As a capstone to the MA in Climate Action Leadership (MACAL) program, our cohort prepared and presented poster projects, which showcased our learning within and alongside the program. Some posters were focused on outcomes of course-based learning, some were focused on projects from the professional sphere (and how student learning in the program supported abilities to take on this work), and some were focused on thesis summaries. The breadth of topics covered was a testament to the varied and dynamic interests of our cohort, and how the MACAL program was able to support learning across these diverse interests.
In creating my own poster I developed skills in poster presentation and took a close look at academic research focused on Indigenous-led conservation in Canada. In terms of skills in poster presentation, I learned to find a balance between presenting the information in a simple and visually appealing format and including enough information to make the poster relevant. This was an iterative process that took a considerable amount of time to complete. I also learned to navigate the basic functions of a piece of design software, which is something I have very little prior experience with. In terms of the topic itself, I found that I needed to gain a strong understanding of the research landscape to be able to choose the elements that made the most sense to highlight in the poster. While the word count on the poster itself is small, it was necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the topic to be able to synthesize and summarize key findings. I focused on Indigenous-led conservation in Canada but also reviewed literature from around the world to provide context and to allow me to compare and contrast practices.
My poster project was based on learnings from an elective course entitled Global Perspectives on Indigenous Ways of Knowing. However, I was also able to bring in learnings and readings from other courses, making the poster an artifact of my two-plus year journey through the MACAL program. I chose the topic of Indigenous-led conservation as it is a priority and focus for the conservation organization that I work for, which created a tie between my professional and academic life.
I was interested to review and engage with the posters created by the students in my cohort. A number of students focused on projects from or elements of their professional lives. I was impressed to see how these students were able to integrate their learning from the MACAL program into their work, and then in turn showcase their work in academic format. This bridge between the academic and the professional is a testament to practitioner-focus of the program (for those that chose this stream).
Other students used their posters to present their thesis projects. It was interesting to get insights into the research that the students chose to undertake. It also helped me to gain an appreciation of the deeply involved work associated in a thesis project.
Overall, the experience of creating a poster helped me to develop a skill that I had not yet had the opportunity to develop in this program or in past education programs. The experience of reviewing and engaging with the posters of the students in my cohort gave me a sense of appreciation about how program learnings were being applied in a broad suite of ways, in both academic and professional spheres.
The Climate Action Accelerator was the final engagement that our class participated in together prior to program completion – some attended in person and some attended virtually. The poster presentations were the first part of this engagement, followed by two days of facilitated workshops.
My biggest take-away from the workshops was that my cohort had – over the course of the MACAL program – developed the language and the context to be able to articulate complex analyses of climate leadership values. My cohort shared reflections about their own leadership capacity, strengths, and areas of improvement as well as reflections on the state of climate leadership more broadly. From our time in the program, we shared common understandings of topics like complex systems, climate communication, and leadership that allowed us to have meaningful and nuanced dialogue, within the cohort and with other participants. I look forward to continuing this dialogue within the community of practice that our cohort is engaged in.
The Climate Action Accelerator provided a way for our cohort to share our learning and reflections from the last two-plus years in the MACAL program and to think forward about our role as climate action leaders. The days were full and long, but the level of engagement and the sense of commitment to climate action was deeply felt.