Session Summary and Speaker Bio

Session Title	Community Conversations: Imagining a Future Below 1.5
Target Audience	Grades 6 - 12
Session Summary	What does it truly mean to develop an action plan that looks at sustainability in a hyperlocal and holistic way? Moreover, how do we ensure that we center community care in our urgency to act, intentionally considering multiple perspectives and solutions? Join Maria Claudia of The Climate Initiative for a hands-on exploration of these questions. In this session, we’ll get rooted in what is at stake, explore the TCI Community Conversation Model and get curious about how we can implement innovative solutions within our local community. These exercises will orient us towards community-centered solutions and allow us to consider what action(s) each of us might take to combat climate change. This activity will ask us to consider how climate change might impact our relationships with the cherished areas of our landscape and offer resources to protect the places that make our community home.

Presenter

Speaker Name
Organization

Maria Claudia grew up exploring the beautiful natural landscapes of
Miami, Florida—this is where her passion for ecological stewardship
first began. After graduating college, Maria Claudia worked in
educational settings with experiential, place-based, and
interdisciplinary approaches to learning. She worked at The Island
School, a semester program in South Eleuthera, where she taught
classes in Waste Management and Climate ‘Artivism’. Within her
work as a Regional Coordinator for The Climate Initiative, Maria
Claudia is able to connect with educators, grassroots organizations,
and youth throughout the East Coast to build interconnective
networks for a climate-just future. The Climate Initiative is a
nonpartisan, science-based climate change organization that aims to empower youth voices for climate action. As an organization, The
Climate Initiative aims to educate, empower and activate 10 million
youth to become agents of change in their communities and beyond.