Working Session: Climate Conversations: Let’s Talk About Climate!

About the event

Conversations about climate change can be intimidating, but are essential to building resilience and connection in the face of climate change. That’s why the presenters designed a climate conversation card game – to facilitate conversations in ways that generate genuine connections between people and their experiences with climate change. Climate Conversations card game encourages participants to work through their own relationships with climate change, form connections with others, and share their visions for a climate resilient world.

This interactive session will take you through the Climate Conversations card game, having you participate in a climate conversation. You will work through your own relationship with climate change by answering questions such as- “Do you have a memory of a favorite tree?”, “Have you changed your mind about climate change recently?”, and “What helps you feel calmer about climate change?”.

Visit the Climate Conversations website, https://climateconversationslex.weebly.com/, to learn more about the cards and
their story.

Learning Objectives

• Provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on their relationships with climate
  change.
• Feel confident in your ability to talk about climate change with empathy and to build
  genuine connection.
• Practice listening and learning from others and their climate journeys.
• Imagine a better, resilient future through community building and creative conversations.

Meet your presenters

 Mary Arthur was the Forest Ecologist in the University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Forestry and Natural Resources for 30 years, where she taught courses in forest ecology, ecosystem ecology and natural resources and trained many MS and PhD students. At UK she led the Natural Resources and Environmental Science undergraduate degree program for 10 years, co-founded the Urban Forest Initiative, and co-directed the Greenhouse Living-Learning Community. Now retired, Mary’s projects include serving on the Lexington, Kentucky Tree Week Planning team; spearheading the first annual Week Without Driving in Lexington; talking to people about the role of forests in global carbon cycling; and collaborating on the Climate Conversations team that developed the Climate Conversations card deck.

Claire Hilbrecht is a labor organizer with United Campus Workers of Kentucky (UCW-KY), a wall-to-wall premajority union in public universities across the state. Prior to coming on as a full-time organizer with UCW-KY, they were a graduate worker in the Geography Department at UK, which is where they found and fell in love with organizing. Alongside labor rights, Claire cares deeply about climate and environmental issues, and wants to live in a world where the well-being of our planet is prioritized over profit so that humans and non-humans can coexist freely and peacefully. Claire is in love with the plants with whom they share this earth, and spends a lot of their free time sitting amongst them and learning their life ways.

Callie Dickman is a Natural Areas Recreation Supervisor with Lexington Parks and Recreation, where she oversees the trail-accessible wheelchair program and leads park programming. Before that, she was the Volunteer Coordinator with Lexington Parks, where she fostered community involvement and created opportunities for volunteer engagement. She has a dual degree in Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Natural Resources & Environmental Science from the University of Kentucky. In Lexington, she has been involved with Tree Week, Water Week, Climate Conversations, and UK’s Student Government Association. Callie is incredibly passionate about environmental education, connecting with the earth around her, and sharing her love for the environment with others.

Lauren Cagle lives in Lexington, KY, with her partner John and perfect dog Fern. She's an avid gardener and has successfully converted some of her grass yard to native plants. In her free time, she knits (mosty socks) and volunteers at the Lexington Center for Creative Reuse. In her professional life, she's Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies (WRD), Director of Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ENS), and Affiliate Faculty in Appalachian Studies at the University of Kentucky. Cagle teaches courses on environmental rhetoric, technical communication, and communication in the natural and social sciences. For her research, she frequently works with local and regional environmental and technical practitioners, including the Kentucky Division for Air Quality, the Kentucky Geological Survey, the University of Kentucky Recycling Program, and The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky. Cagle also directs the Kentucky Climate Consortium, a multi-institutional network of climate researchers and teachers across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Christine Smith is the Director of Seedleaf a community gardening and farming organization located in Lexington KY. Not only does she garden for a living but it is also what she does on here spare time along with knitting and occasional woodworking.

This event addresses the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Continuing education requirements

ISSP credential holders will earn 0.5 CEU's for attending this working session.

Recording

This is an interactive working session and will not be recorded.