Description

This session guides students reflection on how is climate change affecting us all; the connections between the realities brought up by climate change to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities; and the potential and urgency of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of working together. How to extend bridges of understanding and action between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples living in different countries?

Water connects us all

Consequences of climate change over water quality, water cycle, water availability, melting of the arctic ice, etc. have been identified as a primary risks to human and non-human species well-being, global security, and human safety. What happens in the arctic affects us all. Studying the consequences of water changes due to climate change it is possible to understand the importance that we work together.

Read pages 38 to 47 of the IPPC report on Water: https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-change-water-en.pdf

Activity: Choose three of the following issues related to water and view/read one of the applicable resources. As you do, consider how the struggles of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples are sometimes different and sometimes overlapping.

Issue 1: Changes in water/weather

• Alaska: http://www.aksik.org/documentary/aksik-documentary-film (Watch the first 12m)
• Brasil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnlpv_G8f94

Issue 2: Ocean acidification

• https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F

Issue 3: Sea Level Rise

• Fiji -Daku village-: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQChUea5n8I
• New York: http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/45202.html
• Florida: http://www.theroot.com/color-of-climate-is-climate-change-gentrifying-miami-s-1797516942

Issue 4: Freshwater availability

• Africa-Sahara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9m_2C-FgIQ
• Immigration in Europe: http://time.com/4024210/climate-change-migrants/

Issue 5: Melting Arctic sea ice

• Arctic sea ice and climate change: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-cha...
• Visualization: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4489
• Disappearance of Indigenous culture with sea ice: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/1...

Task

Blog Post

Read Sustainable Development Goal #13 (SDG#13) on Climate change: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg13

Create a blog post using reflecting on the following topics:

• What are the most relevant actions/targets proposed in SDG#13
• How do SDG #13 targets respond to the challenges created by the effects of climate change in water in both Indigenous and non-indigenous communities?
• What other areas do you think should be taken into account
• What elements would you incorporate if you had to build and action/target that addressed water, Indigenous peoples, and non-indigenous people. Provide a brief rationale that justifies each element.

Once it is complete, please post your blog here.

Reminders:

Although students are encouraged to work in groups to write their blog, each student is encouraged to post on at least two of their peers' blogs. (When posting your blogs, be sure to list the title as Country: Blog Name. For example, Canada: My Ecological Footprint)

Blog posts and commentary that students make will be used in the final product. Be sure to have clear, concise, and well thought out responses to one another and to the questions being asked.

Continue to 2b. Pre-Bilateral - Indigenous responses to climate change »