Climate, Your Community and You

“We need a path of understanding that does not knock our breath away.” – Paul Hawken, Carbon: The Book of Life.

“We can’t say ‘climate change,’ but we can say ‘disaster.” – American Red Cross staffer, Washington, DC, May 2025

A majority of Americans say they are alarmed or concerned about the climate crisis; far fewer are translating concern into action. Maybe we have been consoled by the real gains produced by the Inflation Reduction Act, and more recently stunned into silence by the new administration’s gaslighting of the issue. Whatever the barriers, there are well known principles of climate communications and social psychology that can help us overcome them, to energize and activate our communities. Climate, Your Community and You is a flexible workshop combining education on the issue with participatory planning for action at the scale of the community. First delivered at Starr Library inRhinebeck in 2023 in support of the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, the workshop can be aligned with any local initiative such as creation of a Climate Action Plan or implementation project. Its core elements are:

• A science-based presentation on the climate crisis that begins with global data and then moves into focus on New York, the Hudson Valley bioregion and the specific realities faced by the host community right now. Includes data/ analysis and scenarios of possibility based on choices that the community makes.

• A discussion that is paced and managed to support participants’ questions about the issue and strategies for change, that honors the feelings and uncertainties that arise in looking at this complex, challenging issue in a public conversation.

• Locally-focused breakout discussions on what can be done and how to accomplish it, focusing on articulating the community’s strengths and customized to achieve the goals of the local host group. Topics include both reducing our footprint and building resilience to withstand the stresses that are already present.

• An integrative final discussion on steps forward, including commitments by participants to take action as a community.

• Presentation and facilitation by a well prepared, multi-generational team including high school and college age youth and elders who serve as mentors as they develop their presentation skills together.

• Followup consultation with the host organization to support implementing the ideas generated.

To learn more or book a workshop, email Executive Director Melissa Everett.