CONVENING - Climate Justice Strategy Retreat

The 2009 COP-15 United Nations Summit on Climate Change is a key turning point in addressing global warming; the stakes are high and the battle for ideas will unfold in the conference halls, in the streets, on the web and in the media. Will the next 10 years of climate change see more eco-denial and exploitation, or a just transition to true green living? How can climate justice leaders intervene to frame that conversation?

SmartMeme is convening a retreat on the climate crisis, story-based strategy, and strengthening movements for ecological justice to explore these questions with leaders from groups like Movement Generation, Indigenous Environmental Network, Avaaz.org Climate Action Factory,  Environmental Justice & Climate Change Initiative, Katrina to Cophenhagen, Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network, Global Justice Ecology Project, and others. We're also collaborating with our 'cousins' at the Ruckus Society, Action Mill, and Design Studio 4 Social Intervention to host this reflective retreat to envision strategic social action for Copenhagen and beyond...

Goals of 'The Pause' Convening for Climate Justice:

•    To gather creative social change practitioners and climate justice leaders to take pause for reflection and analysis on the dominant cultural narratives shaping the discourse on climate change, and the discourse on how to solve it (i.e. “false solutions”)
•    From a justice perspective, develop story-based strategies and memes (both effective messages and creative action ideas) that could be spread by climate movements in the lead up to the December 2009 UN Copenhagen Climate talks
•    Relationship building with creative social change practitioners and climate justice leaders.

SPECIAL THANKS to Bluewater Farm in Andover, New Hampshire for generously donating the space for this historic conversation!

Check Back in August: We'll be working with Justin Francese to create a video about the Pause retreat and Climate Justice!