In May 2021 the inaugural Master of Arts in Climate Action Leadership (MACAL) program commenced, with an online two-week deep dive into climate change, leadership, and transdisciplinary thinking. In December 2023, the cohort came full circle, gathering at Royal Road’s University to delve into these same topics but with a breadth of new experiences and teachings. To reflect on the final conference, is to reflect on the whole program and transition from student to practitioner. At the beginning of the program, I was working in a restaurant, and perpetually in awe of my fellow classmates, and teachers who were doing so much work within the climate space. This feeling has not disappeared and was only reaffirmed throughout the poster session and climate leadership accelerator workshop hosted by Solvable. However, the most surprising aspect for me was the lack of imposter syndrome standing alongside my peers. The MACAL program has been as much of a journey of climate change leadership as it has been about climate change confidence.

A few ideas and themes that came out of the conference and poster session were that of who has a voice, the immense complexity of climate change action and the breadth of opportunities.

 One emergent theme of the CALS 501 Design Thinking Challenge was to consider absentee stakeholders and ensure that marginalized voices are not left out of decision-making processes. Diversity and equity are frequently used words brought into plans, briefs, and conversations. However, achieving this is much more difficult. The leadership workshop reiterated this issue for me. There are so many groups and areas which need attention when thinking about sustainable futures and there inherently are always a few dominant voices in every conversation, inevitably pushing forward certain agendas. This is not necessarily a bad thing- if those dominant voices are not pushing for mainstream status quo agendas. But how do we do a better job of creating equitable conversations? Further, how does allyship play into all of this? For my final poster presentation, I shared on an initiative I created through work which highlights Métis climate leadership through ongoing webinars. This led to several conversations about how, as a non- Indigenous person, we can best support equity driven programs, and what best practices are in attempting this. One helpful exercise in diving into understanding personal positionality, and motivations was the “bus” exercise, where it became clearer as to what drivers influence actions (Solvable, n.d.). It is invaluable to be cognizant of underlying values and motivations when utilizing your voice as a climate leader, and pertinent to be vigilant in trying to continue understanding the perspectives and voices of others.

The second major takeaway from the conference, and since is the weight of working in the climate space. The sense of impending burnout and overall fatigue was palpable. However, so was the sense of community and kinship. A lot of complex emotions to consider in a couple of days. Applying to the MACAL program and surrounding myself with like mindedly concerned people and learning together was a tangible way for me to approach the climate crisis. A year into the program I started my first climate job and worked to learn a new position and worked to finish all my assignments and pass my classes. Now that the program is done- and this career sits before me it is incredibly daunting. I still feel like there is so much to learn and am keenly aware of how much I still do not know. Concurrently, the realization of growth and accomplishment weighs in along with the pride of completing the MACAL program. As I allow the frenzy of the last few years to catch up with me, and the uncertainty of the future lingers I will try to focus on reality. That the scope of climate change is immense, and one cannot understand every caveat, however through operating from a place of risk awareness and humility I can always push to ask the right questions to try to ensure future processes aren’t mimicking socially and environmentally degrading ones. And that overall, a little fear driving the bus can be beneficial to help ensure that my actions are not consequential.

Finally, the poster presentations illustrated the fluidity and opportunities of working in climate change in Canada. The variety of projects and research was humbling, reiterating the need for those of us with this training and motivation to create change. This translated within the climate leadership workshop and climate week presentations as well, further illustrating the breadth of work that exists to engrain sustainability within systems, institutions, and behaviors.

References

2021 Cohort Posters – MACAL Program. (n.d.). https://commons.royalroads.ca/macalprogram/2021-cohort-posters/?_ga=2.155445051.1627703847.1704647526-497462973.1654619742

 Master of Arts in Climate Action Leadership | Royal Roads University. (2024, April 2). https://www.royalroads.ca/programs/master-arts-climate-action-leadership

Solvable. (n.d.). “Who’s Driving Your Bus?” [Slide show; Worksheet]. Climate Leadership Accelerator Workshop, Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

INDS 515- Blog Reflection

I think there is generally a lack of understanding of Indigenous world views, and this lack of understanding can be exacerbated by the inherently extractive nature of Western society. Simpson references the academic interest in Indigenous Knowledge (IK) as it pertains to environmental issues. This is something I am very aware of, working in climate change and for the Métis Nation of Alberta. I hear proposals and programs talk about weaving, bridging or braiding IK into work all the time. However, I hear less about why they want to do this, and rather it comes across as being prescriptive and extractive, and what may have been intended as an olive branch to build relationships acts in the opposite way. I think making time for connecting before the work needs to be done is important, and a way forward to honest dialogue exchanges. Also, for academics to do their homework beforehand and try to learn about the Indigenous nation they are contacting and hoping to learn from. Lastly, the word ‘co-development’ has been buzzing around environmental policy practices, intending to create partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations to include both knowledge systems in work. I think this is a promising approach, and maybe a step towards creating more understanding and familiarity with how to meaningfully engage and work together.

Simpson, L. R. (2004). Anticolonial strategies for the recovery and maintenance of Indigenous knowledge. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3&4), 373-384.

https://www.royalroads.ca/news/all-jobs-are-climate-jobs-climate-leadership-students-take-action

Resilience Reflection

Master of Arts Climate Action Leadership, Royal Roads University

CALS 603: Planning Approaches for Climate Resilience

October 14, 2022

What does resilience mean to me? 

At this moment, “resilience” to me is the catch phrase word that seemingly serves as a pathway to a higher purpose amid a battle to combat the effects of climate change. The concept of “achieving ” resilient societies, in my initial interpretation reflects two pathways. Experiencing climate impacts, the devastations and severity, and persevering through the hardship. Or proactively adapting to climate projections and increasing capacity to hopefully limit hardship experienced. Moser relays this premise as well, delineating the value of reactive or proactive resilience building (2019).

Resilience in terms of climate action felt rather non- specific to me, and a word that was thrown around but not necessarily quantified. Until recently on the news I heard of an example of a solar powered, flood proof community in Florida who proved to be ultra-prepared to Hurricane Ian. CNN shares that “[c]limate resiliency was built into the fabric of the town with stronger storms in mind” (Ramirez, 2022). This example of proactive adaptation showcases the possibility of planning, community will and deliberate climate goals. This community had experienced impacts of extreme weather and decided to do something about it. Which brings up the concept of stakeholders, and the importance of gaining support for adaptation or climate action as a potential prerequisite to building resilience. 

“Climate change is not exclusively an environmental problem that can be addressed purely in scientific, managerial or technical ways” (Tanner et al., 2014). Borquez at al., highlights the methodological shift of scientists to seek contextualized knowledge from communities, which may not be traditionally deemed as empirical, but provides insight into the transdisciplinary understanding of resilience (2016). Essentially, people who are vulnerable to climate impacts need to be involved in the planning process.

Understanding resilience on a broad spectrum is inherently complex, and can contextually have a variety of meanings and interpretations. In a study on resilience with a focus on transitioning from theory to practice, a survey was done in Chile asking for social attributes on resilience (Borquez et al., 2016). There were a range of answers, but education (information), preparedness and adaptive capacity ranked as the top three predeterminants to climate resilience (Borquez et al., 2016). This reiterates the necessity for involvement of communities in the conversation of adaptation planning and the importance of sharing knowledge in tangible ways.

When reflecting on the concept of resilience, Gitxan peoples referred to philosophy, kincentric values and holistic approaches (Wale, 2022). Climate action and resilience building in partnership with Indigenous peoples must adhere to UNDRIP, and focus on providing ethical space for communications which embrace auxiliary viewpoints (Fox, 2022). Resilience is cyclical and adaptive in nature- and not a linear one directional process. It may be influenced and facilitated and occur individually or collectively. 

Many definitions and interpretations of resilience exist, and upon research and reflection with this question of what resilience means in context of climate action I find it helpful to think of it as an antonym. In my lifetime I do not believe I have seen or experienced an extremely resilient society- protected from external impacts or forces. And therefore, it is difficult to imagine the flipside of how that would come to fruition. However, I understand that many systems that have caused anthropogenically induced climate change also perpetuate injustice and inequities and that there is opportunity to rectify and reimagine systems which empower and respect rather than degrade and deplete peoples and the environment. 

Resilience is no doubt an important concept to keep in mind while engaging in climate action work. However, I do not believe that it is necessarily the ultimate goal. Providing resources and striving for resilience in a proactive manner, rather than reacting to impacts out of necessity is preferential. I believe finding equilibriums and reaching collective understandings which allow people and the environment to coexist in harmony with each other is the goal, and resilience to adversity is secondary. 

References

Borquez, R., Aldunce, P., & Adler, C. (2016). Resilience to climate change: from theory to practice through co-production of knowledge in Chile. Sustainability Science, 12(1), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-016-0400-6

Fox, P., Harmony Walkers Inc., Hatcher, A., & Alexandra Hatcher Consulting. (2022, March). Reconciliation and the Intersections of Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change. In www.calgary.ca. City of Calgary.

Moser, S., Meerow, S., Arnott, J., & Jack-Scott, E. (2019, January 7). The turbulent world of resilience: interpretations and themes for transdisciplinary dialogue. Climatic Change, 153(1–2), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2358-0

Ramirez, R. (2022b, October 2). This 100% solar community endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage. CNN. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/02/us/solar-babcock-ranch-florida-hurricane-ian-climate/index.html

Tanner, T., Lewis, D., Wrathall, D., Bronen, R., Cradock-Henry, N., Huq, S., Lawless, C., Nawrotzki, R., Prasad, V., Rahman, M. A., Alaniz, R., King, K., McNamara, K., Nadiruzzaman, M., Henly-Shepard, S., & Thomalla, F. (2014, December 18). Livelihood resilience in the face of climate change. Nature Climate Change, 5(1), 23–26. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2431

Wale, J. (2022, July 6). Gitxsan Rez-ilience. Canadian Climate Institute. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://climateinstitute.ca/publications/gitxsan-rez-ilience/