In January, Transition Kamloops partnered up with the Kamloops Food Policy Council and the Kamloops Naturalist Club to deliver an ambitious, 3-step climate action program:
- Learn about the challenges around climate change and the solutions that are being implemented around the world
- Identify opportunities for building local resilience, based on our learnings
- Take action! Develop and implement our “made-in-Kamloops” plan
We were stunned by the huge response: almost 300 people expressed interest in the program, and over 160 signed up for the 12-week online course! Those numbers tell us that the last few years of wildfires and floods have already made the consequences of climate change very real for Kamloopsians—folks here are very motivated to do what we can to mitigate further impacts.
We’re over halfway through the learning stage now. The first module of the course focused on big picture issues: the ideology of endless growth, consumption, and ‘free’ markets—and how neoliberalism is driving climate, environmental, social, and economic breakdown. We learned about the importance of “the commons,” planetary limits, and new approaches like doughnut economics, degrowth and how various elements of the current crisis are inextricably linked. Most importantly, we saw the impact that grassroots organizations can have in transitioning to economic democracy and the social solidarity economy—the “how” of making system change.
Module 2 was all about land and lend tenure issues: should it be strictly a private commodity for private gain or a vital place/space/reservoir of life forms essential to meeting basic human needs? We saw inspiring examples from around the world of restoring land as a space where biodiversity thrives to support health, instead of withering under the weight of human systems.
Our seven (!) study circles to date have been well-attended and have spawned many great discussions. We’re seeing a lot of energy around identifying project ideas that we might like to take on in Kamloops.
We’re excited to announce that April 29th will be the day of our Action Fest: a one-day event to pitch action ideas and decide on a plan forward! Whether you’ve been involved with the climate action program so far or not, save the date!
Transition Kamloops and our partners are so inspired by the response to this program. Working together, we can make a real difference in the way that climate change will affect our community in the future. Thanks so much for supporting our efforts!