Invitation to November 19th / Glimpse of 2025

Join us November 19 to learn how Art of Hosting (AoH) can support meaningful conversations (Session #1), and to discuss strategies for inviting carbon mind shifts in the "climate fatigued"...

Nov 12, 2024

It’s a pleasure to invite everyone to this month’s Low-Carbon Conversations. Both sessions on November 19th address concerns expressed by participants and readers over the past year.

Some of you have been wondering: How do we create spaces (both in-person and online) for difficult conversations — spaces where people can lean in instead of turning away? And some of you have been discussing ways we can talk about carbon *without* actually talking about carbon.

November 19th honours both these topics. Below you’ll find information and links to join. — And you’ll get a glimpse of how we’ll greet the new year, with guest Kara Stone and her Solar Server (January 22, 2025).

A quick note to those who are new to this space… These sessions would not exist without the inspiration and mentorship of the members of Anne Pasek’s Low-Carbon Research Methods Group. Check out this diverse group of low-carbon methods thinkers HERE**.

Join us November 19…

Session #1 with Aksel Biørn-Hansen

“Hosting meaningful online conversations”

Join Session #1 Zoom (ID: 890 1914 7975 Pwd: 766906)

05:00 (San Francisco & Vancouver) / 08:00 (New York) / 09:30 (St. John’s, Nfld) / 10:00 (Rio de Janeiro) / 13:00 (London UK) / 14:00 (Tunis & Paris & Stockholm & Zagreb) / 15:00 (Cairo & Kyiv) / 20:00 (Jakarta) / 21:00 (Shanghai) / 22:00 (Seoul)

An announcement about Aksel's session in white text on a blue background, featuring a photo of Aksel and a link to join via Zoom: To attend, find the Zoom links here: https://www.cartsographic.com/offerings/low-carbon-wayfinding No cost, and no registration required.

White text on a blue background reads: Hosting meaningful conversations online can be hard, but not impossible. Art of Hosting (AoH) is an approach that offers a diverse toolbox of methods that can be used to host meaningful conversations and support co-creation, both physically and online. In this session, Aksel will present several concrete examples of online meetings where he and his research group have used AoH to host generative conversations about topics such as academic flying and sustainability education. This talk will be very practical and not so theoretical, taking low-carbon conversation participants through the breadth and design of these sessions with a focus on process. Participants are also invited to bring an idea or plans for a future online meeting to the session as Aksel will invite participants into a conversation and co-creation of these ideas.

Alongside a photo of Aksel is his speaker bio in white text on a blue background: Aksel Biørn-Hansen is a researcher and designer currently doing a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and is a member of the Sustainable Futures Lab. In his research, Aksel investigates ways to facilitate collective action towards low-carbon futures from the middle-out using data, design and participatory methodology. Apart from this, Aksel dabbles in alternative publication formats, and is keenly interested in deep and just approaches to sustainability as well as sustainability education.

Session #2 — Sharing strategies for shifting mindsets without focusing on carbon emissions

“Let’s NOT talk about carbon”

Join Session #2 Zoom (ID:897 4838 6160 Pwd:973284)

15:30 (Honolulu) / 17:30 (Vancouver & Portland & San Francisco) / 20:30 (New York)

Following day (November 20): 08:30 (Jakarta) / 09:30 (Manila) / 10:30 (Tokyo) / 11:30 (Brisbane) / 12:30 (Shanghai & Hong Kong) / 14:30 (Rotorua, NZ & Apia, Samoa)

** What might we offer folks who are “climate fatigued”? How can we reignite wonder and a sense of agency in this moment? Share your ideas and strategies HERE.

White text on a dark green background describes the Session #2 conversation goals: How do we enter into conversations with folks experiencing “climate change fatigue”? Many of us living in Canada and the US may have gathered for large family dinners in October and November, possibly navigating prickly conversations where we either stayed silent about climate change or shared our views only to have people turn away, tune out. In such circumstances, what alternative strategies might we use for inviting climate mindshifts *without* talking about carbon emissions? In a low-carbon conversation earlier this year, Daniel Pargman suggested humour might offer a safe collaborative and powerful space for confronting difficult issues together. Brian Sutherland’s solar DIY sessions offered another kind of agency in the face of fossil-fueled crises — empowerment through doing, making, repurposing. Some of you have asked, Could we invite people into climate conversations by evoking wonder? What might that entail? How do we imagine what might engage the different people in our lives? In this discussion, we invite you to share your strategies and blue sky dreams. What can we do to open up spaces of thought where people linger instead of turning away?

BELOW — a small number of ideas from informal conversations: ways we might engage people we know *without* taking about carbon.

On a white background, black text and black and white images from The Noun Project illustrate the title (Acceptable Offerings for friends, family and colleagues experiencing climate fatigue). Suggestions include hosting a post-holiday origami-making party to give used wrapping paper a second life; inviting a friend to watch a nature documentary or a sunset; participating in a shoreline clean-up or joining a citizen science project like Frog Watch or Stream Watch; offering to mend a favourite item of clothing for a friend, or hosting a used-clothing swap; de-paving a community space to make room to plant trees or pollinator-friendly plants.

And, of course, for those who love to tinker — why not engage in lowering carbon emissions by collaborating with a friend on one of Brian Sutherland’s DIY solar projects? — Share this video of his salvaging and solar-making session.

My gratitude to the artists of The Noun Project for the images above (starting from upper left):

Origami by Darwin Mulya https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/origami/ (CC BY 3.0); Origami by SHAHAREA https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/origami/ (CC BY 3.0); Chairs by WEBTECHOPS LLP https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/chairs/ (CC BY 3.0); Microscope by Tippawan Sookruay https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/microscope/ (CC BY 3.0); trees by kenzi mebius https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/trees/ (CC BY 3.0); Flower by Metami Septiana https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/flower/ (CC BY 3.0); Clothing Alterations by WiStudio https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/clothing-alterations/ (CC BY 3.0); Frog by pcymku https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/frog/ (CC BY 3.0)

What’s Next? — A glimpse of January 2025…

On January 22, the Low-Carbon Conversations enter 2025 with solar inspiration from Kara Stone and her Solar Server.

Solar Server: Low-Carbon Game Design

An image from one of Kara Stones video games features a slightly pixellated scene of clouds and various hues of blue. Text along the bottom of the image reads: "Another day on this doomed planet!"

In this talk Kara Stone will share the creation of Solar Server, a solar-powered web server running from her apartment balcony that hosts a series of videogames designed to be low-carbon. Kara’s presentation will cover the inspiration and process for building the server and design tactics for the creation of its first game, Known Mysteries.

Check out Solar Server’s Newsletter HERE and watch a clip of Known Mysteries. Read Solar Server’s Carbon Report HERE. Check out Kara’s solarserver.games HERE.

Dr. Kara Stone is an artist and scholar making work about the climate crisis, health, and sexuality. She primarily works in videogames and interactive art, and is an Assistant Professor in Critical and Creative Studies at Alberta University of the Arts.

Stay tuned for links to Kara’s Low-Carbon Conversation session (Session #2, January 22, 2025).

Low-Carbon Wayfinding