As smoke again enveloped the Edmonton, Alberta area where I live and another health advisory discouraged outdoor activities, a sense of frustration occurred. This combined with our county having had the first ever evacuation order due to spring grassland fires, I just felt a blog post relating to this ongoing human-caused tragedy was called for.
As citizens and individuals active in the natural and cultural interpretive profession we have a communication and facilitative role to keep the dialogue going and impact people’s lifestyles on behalf of the Earth - our home. This role is about repairing our relationship with the Earth’s communities and natural systems, striving for harmony with all living things, and putting clean air, water and soil above all else. People often say, “It’s the economy, stupid!” that’s the key to survival, BUT counter that with “You can’t breathe, drink or eat the economy, stupid.”
When EID started our blog posts we wanted to draw from different perspectives, form more interrelationships, and break down silo thinking -- not just draw from the interpretive, educational and museum fields. Here are a few relevant items that have crossed my desk that focus on our climate crisis and I think promote interrelationships between fields.
Solarpunk Shines a Light
Being exposed to the concept of Solarpunk is an example of this cross-fertilization of perspectives we need in order to keep our profession relevant. This group is offering a digital conference on June 24 and this YouTube link will tell you all about it: Solarpunk Conference: From Imagination to Action Kickstarter - YouTube
So what is Solarpunk? Solarpunk is a social movement that encourages all of us to ask: "What does a sustainable, equitable future look like?" and "How can we get there?" These are the questions our politicians, businesses and communities should be asking on a regular basis. Our visitor centres and museums should be playing a stronger role here to really engage our visitors in the future of their natural and cultural heritage. Truly, is there anything more vital than this?
"Solarpunk is really the only solution to the existential corner of climate disaster we have backed ourselves into as a species," says Michelle Tulumello, a Solarpunk art teacher in New York state. "If we wish to survive and keep some of the things we care about on the earth with us, it involves a necessary fundamental alteration in our world view where we change our outlook completely from competitive to cooperative."
I recommend you start with the following introduction to Solarpunk on YouTube: New to Solarpunk? Start Here. Advice when viewing – the narrator goes at a fast clip so be ready to pause during the 4 levels of action steps or slow down the speed of delivery. It can seem overwhelming, depending on where you are in your lifestyle, at the present moment. However, the introduction is a comprehensive resource of strategies that potentially can be doled out in small doses to your site visitors…and for moving forward personally.
Rooted in Solarpunk’s philosophy, Canadian consumer brand Expedition Air employs upcycling technology to sell products like paintings and T-shirts made from carbon-captured material. Their consumer offerings de-risk the uptake of this novel material while helping to envision a future in which products and art, are carbon sinks. Are you able to support initiatives and brands like this at your centre?
Parent company to expedition Air is Carbon Upcycling Technologies, who have a reactor technology that allows material to be broken down and CO2 absorbed, creating enhanced concrete additives. Does your site have any future construction plans where you could use this upcycling approach?
Carbon Almanac - Where Kids Help Grown-ups Save the Planet
I am pleased to give a shoutout to the Carbon Almanac Network (CAN) who brought my attention to solarpunk through the daily email they send. I recommend subscribing to CAN’s daily carbon almanac email blast for ways to work carbon reduction into your lifestyle. dailydifference@thecarbonalmanac.org All heritage sites should be raising visitor awareness of this free educational service. One can also listen to Episode 102 of the CarbonSessions podcast episode, to get exposed to this movement.
The Carbon Almanac Network, a team of +300 contributors from around the world, deserve a mini-profile expansion. They worked together under the guidance of marketing guru, Seth Godin, to create a book called Generation Carbon about climate change. ”Now more than ever, we need established facts, a common understanding across generations, and collective action.”
Generation Carbon is a book of facts, not opinions and tackles the difficult questions kids have about climate change. In 3 days from April 29 to May 1,2022, when it launched, it was downloaded more than 10,000 times. Their aim is to get Generation Carbon to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of kids as long as the ever- widening network continues to spread the word. To receive your free personal downloadable copy of Generation Carbon: It's Time to Start click Generation Carbon – A Carbon Almanac for Kids (thecarbonalmanac.org)
The educator’s guidebook followed the 69- page climate almanac for children. In addition, Generation Carbon is a companion podcast where kids age 6-10 help grownups save the planet. Young changemakers are challenged to finish the eBook’s mission — the game plan is based on the multiplier effect to teach five adults about climate change using a bedtime study challenge, almanac exercises, bathroom wall fast facts poster, etc
The Climate Test Kitchen of California
The second news item spotlights the State of California that continues to step up with market- based climate solutions. As the fifth largest economy in the world, California continues to play a leadership role in policy making that deals with climate change and has been called a climate policy test kitchen.
In a previous job my colleagues and I were always being reminded that to be effective at successfully focusing effort and change agentry you needed to grasp - what gets measured gets done! In California, a key part of lowering greenhouse gas emissions is accounting for them and this is exactly what the state is setting out to do.
The bill that cleared the California Senate on May 30, 2023 would require companies that operate in the state and generate more than a billion dollars a year to report greenhouse gas emissions across their supply chains using a standardized formula. Climate disclosure is a critically important step to reduction.
Our public facilities, as well as corporations, need to provide this information and model the way forward. As a customer, investor, or a regulator it is very hard to compare voluntary, non-standard disclosures and expose greenwashing if nothing is measured.
Is your site willing to examine the environmental and social effects of your supply chain in the exhibit areas, the gift shop, or the café? Would you be willing to share this information with the visitor along with what actions you are taking to have less impact?
It’s funny (sad, actually) how corporations are trying to prevent transparency and do not want to be held truly accountable , by spending money on greenwashing and anti-emission reduction lobbying efforts, so “business as usual” can continue. Putting shareholder’s profits above the environmental and social health of communities is a reality we have come to accept. Can we turn around profit before people, to people before profit?
Industry lobbyists stymied a similar proposal last year. How should this impact our role at a natural or cultural heritage site? I believe it goes back to raising awareness of issues that all citizens need to be cognizant of, for their physical, mental and social well being. Modeling new carbon reducing approaches is something we could champion.
Courtesy Booth Hansen architects web site. With 217 solar panels, the building is LEED Silver certified, the first in the USA for a new children’s museum. Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview, Illinois.
Knowing that one’s visitors are in a leisure mood is an important consideration in how you approach critical topics but does not mean you shy away from them. Surveys continually demonstrate that our heritage sites have high credibility in the visitors’ minds so it behooves us to be that credible source of information. It is not about being a mouthpiece against certain industry practices but it is about being a mouthpiece for beneficial community well being. We in the interpretive and heritage site field all have an important role - let’s jump in and prime the pump with information that increases awareness and models actions for others that will benefit all the human and non-human passengers on the planet.
<a name="comment"></a>