Day 22: Become a Climate Leader
Consider online training to up your game
If you want to take action on climate in your community but don’t know where to start, consider taking some training. You’ll find everything you need online. Below is just some of what’s available.
Climate Reality Corps Training (Worldwide)
Register from anywhere in the world for Climate Reality Corps Training, a multi-day free training led by former Vice President Al Gore, founder of The Climate Reality Project, renowned scientists and communicators. The flexible online program connects you with activists in your region.
You’ll not only deepen your understanding of climate change and racial injustice but also build a network of like-minded changemakers—community leaders, concerned parents, young activists, business leaders and more. You’ll also learn skills for raising awareness and influencing public opinion, pushing leaders to implement solutions and inspiring your community to take action.
To find out about upcoming sessions this year, fill out the form you’ll find here.
Citizen’s Climate Lobby Advocate Training Workshop (US)
We have the solutions to address the climate crisis. What we need is political will. The nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots climate organization Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) focuses on creating that political will.
CCL trains volunteers to lobby Congress for bipartisan policies that address climate change. Its climate advocate training workshops take place on the second Sunday of every month. Go here to register for the February 13th workshop. You can also watch a previously recorded workshop here.
In her book, Saving Us (see day 1), climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe writes about CCL’s founder,
Marshall Saunders once said, “I used to think that the important people were taking care of the important problems. I don’t think that way anymore.” He didn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing. His epiphany was simply that leaders don’t magically fix problems, even when they’re important. What Marshall realized was that ordinary people share the power to fix important things—and indeed, are the best hope of getting things done.
David Suzuki’s Activism School (Canada)
The five-week Activism School program will teach you how to launch a successful environmental justice campaign in your community and provide you with the opportunity to network with other like-minded new activists. The training provides workshops, support to help you launch a campaign and follow-ups on your progress. Choose what you’d like to work on—from banning single-use plastic in your community, to working on food sovereignty to resisting proposed fracking projects—and get help with the logistics.
Activism School runs several times a year. The last session took place in the fall. Sign up for emails here so you’ll be notified of the next session.
And check out this beautiful climate justice artwork for downloading, printing and posting.
In a world of more than seven billion people, each of us is a drop in the bucket. But with enough drops, we can fill any bucket. — David Suzuki
Climate Resistance Handbook from 350.org
Hone your organizing skills by reading Climate Resistance Handbook: Or, I was part of a climate action. Now what?, written by activist Daniel Hunter, with a forward by Greta Thunberg.
The handbook offers inspiring stories of climate campaigns that have won victories despite their seemingly insurmountable obstacles—rich and powerful corporations and their bought politicians. It debunks myths of non-violent social movements, provides practical advice for organizing campaigns and strategies for winning them. At 60 plus pages, you could give it a read this weekend.
A crucial book for a crucial moment. If you’re wondering “How can I help change the world?” this book will give you some powerful answers. — Bill McKibben, founder 350.org
If every youth leader had this book, we would be an even greater force to be reckoned with. — Hazel Macmillan, Youth Climate Striker
Go here to download your copy of the handbook.
350.org Trainings (Online)
350 also offers many online trainings to take according to your schedule. The topics include:
Having Climate Change Conversations
How Social Movements Win
Introduction to Campaigning
Advanced Campaigning Lessons
Fracking
Divestment
Go here to register to take these courses.
The guide “A Better World Is Paintable: How to make banners, stencils, street murals, parachute banners and more” provides step-by-step instructions for creating artwork for your campaigns. If you are at all crafty, you will love it. The guide even provides detailed instructions for taking photos of your event, including the crucial group shot!
Art always has been for and by the people. Making art isn't just about creating something beautiful, it's about the process of creating community and strengthening our bonds of solidarity. — from “A Better World Is Paintable”
Download the guide here. And find more resources here.
Please leave in the comments information about any other activist training you have taken or know about.
When I googled “Marshall Saunders”, I was given several web links to “Margaret Marshall Saunders”, a prolific writer from Nova Scotia. What a delight to happen chance on her name and information, she was the first Canadian writer to sell a million books with her book “Beautiful Joe, translated into 15 languages. Who knew? I will source her book from interlibrary loan after this post!. Thank-you! Does Google now realize I don’t live in the US? I had to put the quote you gave into a google search to come up with the Marshall Saunders you write about. When I clicked on your link for the site to make banners/posters, I was transported to my high school days when painting banners to herald a team with friends, to discover after midnight on a school night that we had not positioned our lettering appropriately to fit the last letter of our slogan. Thankfully art talent is manifested in my brother’s graphic design talents, my nephew enrolled at Emily Carr, another nephew in UBC film school, and my daughters’ anime skills. Interestingly, I signed up for email from David Suzuki’s organization, but I have never seen information on the activist education course. I had decided to try to quilt a piece of artwork based on an “ocean life” link from a post/request for funds in early December 2021, not seen amongst the artwork you displayed in your post. I had seen references to 365.org and never knew exactly what type of organization it was. So thank-you.
No, I know I am not going to be a climate change leader. I am going to be a resolute Canadian ambassador in the quintessential search for a Canadian clothing company that ethically sources their materials and produces them in a sustainable way wherever that may be, be accountable to their carbon footprint and fair labor alliances along their shipping lines, and demonstrate that they are paying a “living wage” throughout their production facilities and along their entire supply chains. This includes their customer service reps and sales staff in TO and Vancouver, two cities that you know have always been in the highest cost of living cities on the planet in the last few decades. I am not keen about crowds, the pandemic notwithstanding.
I have never been a fan of social media, as I did not need 6,000 friends. I am scrolling through TikTok and Discord as that is what my teenagers are addicted to, and as a parent, I have to know what they are watching. My young co-workers want me to follow them on Instagram when they return to the UK. I am baffled how none of these sites involves or encourages “conversation” beyond an emoji or less than a phrase.
I am also old, and the articles and statistics I follow on NPR and American digital magazines, based articles plus Canadian research I read, attest to my recent experience, that Millennials and Gen Z’s are open and inclusive to most typically marginalized groups, but are biased against and “dismiss” les gens over 50. I doubt they would rally with me.
I am astute at dissecting statistics from medical and genetic studies, biotech, health, and nutritional research studies. I know that statistics can be reported to promote a particular slant of the result, which promotes further gain or discredits information or a political interest. It is a very transferable skill set, easily routed to reviewing companies who green wash or advertising campaigns that are not telling the full story. I know the textile industry and that is what I will stick to. An Australian company has requested some research information from me....so. I will continue to shine light on Canadian clothing company practices.