By Taylor Panneck
The concept of climate change is such a large topic to wrap the brain around that it’s sometimes hard to see the personal effects that it has on your life and the lives of those around you. In a recent facilitation workshop, ICAD student facilitators created a conversation around the personal effects of climate change for a group of first-year students at James Madison University. In order to keep the conversation more specific and personal, the conversation explored areas such as fast fashion and consumption habits, choice of “place” for both travelling and living, and how messages on climate change are framed in the media. Through the discussion, students were able share and hear from their peers what they knew about climate change to ultimately help the group think through and reflect on how small steps can impact the big picture.
Knowledge: Old and New
A common theme during the discussion was the lack of realization by some participants that climate change is an issue that impacts them personally. Both during the conversation and in reflection afterward, students expressed how they had not thought about the effects of deforestation, the idea of “location” impacting where they would live after graduation, how fast fashion negatively affects the climate, and more. This conversation was especially impactful because it was a way for participants to not only share their perspectives, but also learn from others on what they considered to be the most visible ways they saw the impacts of climate change in their own lives.
Thinking for the Future
Participants openly expressed that they were likely to change their ways through small actions after having this conversation. A lot of participants really expressed that the “why” of these changes was for the future of their families or children. One participant shared, “I want to make changes in my own habits and gain more information regarding climate change for the future of my family and the future of animals’ lives and the world itself.” Another broad change that many wanted to take was to focus on thrifting instead of buying fast fashion, and to overall focus on more sustainable consumption habits. A participant reflected “The changes I would like to make is when buying items, to find sustainable products so there is no need for multiple purchases for the same items.” These are just small snippets of a conversation that took so many different angles and reached a lot of ways that each person could relate to the topic of climate change.
With climate change being such a complex issue, each person has different aspects that they resonate with and think about most. By discussing multiple facets of the issue, it was easier for participants to understand just how many ways it can be viewed and learn from each other. One participant mentioned something that a lot of groups were really working through in this workshop, “Fixing climate change takes a collectivist approach, so if everyone has the mindset of ‘oh, I’m the only one being sustainable, it’s not worth it’ we aren’t going to reach the end goal of fixing the problem.” It takes conversations like these to help people realize that we have the ability to come together and have an impact in each of our own small (but important) ways. A productive dialogue is one in which participants can learn from one another and understand personal perspectives, and this conversation on climate change definitely hit the mark.