We know that the vast majority of climate change to date has been caused by humans, and the impacts are increasing worldwide. But, what do we do now? What can we do as individuals? And how might we work generatively with the values clashes and culture wars that surround this issue.

In this group session, we will sit with the tensions of climate change as an individual and collective challenge. While individuals together have produced this change in the climate, we underplay the roles that individuals play when it comes to solutions. We as individuals we do matter, and in this session, we will explore and reflect on how. On the collective side of this, there is an increasing polarization in the discourse about climate change, linked with frustrations regarding heavy-handed government and fears of losing personal autonomy. An integral approach to this challenge can provide important insights on how we can talk about climate change with those around us, how to make sense of the values clashes, and how to use polarization more generatively. As a participant, you will come away from this session with greater awareness about the collective dimensions of this challenge—where we might shift from a madness to a miracle of We—as well as a fuller sense of what climate change means in your own life in terms of your own agency, creativity, and choiceful action.

Meet Your Event Leader

Gail Hochachka works with the human dimensions of climate change using a transdisciplinary, integral approach. Her work focuses on understanding how people make meaning of climate change and how to engage with diverse groups towards a shared sense of the climate challenge. Her research has been published in various academic journals and has been used to support non-profit, private, and city actors in advancing climate action. Prior to this, Gail did her PhD at the University of Oslo on how climate change adaptation can account for meaning-making stages in diverse social groups and be carried out in a transformative manner, with fieldwork in Guatemala. Gail also has substantial previous NGO experience working in sustainable development in Latin America and Africa, and co-founded Integral Without Borders Institute. She is based in Vancouver, Canada. www.gailhochachka.com