Bioneers brings together a very diverse, discerning, engaged and reflective community, and the curated conversations around crucial topics we have been hosting recently (“Converstaion Cafes”) have proven highly popular and stimulating. Each session begins with a very brief presentation by one of the conference presenters as a “conversation starter” to frame the topic, followed by structured group discussion.

       Climate change is of course an existential global crisis that demands urgent collective action, but most climate activism doesn’t seek to address our shared trauma and need for collective healing. If we reduce the climate crisis to a cold, mathematical problem that can be solved by simply reducing carbon emissions, we will fail to address the deeply rooted attitudes and injustices that have led to the creation of a society that destroys ecosystems and people in the first place. This workshop invites us to broaden our understanding so that we can envision strategies that include heart-centered approaches to tackling the climate crisis. Only by really, deeply seeing and feeling our interconnections to each other and to the planet will we be able to move toward collective liberation. Join Bioneers’ Board Chair and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), Eriel Deranger as she explains how Indigenous movements can provide valuable insights into how we can move through trauma to heal ourselves and the planet. Facilitated by: David Shaw, Santa Cruz Permaculture and UCSC Right Livelihood College. Harvester: Jahan Khalighi, spoken word poet, youth educator and community arts organizer.