On a personal note, the spring and early summer have been busy with travel and seeing friends and family, as is often the case for many people this time of year. One of these particular travel trips involved driving to Saint Paul, Minnesota for the National Adaptation Forum (NAF). While I only spent one day at this conference, I learned so much about the strategies, ideas, and collaboration that is going on to prepare for and mitigate the effects of climate change. There were so many unique perspectives and stories, as well as some real potential actions that can be taken right now and in the future.
One of the more inspiring talks I went to was about innovation in climate adaptation, which introduced me to the Innovation in Climate Adaptation Guide. As pointed out in the talk, innovation has become a big buzzword in recent years, however, the question of whether it is being applied correctly to climate change issues is uncertain. In short, the guide reviews what drivers are of innovation, as well as some barriers. It isn’t always easy to implement new ideas, but the guide explains potential avenues for promoting innovation and how to overcome these barriers in the systems that exist today.
There were also some very unique talks, like Gaming for Justice, which explained how Mycelium Youth Network uses storytelling through the game of Dungeons and Dragons to help youth cope with climate anxiety. It was an interesting perspective on the climate crisis and how we can help youth become more involved in climate activism and environmental justice, as well as specific impacts that might be occurring as a result in their own communities.
One last talk I found to be interesting and relevant to many who work in the climate field was about grief and loss in climate change work. It was a thought-provoking angle, especially being new to this field, hearing from those who work in the field and have experienced grief this way. There was discussion of how to implement better ways of addressing grief in the workplace, both grief experience through work and on a more personal level. Discussions of systemic injustice, environmental and ecological loss, and negative outlooks on the future were engaging, but also important for the future of combating these issues.
There were several other talks I went to that were also interesting and included engaging and important conversations, but these were a few that stuck out to me from the day. I’m grateful I was able to take some time to experience this event and would definitely recommend those in the climate change field (or even those interested in climate issues) attend. I’m also looking forward to attending the Climate and Conservation Summit in July, and the eventual final draft of our climate profiles!
