: it really seems like what what we really need is it? It's a spiritual shift, right? It's it's a spiritual growth within humanity, right? And
Kathy: And we're, you know we're at this tipping point, and we talk a lot about
Kathy: the indigenous coming to save us and like it's really all all religions say the same thing. It's really the practice of it and the maturity of
Kathy: of a religion right so like. What do you? The 2 of you see as
Kathy: like, what's gonna make people change like like
Kathy: it? Is obviously not information like, is it going to be a disaster? Is it going to be like
Kathy: like what what's actually going to be the tipping point like, cause I don't see you know.
Kathy: Change really?
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Thanks. I certainly have it's so much. But Charlie, and what are your thoughts on this
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Yeah. Great question. The the whole notion of how do we move from knowing something to doing something about it is a whole field in and of itself. Behavior change. I do think
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: one
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: not easy. But one entry point is, as you say, a disaster, or when a hazard event happens that impacts people, or something like Covid. To me those crises, small or large.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: present an opportunity to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: take stock of what's happening, and who is affected most? So that's my my short answer. That's a big question. But I I I think, just taking advantage of those opportunities and having
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: things ready when those things strike, and the networks, and being able to connect with people who's who's doing work on the ground?
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: That's one way Ian, you might have a a totally different idea.
Ian Mauro (he/him): No, it it it's all related, and and I appreciate your question, Kathy, because it is the question right, and and you know, in the academic sector, for example, there's been assumptions, and there's been research on how these assumptions have been false that you know the information deficit disorder. If you just kind of like, you know, create. You know, more information, more information. People will just absorb the Zorb and that kind of you know, Tank and people will make good decisions, and we know that doesn't work. It actually is a fault kind of flawed premise. And so
Ian Mauro (he/him): we we have to kind of rewire ourselves in terms of how we process information. And as as Sherman was saying, kind of behavioral sciences around how that works, there's been a lot of research on this. And so we're actually starting to kind of find new modalities of kind of connection and getting to people and having people resonate and understand this and the climate communications field that I kind of work in. It's become really sophisticated, and we are actually seeing kind of the ability to kind of shift. You know, the way in which people are kind of approaching these issues in different kinds of ways
Ian Mauro (he/him): and effective kinds of ways. But there's still a huge kind of you know, effort upon us. And and I think you know when I think about the time in the Arctic, and when I started this journey, this personal journey to now.
Ian Mauro (he/him): you know, there has been so much action, and there has been so much awareness, and there is so much more traction on these issues in the past 20 years than than I could have ever imagined. And yet the problem is so enormous that it still feels like we haven't gone anywhere. But I think we have the assembling. I mentioned the national adaptation strategy. You know, Federally, things are starting to get much more organized here in British Columbia. You know this province is, is incredibly sophisticated in all kinds of ways. They've just created a new man, a ministry of emergency.
management, climate, readiness, and part due to the
Ian Mauro (he/him): atmospheric river and heat dome that slammed this province a couple of years ago. They're changing the way in which government is functioning to be more responsive. And I think, within the crisis within the climate crisis, that we understand. That will partly be the impetus to actually create value systems change, because you know, when we see lost when we see the damages actually unfolding. And they were unfolding 20 years ago in the Arctic, and the we were saying, this is happening. But now it's happening in California. It's happening in, you know.
Ian Mauro (he/him): major centers around the world. And as decision makers in those places where power kind of centers realize, and they are increasingly realizing the importance of this. We are, I think, looking, you know, in 20 years forward we'll be looking back at this time, and we'll say we were living in the transformation. But we're so in the kind of heart of the storm right now that it's hard to even see. And so I think, if we redouble our efforts, if we kind of work through that kind of personal value, shift, but we demand that personal value, shift
Ian Mauro (he/him): at the at the kind of provincial, federal and jurisdictional levels, alignment with reconciliation around values of protection of the earth and land and waters and sky. There is an opportunity here to to make that transformation even more powerful and even more kind of meaningful, and even more real to, so that we can see it. And and I think if you're in the right pockets you can see it. But it's still opaque for people, and and we need to again make it more real. Make that action be our hope, and and I think
Ian Mauro (he/him): for me it's doable, and i'm seeing that you know on my day to day kind of journey, but we need to make it something that is so exciting and positive for people
Ian Mauro (he/him): that they want to be part of that. And so the framing matters. If we only talk about loss and and despair, we we will lose people. We have to talk about how climate resilience increases. You know jobs. It increases stability and resilience in our communities. It increases. You know all the good things that we want, and in that reframing that's how we pull people with us.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Yeah, and I I love to. I really agree with Ian, and i'd love to add that point about not putting the onus on the individual. I think that that's just a recipe for
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: like. Why are we doing this? These incremental changes when it really is about the governments, our governments, our Engo Environmental Ngos are
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: social supports, everybody. What are what is in place, program lines, and people wise to make those changes, because
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: sometimes you just need those things to exist. And so people don't have a choice right? There's this this all about creating norms and what is acceptable. But at the end of the day.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: I
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: think whatever we can do so that things are done collectively or at a organizational or government level. That's that's the solution, not the individual
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: action.
Kelly ( she/her): Laura, can I jump in for a second
Kelly ( she/her): all the details in the computer. So anybody could call me Kelly that's fine. But i'm actually Jerry, this morning, and i'm just going to throw a comment in, because I agree with the comments that Ian and Charmaine Charmaine made
Kelly ( she/her): completely because there was. I was watching business news Early this morning Bloomberg, TV, and there was a report issued by all of the car companies
Kelly ( she/her): worldwide since January of 2022, one out of every 5 cars sold across the world has now been electric.
Kelly ( she/her): so
Kelly ( she/her): the change is coming. It's in, and I want I got. I had to go out this morning, and I was driving, and I got thinking about the the discussions that were coming up here, and I compare what we're doing, and we're in the middle of this to the acid rain story for the Great Lakes.
Kelly ( she/her): you know. Nobody believe we were ever going to bring back our lakes. Nobody ever thought, you know, like I, I live in Southern Ontario, and they the lakes were destroyed. You can't fish, you can't. There's nothing living in them. And now, here we are 30 or 40 years on the other side of that.
Kelly ( she/her): and life is back in our lakes. And it was because the people kept talking about it. People were making noise about it, and Government finally had to sit down and say, yeah, we're doing something about it. So I a kathy. I just want to make a point that we're in the midst
Kelly ( she/her): of the change. It might be slow, and it might be it might seem really really. You know that it's going to take forever. But it's happening, and and and I absolutely agree that in 1020 years we're going to look back and say.
Kelly ( she/her): you know. Wow, it took that much time, but we messed up for like what? 250 years. So you're not gonna change it in, you know, 15 or 20 years.
Kathy: Yeah, just a couple of comments like one is, my understanding is like the electric car
Kathy: is is like another environmental disaster, like the the If you've seen pictures of of in South America, the the the massive lakes of
Kathy: whatever
Kathy: mineral they use for these electric batteries. It it, it's it. We we don't see it in Canada or the Us. But it's a it's an environmental disaster.
Kathy: so it's. It's kind of like solving an environmental disaster with another environmental disaster, right? So like. you know, like what what is like. I'm just putting that out. There. Are we really solving problems? Or we just
Kathy: pushing it into another problem, right? And then and then also, you know, I think you know it's great, the the model of sharing and everything. But the reality is when there's a crisis. Everyone's going to do what's
Kathy: you know what's in their best interests like? We saw the hoarding of medical supplies by the Us during Covid, and you know, when it really comes down to it, like you know, when there's when there's no more water in the Us. Canada is is, we're done. We're done like they're gonna walk in
Kathy: and take our water like. So you know, each country or people is going to do what's in their own interests, and it's just going to be a free for all. So
Kathy: like I mean, if we don't, if it goes down to the line that we get to a crisis like it. It's we're looking at a world war like what like. You know, it's over resources like, you know. I like I I just I I don't think we can wait for a crisis. But I I don't know why.
Kathy: What is the tipping point other than a crisis.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Oh, thank you so much. This is such a rich discussion, Jaslin. I want to pass it to you and I. You put some great stuff in the chat as well. What are your thoughts? And then we'll go into breakouts. After
Jaslyn - BCSA: I actually had a a different question that relates to this conversation about like despair and tending to our brief as communities. But I don't want to divert from Kathy's
Jaslyn - BCSA: like, I think, a lot of us
Jaslyn - BCSA: feel this alarm and this anxiety. And this like I I to feel the panic of what happens when things disintegrate further. And
Jaslyn - BCSA: yeah, your comment, Sharmoline, about falling to the level of our systems like working at a local level, so that we can all
Jaslyn - BCSA: create the networks of mutual aid and care that
Jaslyn - BCSA: prevent people from competing for resources, because it's not necessary. We're working from not in a scarcity mindset, but an abundance mindset. But that's that's really challenging. And at a global level. I I really have a lot of respect for the the panelists this morning who's working at global systems change level because
Jaslyn - BCSA: thinking there is so overwhelming and scary. And
Jaslyn - BCSA: personally, when I find myself falling into the pit of despair with the same questions and same scenarios that you were just identifying Kathy, I have to come back to like my purpose in my networks, and that those networks of aid demonstrate alternatives, and that that
Jaslyn - BCSA: that ripples i'm still incredibly frightened about what if that's not if that doesn't get built fast enough.
Jaslyn - BCSA: But
Jaslyn - BCSA: yeah, my my question to to the panelists and and maybe you can incorporate this into an answer. Kathy's query is just about like
Jaslyn - BCSA: I think it's important that we're orienting towards Hope and resilience and building building back better. But how are you coping with? I can't even talk about it with a weeping. But
Jaslyn - BCSA: the lost bar non-human can each day
Jaslyn - BCSA: destruction of our of ourselves of our environment. It is really heavy. and
Jaslyn - BCSA: and they question how much space
Jaslyn - BCSA: we are holding for our grief, when we orient only towards hope and action.
Jaslyn - BCSA: and like, how are we taking care of ourselves in that.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: So as Lynn I'm. Reaching out and giving you a big hug, because what you feel is is so real for so many of us, and especially for the youth in our world. So thank you so much for sharing that I do agree with you that I think it's called toxic
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: positivity. But we don't have to always be thinking in terms of. Of course we want to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: to work towards our dream and our ideals, and what we can do, but it's important to acknowledge
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: you know where we are and who has lost out and what we've lost. So I I really appreciate.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: You know, I think, that we do have to
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: support each other through grief
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: and through especially supporting our youth through what they're facing and what we can do together. So I just those supports.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: taking whatever action you can whenever you can, and taking time out when you need to. You can't always be. All
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: climate activists are doing something all the time. It's it's not all up to you. It's us together, and it's kind of like a choir right in acquire some of us.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: We just mouth the words when we have to breathe right. So it's like that. We're all acquired together, and if we all just focus on one thing we can do.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: whether it's even identifying somebody who is living all alone
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: in your neighborhood and just checking in on them, or figuring out if they have a contact in an emergency, just something, something. And you can go to that. We're ready site and and make a plan for yourself as well. But I I really appreciate that. So thank you very much, Ian.
Sharmalene Mendis-Millard: Oh, hand it over to you.
Ian Mauro (he/him): Well, i'm just thank you, Jaslin, and and the gravity of the situation is Kathy has framed. And you've
Ian Mauro (he/him): you know, really internalized here on the call like it's real right and and non-human. Can you know i'm an environmental scientist, and I can remember when I stood in my environmental science degree I have fairly good mental health, and I I broke down when I started to learn what was going on in the world, and I I was really kind of destabilized by the kind of education system in in in terms of how it framed the issues. Right that it was. It was all about. Boston is all about scarcity. It was all about crisis.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and and I I I think you know the flip to the toxic positivity is not the solution right? We can't just wish our way out of this and hope our way out of this, and as people have written about this Thomas Summer, Dixon, and others recently, we have to be very clear about what hope means, and it has to be grounded. In reality it has to be really really kind of manifest through evidence, and and make sure that we're not kind of tricking ourselves into thinking it's going to be okay.
Ian Mauro (he/him): But within that massive ch of you know, between existential dread and hope, You know, there are signs on the landscape like, I I think, about. You know Cop, 15 just happens to the biodiversity meetings in Montreal. You know the Provincial Government gave a historic contribution to the indigenous Guardians initiative. And so we have a system in place now where indigenous communities are being empowered, you know, and funded to create economic development around conservation across huge geographic tracks of this country right now.
Ian Mauro (he/him): based on principles of stewardship and indigenous knowledge. And, like we're seeing things on the landscape that I could have never imagined that are creating opportunities for
Ian Mauro (he/him): about ever. Sea protection, climate, resilience, economic, you know, opportunities, poverty, reduction, you know, across, you know, indigenous territories in in in Canada, in this country we call Canada, and so like those those are not in significant. You know, measures. Those are serious commitments, and we are very serious networks of people trying to link again this to I, seeing together to actually kind of with thread the needle on how we protect nature and build climate, resilience at the same time.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And as those dual crises now start to fuel that collaboration we're going to start to see solutions that are way more kind of embedded in community and way, more restorative and building resilience and looking at abundance and and and again, it's not to kind of again. Just talk about the positive and and at your way out of this. These are real things.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And and and I think back to kind of electric cars. You know cars. New cars are not going to save us. We have to think about public transportation. We have to think about. You know all of the ways in which we network society, so that you don't have to buy a $100,000 car to deliver the green life right like there are people that are not going to be able to do that. And so you know the solutions are there. But how they get implemented, and who they're for is the critical question.
and and John Kerry just recently, like in the past 24 h. He was talking to the globe right now. It's kind of figure out a new negative emissions. How do we capture the carbon dioxide, lock it in the earth.
Ian Mauro (he/him): and it's a huge technical play, and that huge technical play devoids ourselves of having to potentially reduce emissions if we can grab carbon dioxide and stored in the earth.
Ian Mauro (he/him): And so we have to think about this stuff and say we can't just solve our technical. You know, these massive, You know societal problems with technology, we have to change ourselves back to the point we have to, you know, be doubling down on renewables, reducing our emissions. We cannot just technically solve these issues. And so again, it gets to who we are as people and the structures that we create in that human family, and and and with an adult with young children, I I worry. But I I put that worry again into action, and that's how it modulates me
personally, like I I feel okay, knowing that I see the progress
Ian Mauro (he/him): and that that challenge drives me forward to make sure that you know we are in a space where we can see the solutions being manifest and just fueling that and investing in that, and being part of that, and to me it it helps me get through the day.
Ian Mauro (he/him): but we're all different, and and so I like the idea of the choir. So sure. Thank you for guiding us in that way.
Jaslyn - BCSA: Thank you.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: Thank you
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: really, for
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: for sharing what what i'm I personally feel all the time, and i'm a very Smiley person. And i'm like, oh, we're doing. I try to focus on the positive. But I I feel that grief regularly. And
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: And yeah, it's something that we shouldn't just just push away. We need to embrace. And we need to acknowledge and and have conversations with others about and process. And
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: and yeah, I think this is
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: something that you know. I'd love to continue the conversation offline about this, and you know, figure out are there ways. We can offer that support from here at Tamarack, connecting members together, and so on. But
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: I wanted I've shared a couple of things in the chat because Kieran, who's on this call, wrote a fantastic piece on this, and hosted a Webinar with 2 great speakers in January, and they shared that. And another thing, Joslin, because you mentioned earlier, you made a comment.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: The revolution must be joyful, and that made me think about.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: So we just came out with 2 new publications connected with Earth day here at climate transition, so one is the podcast playlist, and one is climate reads but the links in both for the chat.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: And in Podcasts playlist the Joy Report is one by intersectional environmentalist, and it's all about that. How this this work we need to find joy in activism and advocacy, and in the climate reads, there's one of the recommendations is active Hope, which I have here, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: perhaps folks have read this but highly recommend. This relates to Kathy your
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: your point about You know that it indeed like. Why.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: why should we be hopeful? Given what's happening? And there's so we have so far to go with the transition. and at the very start they
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: outline 3 stories of our time business as usual. The great unraveling, which I think is kind of the story you're telling, in a sense, Kathy, and that we we can all we could all say that there's elements of all of these today, but the third is the great turning, and that's kind of what Ian and you were saying about.
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: We're in this like we're in the middle of a storm right now. We can't see it, but a transformation is coming. There are so many examples of great work out there that both the speakers pointed to, and
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: what we need is for those to not just be little pockets here and there, and great things happening, but for them to be to take over to that for that to be the norm of how we do things, and for that
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: the large societal transition to really
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: happen. So that's what we're building towards, I hope, all together. And
Laura Schnurr (she/her/elle) - Tamarack: yeah, just thank you all for the amazing work you're doing in your communities. And