Climate Compassion
CLIMATE ACTION
Salon: On The Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples, Nature, and Future Generations
Osprey Orielle Lake
On The Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples, Nature, and Future Generations: Reflections from COP21 And Going Forward
Join us for a conversation with Osprey Orielle Lake, freshly back from Paris and COP21, where she was out in the streets, advocating in the formal COP21 Blue Zone, holding a Rights of Nature Tribunal and bringing Indigenous and grassroots women from the frontlines to Paris to share their stories and solutions. Whether with a fist raised for justice, rocking a press conference, or creating a platform for voices rarely heard in climate negotiations (women, Indigenous peoples, nature) Osprey is powerful climate leader, bringing a rights-based approach to climate action and justice.
We'll hear from Osprey on why rights-based approaches are fundamental to the shift in worldview and behavior necessary to create a healthy, just future for generations to come, and why the voices of women, Indigenous peoples and nature are critical.
In addition to reporting back from Paris and what happened (or didn’t happen) at COP21, Osprey will engage us in an inquiry about how we can participate in climate action to protect future generations.
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, International (WECAN). She works nationally and internationally with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers, activists, and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future. Osprey is Co-chair of International Advocacy for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the visionary behind the International Women’s Earth and Climate Summit, which brought together 100 women leaders from around the world to draft and implement a Women’s Climate Action Agenda.
During COP21 Osprey hosted several events inside and outside the COP21 venue that gave voice to women, Indigenous peoples, and nature. She served as a Judge and was on the Steering Committee for The International Rights of Nature Tribunal, convened over two days in Paris, which is a unique, citizen-created initiative that gives people from all around the world the opportunity to testify publicly on the destruction of the Earth and its communities, while advancing an alternative legal framework for living in harmony with the Earth. Additionally, she organized events inside the COP and the Women Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change event in Paris, providing a forum for women from around the world to speak out against environmental and social injustice, draw attention to root causes, and present the diverse array of visions and strategies with which they are working to shape a healthy and equitable world.
Hosts:
Elizabeth Ferguson, Ph.D.
Elizabeth is a facilitator and educator in the practices of resilience and wellbeing. Combining the wisdom of psychology, contemplative science, internal martial arts and neuroscience, she offers an approach to climate activism that weaves self-compassion, social justice, and community building.
Jeremy Lent, Liology Institute
Jeremy is the author of Requiem of the Human Soul, and the forthcoming The Patterning Instinct: A History of Humanity's Search for Meaning. He founded the Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering a worldview that will enable humanity to thrive sustainably on this planet.
Upcoming Salons
On The Intersection of Environmental Justice, Social Justice and Engineering
Khalid Kadir
Albert Einstein once famously said “we cannot create solutions using the same kind of thinking that created them.” Join us for a conversation with UC Berkeley Lecturer Khalid Kadir who is offering new ways to think about complex global issues. No matter how technically brilliant a solution may seem, he explains, if it does not address the underlying political and social issues, it may create more of the same kinds of problems.
Join us in an interdisciplinary conversation including the following questions:
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How can we address climate disruption from a social justice perspective?
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How can we integrate technical and social/political approaches to complex problems?
Khalid will share some of his research and approaches in solving structural inequalities in clean drinking water access, among other topics. We’ll also watch a captivating short film written by Khalid, “Can Experts Solve Global Poverty” that is a brilliant exploration of the kind of thinking necessary to solve our truly complex problems.
Let’s talk about climate solutions together – bring your best ideas and your questions, and Khalid will guide us in some best-practices in how to approach a solution that respects the dignity of people bearing the brunt of climate disruption, as well as the “expertise” of those who are trying to help.
Khalid Kadir is a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, teaching courses in Political Economy, the Global Poverty & Practice program, and the College of Engineering. He received his PhD, also from UC Berkeley, in 2010 in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The focus of his graduate research was pathogen removal in natural water and wastewater treatment systems. In addition to the technical focus of his work, Khalid studied the complex role that engineering expertise plays in the politics of international development and poverty alleviation. His current research focuses on engineering pedagogy, the political economy of household water treatment, and technical aspects water and sanitation in emergency contexts. In addition to his teaching and research, Khalid has remained engaged with engineering practice. In 2005 and 2006, he served as the Projects Director for the UC Berkeley chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World. During this time he oversaw five projects focused on providing technical solutions to social and environmental problems. In 2007 Khalid was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work on water and wastewater treatment in Morocco. More recently, Khalid has worked on a number consulting projects related to water, sanitation, and poverty, both internationally and domestically. He also serves on the board for International Water Partners and the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water.
Links:
Article: Engineering Social Justice (Prof. Kadir featured in Spring 2014 issue of Berkeley Engineer)
Video: Can Experts Solve Poverty? (Written and narrated by Khalid Kadir)