This blog post is food for thought and resonates strongly with Talking Truth’s mission — let’s talk about it!
“Building Personal & Psychosocial Resilience for Climate Change”
Some of us will be attending this conference in Washington, D.C. in Thursday-Friday, November 3-4, 2016.
You can come too!
“Building Personal & Psychosocial Resilience for Climate Change”
A Unique Skills-Building and Policy Conference on the Urgency, Methods & Benefits of Building Personal & Psychosocial Resilience for Climate Change
What You Will Learn At The Conference:
- The personal mental health and psychosocial impacts of climate change on youth, adolescents, adults, and high-risk populations and why major preventative human resilience-building policies and programs are urgently needed to address the risks.
- Methods, policies, and benefits of building personal resilience for climate change-enhanced traumas and toxic stresses.
- Methods, policies, and benefits of building psychosocial resilience within all types of groups and organizations for climate change-enhanced traumas and toxic stresses.
- Methods, policies, and benefits of building psychosocial resilience within communities for climate change-enhanced traumas and toxic stresses.
The conference is sponsored by the International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC), a network of mental health, resilience, trauma treatment, faith, education, disaster response, and climate change professionals promoting programs and policies to proactively build personal & psychosocial resilience for the impacts of climate change worldwide.
Imaging a Department of Empathy: Higher Hopes for Higher Education
First, read the article by Jay McDaniel.
Then watch the video, The Power of Outrospection
Earth Day 2016 Film and Discussion: The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism and Community
“Better than any film I know, it makes clear that our profit-oriented growth economy has caused the climate catastrophe and cannot itself rescue us from disaster. We need new thinking and a new way of life.”
– Tom. F. Driver
“The beauty of the film is that it calls me out of the closet. This film honors the wisdom of youth, scientists, clergy,activists, indigenous peoples, artists, you…If you are haunted by the stupid thought that heroics are needed to save the planet and you think, ‘I’m no hero,’ then this film will help you forget that nonsense. ”
– Jim Merkel
“You can’t talk about it. Mainstream society doesn’t want to hear about our sorrow for life on Earth.”
– Joanna Macy
Wednesday 4/20 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Floor 26 Du Bois Library
Teaching, Learning and Living on our Green Planet: Climate Action and Sustainability at UMass Thurs. 4/21/16 5:30-7:30pm
Teaching, Learning and Living on our Green Planet: Climate Action and Sustainability at UMass
- Pool our knowledge and experiences
- Reflect on challenges and opportunities
- Take climate action and sustainability to the next level
This is an event for visioning and planning related to climate action and sustainability (curricular and co-curricular) at UMass, and also a time to recognize and learn from seniors who have been involved in both. Students will have small group discussions within their year cohort, as well as staff/faculty/grad students, and then report out to the larger group. We hope to hear a range of perspectives.
Thursday, April 21 5:30 – 7:30pm
Du Bois Library 26th Floor
5:30 – 7:00 Community Conversation with students, faculty, staff
7:00 – 7:30 Party and Recognition of Seniors
Conversation, friends, food, good ideas – what could be better? All are Welcome!
Passion, Motivation & Action: Telling Your Story Tues. 3/22/16 12:30 – 2:00
Workshop: Passion, Motivation & Action: Telling Your Story
Tuesday March 22nd
12:30 – 2:00
26th Floor, Du Bois Library
To face the realities of the climate crisis, we must use our hearts and our minds.
Telling stories helps us to connect with feelings and dig into ideas that matter – to tap sources of personal and collective power.
Pause for a few moments in your busy day. Come for a fun (yes, fun!) gathering to reflect, write, talk, and listen. We will let simple, down-to-earth stories lead the way.
Renewables Are Ready – Wed. 3/9/16 7:00pm
Renewables Are Ready Short Hynes (Click for full presentation!)
Du Bois Library, 26th floor
With guest speaker, Pat Hynes, Director of the Traprock Center for Peace & Justice.
There will also be a brief update on UMass campus solar projects with Ezra Small, Campus Sustainability Manager.
Discussion to follow.
TONIGHT 3/4/16 7-8pm “Taking Steps to a Renewable Future” info session
Info session about Taking Steps to a Renewable Future, the walk to oppose the proposed Kinder Morgan NED pipeline taking place March 17th – March 20th.
Thursday, March 3rd from 7:00 – 8:00pm
Goodell Building, 5th Floor Lounge, UMass Amherst*
Goodell Building, 5th Floor Lounge, UMass Amherst*
Representatives from Climate Action Now and Sugar Shack Alliance will provide background on the walk and the growing pipeline resistance movement. More about the walk and how to register here: http://www.sugarshackalliance.org/
* Goodell is across from the Chapel and the Green, near the DuBois Library. When you come in the main entrance with the large white pillars, you are on the 5th floor. Just walk straight ahead. The Lounge is on the right down the hall.
Downtown Mindfulness offers 8-week course
Shalini Bahl, a graduate of UMass Amherst, runs Downtown Mindfulness in Amherst.
She is offering this 8-week course (introduction on 3/4 and beginning 3/8)
http://remindingproject.com/mbsr/
The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the UMass Medical School) has consistently shown reliable and reproducible physiological, psychological, and inter-relational benefits. There is growing evidence to show the structural and functional changes in the brain that take place after this eight-week program for better focus, problem solving, and empathy among other benefits in the participants.
Skills for Life talk by George Bennett
Here you can see the outline of George Bennett’s talk he gave at the Skills for Life workshop on Feburary 29, 2016.