Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition
FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE
In collaboration with the international movement inspired by Greta Thunberg, the KCCC has been organizing meetings to inform and network the local community for action on the climate crisis. On specific Fridays at noon there is a high quality and engaging session from a range of experts and advocacy groups on the causes, consequences and actions for a carbon neutral future.
Oct. 13 - How native plant landscaping aligns with climate efforts
Kala Willette - Kalamazoo Garden Coordinator with Adapt: Community-Supported Ecology
Kala will discuss some of the benefits of native plants and how the native landscaping movement and philosophy align with climate efforts. She will focus on climate change impacts on freshwater, discuss the vision and scope of Adapt: Community-Supported Ecology, and describe the basics of starting your own native plant garden. By converting more lawns to native, we can reduce the amount of fresh water used for landscaping. She will provide guidance to the process of starting a native plant garden. For more info: https://adaptecology.org/
Jan. 13 - COP27: Outcomes and Implications
Dr. Paul Clements - Professor of Political Science at Western Michigan University
Dr. Clements directs the graduate certificate program in Climate Change Policy and Management. He will discuss the results of the 27th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change recently held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in the context of the international politics of climate change.
Jan. 27 - Hydrogen and its Possible Role in a Clean Energy Future
Dr. Krystal York - Researcher at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
There has been some hype in the media about hydrogen lately, but can it actually help decarbonization efforts? And will everything just blow up like the Hidenburg? Krystal, who has recently graduated with her PhD in electrical engineering from Western Michigan University, will help you understand the basics of hydrogen, what do all the different colors of hydrogen mean, and its possible role in the clean energy future. She will also break down the safety and environmental justice considerations of hydrogen. Join us for a presentation and discussion to answer your questions about hydrogen!
Feb 10 - The Laudato Si’ (Care for Our Common Home) Movement in the Catholic Church
Sr. Christine Parks, Member of the Congregation of St. Joseph
Christine Parks is former member of the CSJ Leadership Team, and currently on the congregation’s LSAP Steering Committee, and CSJ/Nazareth Sustainability Committee. She will give an introduction to, and overview of, the Laudato Si’ Movement; the 7 LSAP Goals based in the concept of integral ecology; and how this movement has been embraced by a multitude of Catholic organizations, institutions & Religious women and men's Congregations across the globe—which includes making a 7-year commitment to come as close to carbon neutral sustainability as possible.
Feb 24 - Launch of Climate Emergency Month!
Jeff Spoelstra - Director, WMU Office for Sustainability
Jeff will unveil the purpose and promise of the month-long series of events, organized and hosted by the WMU Climate Change Working Group. Learn about activities happening across the local community nearly every day in March: keynote speakers, panel discussions, and student workshops. We will explore what it means to lead with justice in the face of climate and other converging crises, and spotlight action and momentum around emergency resolutions, sustainability plans, carbon neutrality commitments amid surge in youth concern and movement leadership.
March 10 - The Community Collaboration on Climate Change (C4)
Our Communities Deserve Climate Justice - Although we are all negatively impacted by climate change, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately impacted and aren’t genuinely represented in the current environmental and climate change movement. C4 provides the resources for our communities in the fight for climate justice. For more information: https://c4collaboration.org/
Recording
March 24 - Community Voices Series - Michigan Climate Action Network Members’ Meeting
This month’s Community Voices will feature groups advancing equitable climate solutions in Kalamazoo and West Michigan and the quarterly Members’ Meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss initiatives, actions, and upcoming events. Come ready to learn about Kalamazoo’s efforts toward bold climate action, get updates from MiCAN, and share your work!
This FFF will be hybrid. Live at the Kalamazoo Nature Center Cooper’s Glen Auditorium from Noon-1:30 pm (light refreshments provided). To join by Zoom, register here.
April 14 - Gardening and Composting at the Gibbs House - The Office for Sustainability at WMU
The Gibbs Site is home to the Gibbs Permaculture Research and Demonstration Site. The site serves as a living laboratory for students to implement their sustainable design solutions and projects. During this in-person event, we will take a tour of the site and learn about the composting program and gardening activities being conducted on site. This will be led by Dr. Krystal York (a previous Office for Sustainability employee) and current student employees.
Parking Directions: Free parking is available in the WMU Soccer Field Lot at Parkview Campus, Lot P7. PLEASE contact us at (269) 387-0943 or email wmu-sustainability@wmich.edu if you have accessibility needs and need to park closer to the Gibbs House. Path Directions: After you have arrived in Lot P7, follow the signs leading to the Gibbs House. The journey takes about 5 minutes through a parking lot, sidewalk and grass. Carpooling is highly encouraged.
April 28 - The Generation of Exception: Youth Action & Perspective on the Climate Crisis
Learn about a wide variety of climate-related topics through the lens of youth climate activists and young college students. They will speak about how their generation is especially inclined to notice/utilize the intersectionality of the climate crisis and the corresponding environmental movement, as well as how their climate activism is influenced by liberalism, the political sphere, and the rise of information and innovation technology. Finally, they’ll speak to their generation’s ability to counter climate apathy with empathy, and why this special strength is so suited to ensuring a healthy future for this planet.
May 12 - Ardea Youth Climate leaders:Peer Education and Community Connections
Members of the Ardea Youth Climate Coalition will give an overview of the Youth Climate Leaders program as well as what they have been working on this year. They will touch on their World Food Day community free meal event, how they created and taught 4 lessons for Edison Elementary 5th graders about climate change, their upcoming upcycling and mending spring event, and various other activities and tabling they have done in an effort to peer educate other youth like them on the climate crisis. Each Ardea member will go over their own "why" of being a part of this group and how it has changed and affected them individually.
May 26 - Carbon storage in forests and how it affects climate change.
Two Heronwood students will discuss how and why carbon is being stored in our forested areas. They will show how to measure the amount of carbon being stored in a singular tree and then in a heavily wooded area. They will also discuss what we are doing to manage the Heronwood property to reduce the affects of climate change. The Heronwood property is 90 acres of land that the Kalamazoo Nature center owns. It is the land that holds the building for their conservation biology class. They have studied the land throughout the last school year, and they used the forest to learn how to measure carbon within it.