The First Annual
A2 Climate Teach-In
May 7, 2023
1:30-5:00 p.m. at Genesis of Ann Arbor (2309 Packard St.)
Opening Keynote Speaker: Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor
THIS EVENT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS!
FOR PHOTOS, CLICK HERE
March 24-25, 1965
The first teach-in, protesting the Vietnam War, was held overnight at the University of Michigan on March 24-25, 1965. Over 3,000 people attended debates, lectures, movies, and musical events.
The teach-in received national press and inspired 35 more teach-ins on college campuses within the next week. By the end of the year there had been teach-ins at 120 campuses. Antiwar teach-ins were held until the end of the war.
May 7, 2023
The First Annual A2 Climate Teach-In builds on this legacy by addressing another critical issue which has been clouded by misinformation and a lack of coordinated action.
As in 1965 and the many subsequent Ann Arbor teach-ins, this teach-in is not just about teaching and learning -- it's about about community building and creating momentum for action. It's about bringing together individuals, climate action organizations, congregations, local government, and higher education to learn from each other, support each other, and find new ways to collaborate.
The biggest threat to our future is thinking that someone else will lead -- that someone else will solve the climate crisis.
To register to attend this in-person event CLICK HERE
This event is FREE. To make a donation to help cover Teach-in costs, click here
AGENDA
1:30 p.m. Opening keynote speaker: Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor
A2Zero -- the City of Ann Arbor's plan for achieving a just transition to community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030
2:15-2:55 p.m.
Track A
What Can I Do?
What and How We Eat
- Making small changes to existing diets, including eating more plants, grains and legumes, could help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.
- Where to purchase local food.
- Ideas for preparing plant-based meals.
- Disposing of waste.
Kim Korona, VegMichigan
Tom Progar, VegMichigan
Social Hall
Track B
What Can We Do Together?
Government Support to Help You Go Green
- Time-limited rebates and incentives for electric vehicles, insulation, windows, solar panels.
- Details regarding the City of Ann Arbor's $140MM A2Zero initiative and ways that you can participate -- and take advantage of benefits.
Conan Smith, President and CEO, Michigan Environmental Council
Missy Stults, Ph.D. (she/her), Sustainability and Innovations Director, City of Ann Arbor
Sanctuary
Track C
Advocacy and Justice
Local Advocacy Opportunities
- How can we as individuals and groups create the critical mass needed for changes in policies, regulations, and laws to achieve climate targets?
- What is advocacy and what difference does it make?
- How to get involved in advocacy.
Andrea Pierce, Chair/Founder, Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party
Stewart Vohra, Citizens' Climate Lobby
"Core" (lower level)
3:10-3:50 p.m.
Track A
What Can I Do?
A Zero Waste Lifestyle
and the Circular Economy
- More than 40% of our climate impact in the US comes from our stuff and our food — how we make it, haul it, use it, and throw it away.
- Rather than the linear "take, make, waste," the circular economy can keep materials, products, and services in circulation for as long as possible.
- What are easy ways to start living a low waste llifestyle?
Anya Dale, Manager, Sustainable Systems and Waste Reduction, UM Office of Campus Sustainability
Sam McMullen, Co-Founder, Live Zero Waste
Sanctuary
Track B
What Can We Do Together?
How Your Green Teams
Can Take Action
- Congregational "Green Teams" sharing their “why,” “what,” and “how."
- (Many congregations refer to their environment/climate action teams as "Green Teams.")
Beth Israel Congregation, Blue Ocean Church, First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Temple Beth Emeth, Zion Lutheran Church
"Core" (lower level)
Track C
Advocacy and Justice
Local Climate Justice
- Climate justice recognizes the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities -- the people and places least responsible for the problem.
- How does climate justice affect us locally?
- What is being done, and what can you do?
Denise Keele, Ph.D. Director, Michigan Climate Action Network
Erica Mooney, Environmental Justice and Generations Campaign Organizer, Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice
Jaron Rothkop, UM School for the Enivronment and Sustainablity (SEAS); Climate Blue
Social Hall
4:00 p.m. Closing Presentation: Shelie Miller, Ph.D.
Finding the Best Leverage Points to Make a Difference
Professor, Director, Program in the Environment; Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professor of Sustainable Systems; University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainability
Social Hall
4:20 p.m. Networking
Social Hall
Local climate action groups each assigned a table to display their materials and be available for discussion
- Ann Arbor for Public Power, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, City of Ann Arbor A2Zero, Climate Psychology Alliance, Climate Reality Project, Ecology Center, Freeman Environmental Youth Council, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Interfaith Roundtable of Washtenaw County, Michigan Climate Action Network, Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, One Less Bag, Resilient Washtenaw, Sierra Club, Washtenaw350.
Free vegetarian snacks
Why Networking?
- “The most important thing an individual can do for climate change is be less of an individual. Join together with other people in movements large enough to effect changes in policy and economics that might actually move the system enough to matter. You can’t do it anymore, one lightbulb, one vegan dinner, at a time.” Bill McKibben
5:00 p.m. Close
Masks are optional for this event.
Location
Genesis of Ann Arbor
2309 Packard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(The facility co-owned by St. Clare's Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth).
Sponsors
Promotional Partners
To register to attend this in-person event CLICK HERE
This event is FREE. To make a donation to help cover Teach-in costs, click here
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Contact us at info@A2ClimateTeachin.com
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