Engage with issues of climate change on global and local levels
PSPDG was proud to present Penn Climate Action Symposium, an event designed to foster community engagement with issues of climate change through global and local routes. We came together with students from University City and members of the greater Philadelphia community to participate in this event featuring World Climate Simulation, a UN-style simulation of climate agreement negotiations, as well as talks and panels on environmental justice and community-based activism.
Climate Action Symposium took place fully online and spanned over two days with World Climate Simulation taking place on October 26 1:00pm-6:00pm and talks and panels taking place on October 27 1:00pm-6:00pm. Admission was free.
Schedule
World Climate Simulation
Adopted from https://www.climateinteractive.org/tools/world-climate-simulation/
The World Climate Simulation is a UN-style simulation of climate agreement negotiations. This simulation has been developed by Climate Interactive, the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and U-Mass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative. This in-person simulation allows you to take on the role of a diplomat and experience the dynamics of high-level negotiations on climate action at the United Nations. The simulation utilizes an interactive computer model C-ROADS that will rapidly analyze the results of negotiations and present them to participants throughout the gameplay. Through the World Climate Simulation, you will experience first-hand the need for fast global action that nations must take to stop the climate emergency.
Read about World Climate Negotiations Simulation and C-ROADS tool here.
Speakers and Panelists
Keynote Speaker
Dr.
David Naguib Pellow
Dr. David N. Pellow is the Dehlsen and Department Chair of Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project at UCSB. Dr. Pellow is a renowned researcher in the fields of Environmental Justice, Social Change, and Social Movements. He earned his B.A. in Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1992. His M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University were awarded in 1998.
Dr. Pellow is a prolific author who published a number of works on environmental justice issues in communities of color in the U.S. and globally. Just some of his books include: What is Critical Environmental Justice? (Polity Press, 2017); The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden (with Lisa Sun-Hee Park, New York University Press, 2011); Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice (MIT Press, 2007); and many more.
Dr. Pellow’s expertise on climate change encompasses local, national, and international action, and he is dedicated through his research and activist work to improving living of BIPOC communities and the working class. To this end, he has served on the Boards of Directors of several community-based, national, and international organizations, including the Global Action Research Center, the Center for Urban Transformation, the Santa Clara Center for Occupational Safety and Health, Global Response, Greenpeace USA, and International Rivers.
Panelists
Gabriella Paez
Gabriella Paez is environmental community activist from Northeast Philadelphia. Gabriella received her bachelor degree in Biology from Eastern University. She then obtained her masters from University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice in Non-profit leadership with focus on public and organizational management. With her passion for community organizing and science education, Gabriella joined Esperanza, a social benefit organization. As Esperanza’s Education and Community Development Coordinator, Gabriella is committed to strengthening Hispanic community through education, housing & economic development, immigration legal services, job training, and advocacy.
In 2018, Gabriella Paez was recognized as activist of the year by SustainPHL for her work on managing the Hunting Park Community Collaborative and the Hunting Park Community Science Network. In addition to Hunting Park projects, Gabriella leads NeighborCare program that funds greening and cleaning projects. Gabriella believes that language should not be a barrier to learning about sustainability; thus, she also leads the implementation of Esperanza STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education outreach in the community.
Darin Toliver
Darin Toliver is the Associate Director of African-American Resource Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He has over 20 years of professional experience in social work, in the areas of childhood development, mental health, and education. Darin holds a B.A in Political Science from Temple University and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work. Darin serves as the chairperson for the Men of Color and is a co-chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium.
As a lifelong community advocate, Darin is an acting Commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission of African American Males (MCAAM), a position appointed by former Mayor Michael Nutter and current Mayor James Kenny. MCAAM studies the conditions of Black men in Philadelphia and provides yearly reports and recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, and relevant organizations on how to affect positive outcomes for Black men and boys. Darin is currently a PhD candidate, working on his PhD in Social Work Education at Widener University, with a particular interest in evidenced-based research and strategies that will decrease gun violence.
Dr. Katera Moore
Dr. Katera Moore is the Director of the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania's Netter Center for Community Partnerships and an Associate Fellow with the Center for Public Health Initiatives. Dr. Moore received both her BA in Urban Studies and her Masters of Environmental Studies from The University of Pennsylvania. Using a National Science Foundation fellowship, she earned her Ph.D. in Earth & Environmental Science and certificate in Africana Studies at The Graduate Center in New York. She also has a certificate in Institutional Research & Assessment for Higher Education Decision Making.
Dr. Moore is an urban geographer who thinks critically about the political and economic structures that create inequality, and considers food justice and health disparities to be an outcome of residential segregation. She is passionate about place-based education and is an experienced K-16 educator. Through her management of Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, Dr. Moore works with select high school students to provide job training and leadership development, particularly in urban agriculture and peer nutrition education.
Moderators
Dr. Billy Fleming
Billy Fleming, PhD is the Wilks Family Director of the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology in Penn's Weitzman School of Design and a Senior Fellow with Data for Progress. His work focuses on the intersection of science, politics, and design as they pertain to climate change. He is the lead author of "The 2100 Project: An Atlas for the Green New Deal" and a co-editor of the forthcoming book An Adaptation Blueprint. Prior to joining Penn, he worked as a landscape architect, city planner, organizer, and policy adviser in the Obama Administration's White House Domestic Policy Council.
Featured Organizations
Citizen’s Climate Lobby
Citizen’s Climate Lobby is a grassroots, nonprofit, nonpartisan group of climate advocates with hundreds of local chapters across the United States, and abroad. Our sole purpose is what we see as the #1 most impactful solution to the climate emergency – currently introduced in the US House of Representatives as HR. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. This bipartisan carbon fee and dividend policy is designed to drastically reduce emissions while saving lives, creating jobs and supporting low-to-middle income households through the transition to a clean energy economy. It has been vetted by top government advisors, climate scientists and economists in the US.
CCL members experience the comradery and optimism of like-minded, can-do teams, through a highly organized system of training and support. Learn how to influence the political process on a local and national level to raise the awareness and get this bill passed. Pennsylvania may be a pivotal state in the passage of this legislation. The Philadelphia Chapter is a diverse group of residents concerned about the climate, including small business owners, scientists, artists, students, medical doctors and educators.
Find out more at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/chapters/PA_Philadelphia/ and for Higher Education: https://citizensclimatehighered.org
Sunrise Movement
Sunrise Movement is a youth-led political movement that focuses on climate change activism both through electoral and direct action. First coming into prominence in 2017 through it’s support of congressional candidates advocating for Green New Deal and achieving many victories during 2018 elections. Together with Justice Democrats and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the group organized a sit-in in the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi later that year garnering broader media and public support of Green New Deal.
Sunrise movement operates under guiding principles of equality, environmental justice, compassion, accessible education about climate, and power of shared stories and vulnerability. The movement has hubs all over United States and has grown tremendously since it’s inception. Throughout these hubs, Sunrise members advocate for Green New Deal, help elect local politicians, and participate in the “We are Wide Awake” action, a campaign to interrupt sleep of politicians who refuse to accept the reality of climate change. In addition to their electoral and activist work, the group runs the Sunrise School, an online community to teach young activists necessary skills to confront the climate crises.
Find out more at https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ and find Philly Hub here: https://www.sunrisephilly.org/
