Climate Resilience for Technical Professionals

Series Overview

The Climate Resilience for Technical Professionals Workshop Series blends knowledge from the technical and social sciences (including systems engineering, environmental philosophy, climate psychology, and deep ecology). The sessions will provide participants with practical tools and frameworks for embedding climate action into their daily actions and decisions.

The workshops are designed to be independently attended. Certificates of completion are available for participants who complete at least 4 / 5 workshops. This workshop series can be counted towards engineering continuing education hours.

Workshops:

• October 17th – Climate Crisis + Climate Psychology Fundamentals
• October 24th – Earth Listening as a Design Principle
• October 31st – Technical Micro-decisions and Climate Change
• November 7th – Climate Metrics: Beyond Sustainability
• November 14th – Climate Ethics for STEM Professionals

Purchase series tickets ($50 – 150 Sliding Scale)

Purchase individual tickets ($30 / Individual Workshop)

Email nick@climateparadigm.ca if pricing is a barrier

Who should enroll?

The content of the series is targeted at STEM professionals, climate allied professions, and leadership of corporate organizations seeking to:

• Deepen their understanding of the climate crisis (polycrisis).
• Engage in meaningful paradigm shifting climate action at a corporate level.
• Find a deeper sense of purpose in their work.
• Work with sentiments of anxiety or stress related to climate change.

Facilitator Bio

Nick Couture is a registered professional engineer and founder of Climate Paradigm Collaborative. He holds a collective 7 years of experience distributed across systems engineering, climate change facilitation, grief work, product management, sales engineering, marine data collection, industrial construction, wind energy design, and transformational coaching. He holds certificates in climate psychology, truth and reconciliation action, and business strategies for a better world. Additionally, he has been a life-long student of environmental philosophy, regenerative economics, social enterprise development, earth listening, world religion / spirituality, and improvisational creative practice (dance, music, comedy).

Facilitator Positionality

“I am a white cisgender male settler living on and working from the unceded traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking peoples, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations. I grew up in Winnipeg Manitoba on Treaty One Territory and went through post secondary education under a westernized system at the University of Manitoba. I acknowledge potential gaps in my understanding of systems change work as a result of the highly privileged position that I come from and am actively learning, growing, and porous to feedback related to my work and how it is being carried out.”

Workshops Descriptions

Climate Crisis + Climate Psychology Fundamentals

Overview

Maximizing the meaningful social-environmental impact of our work requires we must first hold a baseline understanding of what the climate crisis currently entails. This workshop will provide an overview of:

• Modern climate terminology
• Key concepts from the field of Climate Psychology
• An index of key tipping points
• Climate initiatives relevant to a variety of technical professions organization
• Reasons to have hope
• Common myths / fallacies related to climate change which stifle positive change.

Workshop Aim

• Create a uniform understanding of the climate crisis (polycrisis) which allows room for a diverse array of opinions and perspectives to co-exist in harmony.
• Clarify the significance of our global net-zero targets, summarize what our trajectory is, and identify the limitations of this framework.
• Foster a sense of urgency and hope in the face of the climate crisis (polycrisis).
• Equip participants with methods to manage eco-anxiety when engaging with emotionally challenging content.

Earth Listening as a Design Principle

Overview

Great thinkers throughout recorded history have allowed nature and natural processes to inform their work, design, and thought. It is only in modern times that we have fallen away from this process of listening in favor of anthropocentric world view. Participants will learn techniques for integrating the practice of “earth listening” into their work, reconnecting with the natural world and bolstering their familiar rational decision making process’.

Workshop Aim

• Provide participants with accessible methods for engaging in the practice of earth listening practice
• Increase understanding of how to incorporate nature’s voice into decision-making
• Increase our capacity to be with challenging emotions related to the climate crisis.
• Bring awareness to tools and resources for deepening the practice of earth listening.

Technical Micro-decisions and Climate Change

Overview

Technical professionals face an ever-increasing number of complex decisions where economics, social impact, and environmental considerations clash. The answers to these dilemmic decisions are often grey and time consuming to answer unless properly equipped. This workshop explores the process of making these micro-decisions and integrating environmental considerations into everyday engineering practices.

Workshop Aim

• Articulate the common ethical dilemma of balancing economic, social and environmental impact when making technical decisions.
• Generate a sense of empowerment by embedding eco-gestures and a deepened understanding of environmental ethics into daily actions.
• Cultivate a culture of environmental accountability and a process of decision making which prioritizes regenerative systems within your team.

Climate Metrics: Beyond Sustainability

Overview

Traditionally, carbon emissions are used as the primary, unified method for measuring a corporations climate impact. Many technical professionals do not have the time or academic background to confidently identify alternative metrics to measure environmental / social impact. This workshop will teach participants methods for going beyond traditional sustainability metrics to create a deeper sense of purpose in their work and measure of their project success.

Workshop Aim

• Educate on the limitations of carbon emissions as a sole metric.
• Develop methods for creating alternative socio-environmental impact metrics.
• Strengthen your team’s sense of purpose and autonomy in addressing the climate crisis (polycrisis)

Climate Ethics for STEM Professionals

Overview

This workshop explores this ethical responsibility held by technical professionals to develop internal systems of accountability related to responding to the climate crisis. We will also discuss the nuanced process of balancing economic pressures with long-term environmental and societal impacts. The workshop provides practical insights into integrating environmental ethics into everyday professional practices, and extends principles from the engineering code of ethics to other STEM professions.

Workshop Aim

• Helps technical professionals answer the question: “Where are the ethical lines between protecting the environment and well-being of future generations vs. working within the harsh economic realities of today and uncertain climate futures of tomorrow”?
• Develop a nuanced understanding of corporate responsibility which considers a more intense sense of environmental ethics.
• Use insights to embed your organization’s mission, vision, into daily practices

Additional Notes

Doors will close 10-minutes after the session starts in respect of the container that will be held unless advanced notice of a late arrival is given.

Please bring any tokens that are personal to you to place in the center of the room for the purpose of invoking a sense of connection to nature (i.e. rocks, acorns, leaves, trinkets)

There is potential to un-earth challenging emotions during these sessions. We ask that participants show up with an open heart/mind holding compassion and curiosity for the personal expressions of others as paramount. We also ask that participants manage their own anxiety / stress / sense of overwhelm and take space from the group if needed. There are plenty of comfortable spaces in the common areas of The Dock to re-ground.