Climate Confluence: Moving Mountains 2022
Climate Justice - Now!
Attending Moving Mountains 2022, from September 30 - October 1st was an experience that felt like a lifetime to finally happen As a Practitioner who’s practice is to support community actions, the work of climate justice has always been an interest of mine. Over the years finding and building a community of climate justice champions has proven difficult. Building a community of climate leaders at the is a process. It takes more than just one or two keen individuals to tackle our growing climate crisis. Moving Mountains was a time for people to see each other and share in the hard work which is climate justice.
Marketplace of Ideas
One of the ways people came together to share, empower and find new ways to take action was through a process called the Marketplace of Ideas. Marketplace of Ideas is a facilitated framework where brave presenters share their ideas and get peer feedback from the audience. Over the course of the afternoon there were a dozen participants that shared their ideas on climate action. All of the ideas were grounded in combating climate change at the community level.
Ideas that were shared ranged from,
developing sustainable community gardens
policy development within community associations
community energy audits
community-led foraging workshops
climate communications
and more!
Here’s how to host your own Marketplace of Ideas!
How to Keep Moving?
The work of climate justice is ongoing, and the ‘steps’ we take towards mitigation, adaptation and sustainability can take many forms. If you’re interested in connecting to a more sustainable future here are a few ways to connect with the community of climate change makers!
Moving Mountains - Supporters
What is Moving Mountains?
Moving Mountains left attendees inspired, connected, and finding community-based actions to climate justice. Workshops led by community members who shared their knowledge, experience and encouraged change in our collective communities.
Moving Mountains 2022
Taking A Break
A major learning and gratitude that I’m taking away from Moving Mountains is captured in the art installation Snail. The Snail embodies what happened at the two-day climate confluence where community came to slow down, listen to our surroundings and know that when we arrive we’ll do it together.
Snail - The snail shell embodies layers of meaning, as a spiral shape associated with natural cycles, seasons, and representing shelter, home and moving slower. These themes are relevant to our conversations and approaches to the climate crisis and can be interpreted and explored from many angles through diverse perspectives of participants and viewers. Snail is literally pasted together with layers of old newspapers and flyers added over time and painted, with donated leftover paint, by an eclectic group of community members. The stop motion and time delay video features the collaborative process of painting the giant shell and short clips of the snail making its way through urban landscapes at a snail’s pace, as the city life speeds by. The project calls attention to the subjective nature of time and the power of slowing down in the context of capitalist economy. Drawing on synergies of repurposed materials and participatory processes, Snail has taken on a life of its own, exploring non-binary spaces, accessible engagements and queer futurisms.