Solastalgia / Climate futures workshop

“Climate futures” is a discursive, participatory design workshop intended to provide an accessible, creative, and fun way of exploring different worldviews in the context of climate change.

As part of the Human-Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) master's program at the University of Washington (UW), our team started conducting research on the wicked problem of climate change. A few of us were intrigued by this tension between “divisiveness” versus the “diversity” of climate issues, so we decided to embark on a discursive route to further explore this tension. We designed this workshop to create space for exploring worldviews that don't typically align with the mainstream climate movement.

From April through May 2020, we conducted eight workshops and elicited responses and reflections on what a future world may be like in different socio-cultural contexts.

Finalized work
🎨 Workshop anthology
📝 Workshop guidebook
📖 Research & process book

For more information
✏️ Capstone showcase Miro board
📽️ Promotional video
📽️ Conversation with the team & Near Future Laboratory

Climate justice is racial justice

Frontline communities, which predominantly consist of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) and people in the Global South, bear the brunt of the climate crisis. However, we also observed firsthand how privileged white environmentalists would silence, exclude, and gaslight BIPOC and allies who speak up about systemic issues and climate, making the "mainstream" climate movement particularly toxic for BIPOC.

One key finding from our research is that climate organizations are tremendously diverse. Initially, we sought to close the gap between these groups, but observing the toxicity and racism in the mainstream climate movement humbled us and made it clear how crucial it is to find a group that will listen to your perspective with curiosity and humility.

We finalized this project in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, just as the uprisings against racism began. #BlackLivesMatter highlighted how deeply rooted racism is in our systems and how it intertwines with other forms of injustice. It highlighted how climate justice is also racial justice.

If you are BIPOC and are looking to join the climate movement, we hope some of the resources below will help you get started and provide you with the tools you need to avoid the toxicity and conserve your own wellbeing. Take care to look in the right places where your voice will be valued.

BLM resources
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Articles & essays
The climate movement's silence — Emily Atkin
Why your sustainability plan must include ethics — Aja Barber
People of color experience climate grief more deeply than white people — Nylah Burton
We're not in this together — Ajay Singh Chaudhary
A debate over racism has split one of the world's most famous climate groups — Geoff Dembicki
Climate change isn't the first existential threat — Mary Annaïse Heglar
Racism derails our efforts to save the planet — Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
The climate justice movement must oppose white supremacy everywhere — Mattias Lehman
Black faces, green spaces — Lauren Ritchie
Why every environmentalist should be anti-racist — Leah Thomas
Black women are leaders in the climate movement — Heather McTeer Toney

Resources for BIPOC interested in joining the climate movement

Understand what white tears are. Familiarize yourself with the DARVO technique, 7 Circles of Whiteness, and racial gaslighting is so that you can understand when colleagues are trying to exhaust and silence you. Ensure that you have genuine allies by your side. This report by the Rowan Institute demonstrates what true support in the climate community can look like. Remember that the "performatively woke person takes up a lot of space while the ally makes space." And remember that even the most critical institutions may not protect you.

Intersectional Environmentalist — Resources for intersectional environmentalism.
Front and Centered — Washington state coalition of climate justice-focused organizations.
Green Voices of Color — A curated list by @MaryHeglar
50 Black Voices in the Green Space — A curated list by @alluviamag

(This list is no longer actively updated but will hopefully still be helpful!)