[BNS_members] Climate Circles Meeting & Action Project Formation

[Caroline Beddoe]

Hello,

This is an update about the Blomidon Naturalists' Climate Circles 
project, as one way that we seek to support nature and conservation in 
our communities. We asked in the fall of last year for ideas and 
feedback, and we heard: Our community wants to find and make 
inspiration, joy, and hope, to build community connections and networks, 
and to work together on local, tangible, achievable climate action 
initiatives. Climate Circles is seeking to help towards these aims!

_Join us for our next Climate Circles meeting to build community and 
launch ecological and climate-focused action projects!_

  Sunday January 29th
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Valley Community Learning Association's Community Hub
118 Oakdene Ave, Kentville

We have chosen to go forward with hosting in Kentville after compiling 
the results of what we heard in late 2022 during our community 
engagement sessions. We encourage mask-wearing at this in-person event 
and will continue to reflect on other hosting options if our capacity to 
host increases. Thanks for understanding!

While we recognize it is fairly short notice, the Climate Circles team 
of Sarah, Emily and Caroline have been busy bees behind the scenes 
integrating what we heard from people, reflecting on barriers and 
opportunities, working with our super insightful advisory team, 
submitting numerous grants to increase our capacity, and working around 
holidays and sickness.... Right now, we have a lower capacity to host 
the full vision of what we heard and dream for climate circles and local 
climate work but we are motivated by the energy and generous support of 
your donations and support in other ways, and have a plan for monthly 
meetings for connection, knowledge sharing, support and fun, with action 
work and organizing happening outside of those meetings too.

_Read on for the full details!_

Who is Climate Circles for?

Anyone who is interested in working on local climate action! Climate 
action can take so many forms, so we strongly believe that everyone has 
something to offer and a place at the table, and we acknowledge and 
embrace the many ways that climate action looks.

We also welcome you if you are seeking community connection, a space for 
inspiration and solidarity, and an eagerness to work with others towards 
common goals. We recognize the barriers for certain people to engaging 
in these types of spaces, and we are reflecting and learning on how to 
ensure an inclusive and respectful environment where all feel heard and 
comfortable.

What to expect?

We will gather as a community interested in working together on climate 
projects in our local area. We will start in a circle, with 
introductions, some discussion prompts for joy, hope and connection, and 
some co-creation of our expectations and guidelines for our time 
together. The bulk of the meeting will be focused on workshopping 
tangible climate action project ideas, setting goals, and forming 
preliminary working groups.

We will offer a list and templates of suggested action project ideas 
based on what we have heard coming to the fore within our community and 
at our sessions in 2022. There will also be the opportunity to share and 
garner support and a team for an idea you may have in addition to these, 
so please bring it if so! We will engage in world café style facilitated 
sessions to workshop our local climate action projects, determine main 
goals and priorities, identify gaps or new perspectives, and form action 
groups to continue working on these projects outside of the Climate 
Circles meetings.

We will determine needs for our monthly meetings and the structure for 
communication, supporting, networking and connection between meetings.

We will also outline other ways to get involved and engaged instead of 
or in addition to the action project groups.

What's the commitment?

Right now, we will host monthly climate circle meetings in-person to 
socialize, connect, find joy, intentionally learn together (e.g. 
facilitated course/workshops/experience and knowledge-sharing 
opportunities), and provide structure, accountability and energy towards 
our local action projects.

You don't have to commit to a group action project. We are seeking 
support in other ways (and hey, this is climate action too because it 
supports our community mobilizing and convening work), such as bringing 
food, helping with set-up, etc. Even just showing up to connect with 
people!

How to show up?

As you are! All feelings around climate change are welcome here, we hold 
space for joy and grief and everything else that comes with living in 
these challenging times.

Some desire and appreciation for groupwork and working with new 
perspectives is good, but there are ways for all to get involved and 
taking action.

If you have a specific action idea, but need advice and a team to get it 
going, bring it!

If you want to bring a snack to share, great! Or perhaps some good news 
story? Or an update about a project you are working on. All great ways 
to contribute.

Carpooling:

We recognize that some people may travel from outside of Kentville, 
including our many Wolfville-area climate active community members. We 
are trialling the Kentville location given other features and a desire 
for this space, but want to ensure everyone can come. Need a lift? Want 
to offer a drive. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/5f3ESNRvJrJioheD8 [1]

More information:

For more information on Climate Circles, how to get involved, or for 
questions around accessibility, participation or more please contact 
Caroline coordinator at blomidonnaturalists.ca

There will be tea. We welcome contributions to the potluck snack table.

The VCLA community hub is physically accessible, and an elevator is 
available for access to the upper level.

Warmly,

Caroline & Sarah

-- 
Caroline Beddoe
  She/her
  613-619-1098
  Program Coordinator
  Blomidon Naturalists Society
  Wolfville, Nova Scotia

_ Blomidon Naturalists Society activities take place in Mi'kma'ki, the 
traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. We 
acknowledge that we have a responsibility to honour and learn about 
their histories and current cultures and to actively work in support of 
reconciliation. We are committed to fostering respectful and sustainable 
relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of this land, with all other 
organisms, with the land and with the water._

Links:
------
[1] 
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.gle%2F5f3ESNRvJrJioheD8%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1fxEj0UzfKMvSXgBo--7cYC2_8chE23id9WTBLnswq6Auq9k9LtEgjayo&h=AT16k58IY-WQxDYHudswXqd6co9prDhp0-Jt_aRJCTxmjbGX6yunprCmuqOCV4tq44fdlfTZWlLXALGCGVpMTFvMrzNa_0y8GcVbhrCYL-j1PiMwiUIXZY5PeOly3m-X0j7llSL5JA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0Ow4kzG_NsiLfN-U0F33vbfq1rEzAn1TYv8MHyEhvF1t45LcqbR24Wlv2pn0EBcjCgdY9UQdmoVBrwAVQAU_2g2LB8sT8SKgrK2l7cTbh98iyqCd8W1CYfkk-mJCfkpD5dEeQ1OLReulpMc-lNIoSdEU93CEZT6J7L025BCz522vXPFdrpMGrkwCi3f-oOSAMMRpLnceCF
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://blomidonnaturalists.ca/pipermail/members_blomidonnaturalists.ca/attachments/20230123/786fb695/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Jan 2023 Climate Circles.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1046034 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://blomidonnaturalists.ca/pipermail/members_blomidonnaturalists.ca/attachments/20230123/786fb695/attachment-0001.png>