How to Lead Great Groups on the Climate Emergency
I led a webinar with the title “How to Lead Great Groups on the Climate Emergency without Knowing Very Much—You Can Do It!” I wanted people to lead more classes and groups on the climate emergency, especially within the RC Community.
Too many people are stopped from leading on this topic because they feel like they don’t know enough about the science or the politics of the climate emergency. I emphasized that getting people discharging about the topic is the most important thing to have happen in our classes, and we know how to do that. People need to discharge on what stops them from putting attention on the issue, from learning enough to have a conversation about it, from getting engaged, from talking about the many connections between the climate emergency and oppression.
I reminded people that having a hopeful tone is useful and worth discharging our way to finding. The key distresses people need to work on are the big ones from our early lives that are tangled with the current situation: fear, hopelessness, isolation, discouragement, and feeling powerless, insignificant, and overwhelmed. We know how to help people work on the early roots of these distresses.
The new Climate Change Initiative that Tim Jackins is circulating to the Pre-World and World Conferences [see the article “Continuing an Ever-More-Needed Initiative,” by Tim Jackins, on page 3 of Present Time No. 206] is the perfect topic for a group or class. A teacher can take people through the initiative, paragraph by paragraph, alternating between discussion, discharge, and thinking with attention. People can use parts of the initiative as a commitment and discharge on the implications of keeping that commitment.
Also, you can find useful information on these websites:
- Especially useful are <www.rc.org/climatechange>, <www.rc.org/publication/externalresources>, and <www.rc.org/coe>.
- The handouts at <sustainingalllife.org/resources/> are excellent subjects for a class.
You will also find a recording of my webinar here: <www.rc.org/climatewebinarvideos>
Shoreline, Washington, USA
(Present Time 206, January 2022)