Gail Hochachka

Gail Hochachka

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

Website: http://www.gailhochachka.com

Posts by Gail Hochachka

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SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

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Josh Leonard sits down with Gail Hochachka and Lisa Gibson, leaders of the SALT for Climate initiative, to explore their pioneering approach to climate action. They discuss the often-overlooked psychological and social dimensions of climate work, share insights from their work on collective sensemaking and leadership training, and explain why a focus on human dynamics may be the missing piece in our response to the climate crisis.

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The Psychology of Climate Change

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Climate change researcher, sustainable development expert, and activist Gail Hochachka works on the front lines of climate change research, asking—and answering—questions like: How does the way we make meaning, at all our different stages of development, relate to the ways we act on climate change? How can we foster more engagement with climate change? Is climate action scalable? And how are we going to show up for the people who are facing the greatest impacts?

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An Overview of Integral International Development

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International development is a diverse field attempting to address some of the most pressing global problems facing humanity today. Although the field has come a long way over the past five decades, it is far from perfect. In this article, Gail Hochachka discusses how the quadrants, lines, and levels of Integral Theory assist in this ongoing refinement of international development practice.

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How to Have More Compassionate Conversations

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In this episode of Integral Justice Warrior we are joined by Gabe Wilson, co-author of Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart, co-written with Diane and Kim Loh. In this discussion we explore many of the central themes of the book, helping all of us learn how to de-escalate conflicts and tensions, and to communicate with far more presence, empathy, skill, and grace.

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Love in the Time of Corona

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Join Diane, Gail, Rob, Corey, and special guest Cindy Lou Golin for a very special discussion about the coronavirus pandemic and how to manage the tremendous fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that can arise from it. We also explore some of the hopeful opportunities and wisdoms that are being brought to the surface by our new set of global life conditions, as well as some of the possible paths toward anti-fragility that our society can take in the wake of this pandemic.

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Intersubjectivity, Social Justice, and Climate

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Join us as we take a look at climate change through the lens of 2nd-person intersubjectivity — how we live together, how we grieve together, how we create meaning together, how we relate with each other in the midst of crisis, and the many other ways that we are all in this together.

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Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility

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In this fascinating episode of Integral Justice Warrior, Diane and Corey are joined by Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore anti-fragile approaches to climate change. We are also joined by fellow integral enthusiast Deb Collins, who offers her own perspectives around the tragic wild fires that swept across the Australian continent.

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Climate Change Solutions: Adapt or Transform?

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We are joined by special guests Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore some of the critical strategies to climate change — some of which emphasize a total top-down transformation of our political and economic systems, and others that emphasize a more incremental and adaptive approach.

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The Tetra-Meshed Earth: Depth and Innovation in Climate Change Adaptation

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Gail presents the contours of the challenge that is climate change — namely how to grasp in meaning or action such a wicked problem and hyperobject: something not directly seen and experienced, so radically nonlocal and involving of multiple disciplines, that exists on timeline we can’t easily conceive of, and regarding a future we can only approximate. Making sense of an issue this complex is slippery and plastic, and how we then engage it even more so.

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Making Sense of Trump’s Exit from the Paris Accord

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Last week, Trump stated his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement regarding climate change. Trump announced that the USA will withdraw based on the sense that it will negatively affect US jobs. To explore this, I turn to Integral Theory, which is a comprehensive transdisciplinary theory developed by contemporary philosopher Ken Wilber and applied by others across several professional fields. We can draw upon these ideas regarding the dynamics of social groups to make sense of Trump’s exit from the Paris agreement.

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Integral Without Borders: International Development in a Post-Trump World

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How might the integral framework help facilitate healthy growth and sustainabilty in developing societies around the planet? Gail Hochachka and Paul van Schaik talk to Ken Wilber about how Integral Without Borders is actively working to meet people’s struggles and challenges head-on and help them to gain more perspective and better adapt to their present circumstances. Gail, Paul, and Ken also discuss the earth-shaking election of Donald Trump, the social trends that carried him into the Presidency, and how his election might impact the further unfolding of integral consciousness around the world.