Climate Change at Home
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Photo credit: hsvall

This week on Terra Informa we listen to speakers at the City of Edmonton’s Change for Climate Talks discuss the challenges and opportunities for transformation that the climate crisis brings to our cities. Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Elizabeth Dowdell attended the event on October 3, 2019 and caught up with a few speakers after. We picked two talks that focus on how our homes and urban environment can be more sustainable. We’ll hear from Jocelyn Crocker about her experiences as an urban farmer, and from Kenton Zerbin, and his ideas about the potential of tiny houses.

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Jocelyn Crocker and the food revolution

YEGBeesYEGBees founder, Sunshine Community Garden coordinator, and Sustainable Citizen of the Year 2019 Jocelyn Crocker delivers a talk titled ““The Revolution is local: Why you should grow food not lawns” about climate change and urban agriculture.

Kenton Zerbin living big in a tiny house

International teacher, permacutlure designer, and entrepreneur Kenton Zerbin delivers a his talk “Living Big in a tiny house while saving the world”.

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FunDrive 2019
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Photo credit: Evan Littauer

This week on Terra Informa we share highlights from our annual Fundrive show, recorded live from the CSJR studio! Even though we are now post Halloween, I hope you’re not done with spooky stories because Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Charlotte Thomasson are gonna be bringing you some chills and thrills from beneath the earth – and no I’m not talking zombies. Special guests include Margarete Detzlaff, a PhD student at the University of Alberta, and Robert Rogers of the Alberta Mycological Society. Welcome to Scare-a Informa!

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Download program log here.

A Word With Severn Cullis-Suzuki

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Photo from Speakola

Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been an environmental activist, speaker and author in the public eye since the age of 12 when she addressed world leaders at the Rio Summit in 1992 about the climate crisis. Since then, her activism has taken her to many stages globally to speak to the continuing issues we’re facing and the need to encourage and uplift youth to be part of the movement for change. This week, guest contributor and former Terra Informer, Natalee Rawat, speaks with Severn over the phone about her experience in Rio 27 years ago, how to engage with our elected leaders, and her career evolution.

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Headlines

CO2 emissions being turned into soap

$10 million geothermal pilot project underway in Alberta

Recovery of the South Atlantic humpback whale population

Alberta Electric Systems Operator (AESO) projects the Alberta government will fail to meet renewable electricy targets set by NDP

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Why Aren’t We Talking About the Climate Crisis?
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Credit to Chad Kainz for the image.

This week on Terra Informa we talk about the roles and responsibilities of the media when it comes to reporting on the climate crisis and providing truthful information to the public about this global issue. Sean Holman, Associate Professor of journalism at Mount Royal University, and Dr. Joe Vipond, an emergency physician and Co-chair of Calgary Climate Hub, both argue that the media are failing to cover the climate crisis properly.

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Download program log here.

Thoughts on the Extinction Rebellion “Bridge Out”

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Photo from: Extinction Rebellion

Last week, the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR) held a week of protests to call attention to the climate crisis, including die-ins and “bridge out” blockade demonstrations in multiple cities across Canada. One of the bridge blockades was performed on Edmonton’s own Walterdale Bridge on Monday October 7th from approximately 7am to 8:30am. For this week’s episode, Terra Informers Sonak Patel, Carter Gorzitza, Andy Silva, and Charlotte Thomasson discuss what this kind of civil disobedience means in terms of climate action.

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Headlines

Millennials as a Voting Bloc
For the 1st time, millennial voters will make up the biggest voting bloc in a federal election
The Rising Power of Millennials 

Party Climate Plans Graded
The best and worst federal party climate plans, graded 
This week in climate inaccuracy: practicality vs. ambition at the leaders’ debate

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Science Communication with Kenneth Tam

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Photo from: ETH Zürich

This week, Terra Informer Sonak Patel sits down with Kenneth Tam to discuss the ins and outs of science communication, and nuances of working in that field. Kenneth is the communications associate for Future Energy Systems (FES) at the University of Alberta. FES is one of the largest research initiatives at the university, with 127 researchers, and about 506 graduate students.

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Headlines

The Narwhal – Microplastics may affect how Arctic sea ice forms and melts
CBC – Want to cut down on plastic waste? Here’s what the experts recommend

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Eco-anxiety and the Climate Strike

This week on Terra Informa, we catch up with Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore to talk about eco-anxiety and the feelings driving global climate action this past week. After the interview with Dr. Passmore,  we’ve got audio and interviews from the September 27 Climate Strike on the Alberta Legislature grounds.

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Eco-anxiety and Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore

Terra Informer Eric Bowling spoke with positive psychologist Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore. Positive psychology seeks to support people as they accept their past, feel happiness and excitement about their future, and contentment in the present. Dr. Passmore’s work focuses on the relationship between people, nature, and well-being, and has been published in numerous academic journals and presented at national and international conferences.

Climate Strike Edmonton

Last week, people around the world came out in record numbers to call for climate action. This week of action was kicked off and wrapped up by two major events on Friday September 20th and Friday September 27th. Canada’s strikes and marches were planned for this past Friday, September 27th to conclude this week of action.

Here in Edmonton, Alberta, an estimated 4000 people converged on the legislature building downtown, and an estimated 1000 people rallied in Calgary.

Download program log here.

Canadian Curriculum and Climate Organizing

Education concept. Books and textbooks on the bookshelf.

Photo: Vilson Frangaj on Flickr

This week on Terra Informa, we discuss the second part of a 2 part mini-series on youth education in the climate crisis. On September 20, 2019, Youth For Climate and other climate organizers staged a “die-in” in downtown Edmonton as a start to the International Week of climate action. Listen in for some audio from the protest, as well as interviews with organizers of Youth for Climate.

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Climate strike on Sept 27 at 1pm at the Edmonton Legislature

EDMONTON CLIMATE STRIKE

THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE

Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion still faces hurdles as B.C. landowners dig in

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Canadian Curriculums in the Face of Climate Change

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Photo by: Feliphe Schiarolli

This week on Terra Informa, we’re bringing you part one of a two-part series on youth and the climate crisis.

In part one, we focus on climate change in Canadian curriculums – or more often, the lack thereof. A paper published recently by Seth Wynes and Kimberly Nicholas, summarized in an article by Sarah Lawrynuik for The Narwhal, scores the curriculum of each province on different components of climate education and stacks them against each other. In this episode, Terra Informers Elizabeth Dowdell and Sonak Patel talk about their experiences and memories about what they learned, and what they’d wished they’d learned, about climate change in grade school.

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Stay tuned for next week’s episode, which will look into how today’s youth are taking control of climate action and education!

Download program log here.

Energy Transition in the Face of Climate Crisis
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Photo credit: Mack Male – City of Edmonton, CC BY-SA 2.0, no changes.

This week on Terra Informa we discuss Edmonton’s recent declaration of a climate emergency and what this means for the City, then Terra Informer Sonak Patel speaks with Sarah Van Wyngaarden about her work on district heating in the environmentally sustainable, zero-emission community of Blatchford – currently under development!

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Climate Emergency declared in Edmonton

On Tuesday, August 27th, Edmonton City Council declared a climate emergency. This declaration was made to support and speed up actionable steps to reduce Edmonton’s greenhouse gas emissions. Along with the declaration, the City also passed a plan to respond to climate change.

Follow the links below for more information…

https://globalnews.ca/news/5821850/edmonton-climate-emergency-greenhouse-gas-emissions/

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/valley-line-expropriation-impending-shisha-ban-top-councils-return

http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/cache/2/qqhwcuvz0ourtjtwpfgbxpma/8628550829201902404498.PDF

http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/cache/2/qqhwcuvz0ourtjtwpfgbxpma/86285608292019024048123.PDF

http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/cache/2/qqhwcuvz0ourtjtwpfgbxpma/86285708292019024050931.PDF

http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/cache/2/qqhwcuvz0ourtjtwpfgbxpma/86285408292019023916612.PDF

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/city_vision_and_strategic_plan/city-plan.aspx

Download program log here.