January 2024

January 7, 2024

This is a final reflective blog for Assignment 3 in CALS 601 (Leading Climate Action in Society Part 2)

The final learning intensive of the MACAL program (aligned with RRU’s Climate Week) invited us to consider the type of leader we want to be, and the solutions we work for.

The theme of “false solutions” came up in various contexts throughout the week. Eriel Techekwie Deranger first used the term during the Indigenous Climate Action: Decolonizing Solutions webinar in terms of carbon-based market mechanisms (2023). Then Dr. Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti used the term “soft reform” (versus radical reform) in her Climate, Complexity, and Relational Accountability workshop to describe small changes over time (2023). Finally, during the Climate Action Leadership Accelerator led by Solvable, facilitators adapted Bill Sharpe’s Three Horizons framework (n.d.). This framework assumes that dominant cultures change over time. Between the dominant paradigm (labelled Horizon 1 or H1 for short) and alternative paradigms (H3), there are interventions (H2). Interventions were categorized as H2 plus (H2+) and H2 minus (H2-), with H2- being false or incomplete solutions. All these ideas were reminiscent the debate between transformational and incremental change (which was explored in depth during our Modelling a Business Case for Climate Action, CALS504 course).

One recurring example of a false solution (aka soft reform or H2-) was the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Although EVs reduce the amount of greenhouse gas from vehicle travel, they still encourage us to design our cities in car-centric ways and expand the extraction of rare earth metals. In turn, the extraction of these metals can directly or indirectly harm Indigenous communities through land grabs or pollution, and promote resource-based conflicts around the globe. EVs are a solution that “solves” one problem while ignoring or creating new problems and extending colonialism.

While I completely agree that many proposed climate solutions create or exacerbate existing inequalities and allow the western world to continue to over-consume, I still found myself challenged by the concept of false solutions. Partially because the climate solution that I presented as part of my final poster and video presentation for the Leading Climate Action in Society Part 2 course (CALS601) is a false solution. In my work at Bow Valley College, we recently negotiated a contract amendment with a private company (Atlantica) on the carbon market to decarbonize our heat. No real emissions were reduced, and nothing really changed. Certainly, this project isn’t contributing to decolonization or restoring ecosystems.

Yet part of me still believes in this solution. By Bow Valley College paying a green fee for carbon neutral district energy, we are sending a signal to the company’s investors that clients care and are willing to pay for climate solutions. In turn, this gives the company confidence that it is worth investing in technology to decarbonize the heat they sell to their clients. In fact, Atlantica recently piloted blending hydrogen into their natural gas boilers, and they are in the process of replacing their natural gas boilers with electric boilers powered by solar. Bow Valley College paying the green fee didn’t cause this transition away from fossil-fuels, but our actions helped speed it up.

So is this a false solution or not? Depending on the day, I waver.

Today, I believe it is both a false solution and also necessary. We know it is crucial that we stop using fossil fuels to power our economy. The tricky part is figuring out how. We need to figure out the first step we need to take, so that we can move onto the second, third, fourth steps, and ultimately heat our buildings without fossil fuels. I don’t believe incremental change within a district energy system is the only climate solution or even the best climate solution, but it is a solution nonetheless (though it’s incomplete and imperfect).

In her blog Pay Attention to the 90%, Jen Lash reminds us that only 10% of a policy or initiative is in the idea – the other 90% is “finding a way to push the existing social structures up a hill to a more just society” (2023, para. 5). In short, 10% of the work is the initial idea, while 90% of the work is implementation. Often, that implementation is not glamourous, easy, or straightforward. Instead, it usually involves working across silos, collaborating across organizations, writing numerous drafts, seeking and incorporating feedback, budgeting, interpreting legal documents, and convincing colleagues or decision-makers.

I’m beginning to see my theory of change as someone who works on the 90%. Alberta has a lot of transitioning to do, and I want to be part of the group of people that are contributing to this transition in tangible ways. That’s not the only work I do – I also advocate for larger-scale change both in my paid and volunteer work. But I have found the healthiest balance for me is working at multiple scales: getting into the weeds and implementing tangible solutions, while working on the radical reform that is required.  

I believe transformative action can be built on strategic incrementalism. My vision for Bow Valley College is an institution that uses zero carbon for heating and electricity. I also have visions for the College to be an emergency cooling centre when Calgarians need it. I have visions for our curriculum to produce graduates that contribute to a climate resilient world, across health care, legal, business, and entertainment arts sectors. But to get there, I need to break these visions into tangible steps.

On many days I feel like this approach to leadership isn’t enough. Yet I am emboldened by Justin Smith, a person just like me who is enacting change from within an organization. In his TEDx Talk From Idealist to Environmental Pragmatist he says, “it requires courage to try and work within a system and change things from inside” (6:09, 2014). Whether the system is a single institution or a province as a whole, I feel up for the challenge.

References

De Oliverira Andreotti, V. (2023, December 13). Climate, complexity and relational accountability [Video]. YouTube Royal Roads University Climate Week – Climate, Complexity and Relational Accountability (youtube.com)

Deranger, E. [Royal Roads University]. (2023, December 13). Indigenous climate action: Decolonizing solutions [Video]. YouTube. Royal Roads University Climate Week – Indigenous Climate Action: decolonizing solutions – YouTube

Lash, J. (2023, December 16). Pay attention to the 90%. WordPress. https://webspace.royalroads.ca/jlash/931-2/

Smith, J. [TEDx Talks]. (2014, September 8). From idealist to environmental pragmatist [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxfKCQywkA

Solvable. (n.d.). Three horizons workshops. Solvable. https://www.solvable.ca/three-horizons

January 5, 2024

I always say my favourite food is potlucks. I love potlucks because there is such a variety of food, and usually everyone brings a favourite dish they’ve prepared with love. You get the best of so many cuisines and cooks in one meal. Often the magic of that meal can’t be re-created because you’ll likely never have everyone in the same room with the exact same dishes again. The same way that each iteration of an academic program will never be exactly the same: students, instructors, courses, and the world around the university change over time.

Think of this blog post as a potluck of learning: each reflection I list below is a tasty “course” (pardon the pun) that was presumably created by our instructors with love. I decided to return to my notes from each course over the past three years, to share the best learning I received from each (in chronological order). I hope you’re hungry!

Appetizers: whetting the appetite

SPCC 614: Science and Impacts of Climate Change: For the first time, I understood how climate scientists speak to one another. I learned how to think and speak in terms of future projections and climate scenarios.

CALS 501: Leading Climate Action in Society Part 1: This learning intensive took place during the heat dome in 2021. I physically felt the impacts of climate change as I sat sweltering in my apartment. This was the first time I had applied the theory of change to citizen engagement and climate change. Before, I had only used the theory of change for small projects.

Main course: a well-balanced meal

CALS 502: Communication for Climate Action: Taught me how to sit still and challenged me to speak up in public forums. I am most proud of my blog post where I publicly called out Alberta’s then-Minister of Energy Sonya Savage for spreading disinformation.

CALS 503: Climate Risk Management: Taught me how to prioritize climate work and understand relative risk. I’m directly applying this learning to my work at Bow Valley College where I am about to embark on a College-level climate risk assessment.

CALS 504: Modelling the Business Case for Climate Action: This course had a tremendous impact on me. I now understand financial terms like “net present value” and “discounting” and have used these concepts when building business cases at work. Most importantly, I learned how to articulate and calculate the costs of inaction.

CALS 505: Leading Change in Organizations and Communities: This course focused heavily on traditional leadership practices within organizations, which was a bit of a miss for me. I learned that we need more holistic and community-based models for leadership. We need to think outside traditional organizational structures.

CALS 603: Planning Approaches for Climate Resilience: This course tickled my brain with the various understandings of resilience. It taught me to apply a somewhat nebulous concept to a real-life situation. In our final team assignment, we explored the concept of climate resilience for the outdoor recreation industry.

CALS 691: Designing a Practitioner Portfolio: I learned that I value my portfolio in terms of the reputation and relationships that I build. It isn’t important to me to project a record of my career or achievements to a public audience. But my reputation as a compassionate, collaborative problem solver within my network means a lot to me.

CALS 601: Leading Climate Action in Society Part 2: I applied everything I learned above to a problem in my work: how to decarbonize heat in downtown Calgary. Learn more here.

Dessert: guilt-free calories

ENVR 571: Legal Aspects of Environmental Management: I learned in-depth about provincial and federal jurisdiction, the Canadian Constitution, and how to read legislation. When I read headlines like Liberals will amend Impact Assessment Act after Supreme Court found it unconstitutional (Thurton, 2023), I now understand the nuance and impacts of these legal decisions.

SPCC 615: Climate Policy and Governance: The term “polycentricity” will stick with me for a long time (thank you Dr. Elinor Ostrom, 2009). I understand that leadership and policy happens at all levels, from the local all the way up to the international.

HUMS 653: Environmental and Resource-Based Conflict Management: I learned that conflict is inevitable, but not always destructive or negative. This course made me appreciate all the conflict management professionals out there, because the work they do is not the work I want to do.

My head feels full at the end of this long meal, and I am excited to apply all that I have learned to my career. I am grateful for the many friends and colleagues I have met along the way.

Stay hungry!

References

Ostrom, E. (2009). A polycentric approach for coping with climate change. The World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/480171468315567893/pdf/WPS5095.pdf

Thurton, D. (2023, October 26). Liberals will amend impact assessment act after supreme court found it unconstitutional. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/impact-assessment-act-guilbeault-1.7008932