At Climate Reality, we look at the climate crisis from a human rights and intersectional perspective. We acknowledge that those who are hit hardest by the impacts of climate change are the communities who contributed least to it and who are already marginalized due to race, gender, disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status, age or other.
We believe that Europe as top greenhouse gas emitter with a destructive and extractivist colonial past must take responsibility and tackle climate injustices not only in the Global South, but also within the continent itself.
This is why we organized our second virtual “Navigating Climate Justice Training” between 2 and 12 May. Almost 200 applications from the Climate Reality network but also from the wider public underpinned the urgency to talk about the topic! The audience consisted of a beautiful mixture of different age groups and professional and academic backgrounds, contributing to the diversity of discussions and ideas.
Just like last year, our modules covered basic theoretical frameworks and concepts, ethics and responsibilities, community mapping and engagement, advocacy and communication methods as well as local best-practices. What was new this time was the collaboration with the Polish tech company Archware and the resulting creation of a training platform. This improvement provided participants with practical assignments leading up to their community action proposals, but also a space for networking and future exchange. The platform will continue to exist for future trainings and be expanded to a collaboration and resources page for anyone interested and active in climate justice in Europe and beyond.
A huge thank you to all of our speakers for sharing their expertise with us, for the startup Tech to the Rescue for connecting us to Archware, and of course to our brilliant co-organizers and Climate Reality Leaders Bradlie, Paola and Cecilia for making this happen.
Fighting the climate crisis can seem overwhelming, especially when looking at it holistically and from a justice perspective. This training reminded everyone that we do not have to carry the whole weight of the crisis on our shoulders, that if we connect to like-minded people and identify all our connections and community concerns, we can start by taking actions, step by step, and slowly making impact where it matters: On the local level, in our communities. Because once we empower a whole community, we can disrupt the current system and transform our societies.
“I think the most exciting part was meeting like-minded people from different countries. I enjoyed the breakout rooms sessions where we all could share our stories and experience. I believe it is crucial to create a space where we can discuss different issues and learn from one another.”
Training Participant
“I had the idea for a project for some time with a friend, the action proposal gave us the opportunity to develop it and think about other aspects of it, very beneficial.”
Training Participant
“I was very satisfied with the selection of the speakers. I even heard from a presenter from my country. The presentations were so informative and very well researched. As a young researcher, such individuals and their work give me more energy to get on with my work, with the hope of emulating them.”
Training Participant