Join author-speaker-activist David Chernushenko for a dramatic reading from his “climate breakdown thriller” Burning Souls.This tale of friendship and courage in a time of political and ecological unravelling will inevitably (and intentionally) spark a challenging discussion about eco-anxiety, active hope, facing the hard facts and still finding a way to live in ecological integrity.

David will read several chapters from his provocative novel, then help lead a conversation among burning souls. 

David, a two-term Ottawa city councillor who is deeply concerned about the planet’s ecological unravelling and the glacial response by citizens and politicians, is on an epic cross-country book tour. By electric vehicle, naturally.
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Copies can be purchased at the event, or in paper or e-book versions in advance. 
See http://www.davidc.ca

As the finale to a week of extraordinary climate action events, Drawdown Toronto hosted a “Solutions Summit” on Saturday September 28 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm in the OCAD University auditorium. 

The context and invitation:

The message is clear, young people everywhere are calling their elders out: “Your house is on fire! What are you doing about it?” “Global warming is real, it is human caused and immediate action is required to avert climate disaster.” 

And for the week of September 20th - 28th they instigated what proved to be the largest ever global uprising of voices in marches, teach-ins, strikes and protests. A coalition of local climate action organizations put together a calendar of events in the GTA for that week. 

Drawdown Toronto members participated actively in all these actions, designed to catalyze action by governments, institutions, companies and individuals.

Our message was also clear: It is NOT too late. Global warming CAN be reversed. And everyone needs to know it. The day was intended as an inspiring day of hope and resilience.

“Project Drawdown” is the most comprehensive answer to the question, “What should we do?” In fact, the 100 solutions investigated by a coalition of researchers are sufficient to ensure that humanity turns back from the brink of disaster, and begins lowering the concentration of greenhouse gases by 2050 (that’s the “drawdown point.”) 

The Program: (click on "video" to view the video for that program segment)

• 10:00 Open with an acknowledgement of the indigenous keepers of this land, and an opening of a sacred space for our conversations of the day.
  Opening community singing of "Oh River" by Mamuse, led by Monica Henriques
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• 10:30 Introduction to Project Drawdown (video)
  
  
• 11:00 Climate Action Organizers Panel. speaking on behalf of their organizations about the specific solutions they are advocating and how their actions result in reversing global warming. Speakers included:

1. David Suzuki Foundation - Malkeet Sandhu (video)
2. Fridays for Futures - Allie Rougeot (video)
3. Canadian Climate Challenge - Andre Forsythe (video)
4. Extinction Rebellion - Leslie Solomonian (video)

Panel Q & A (video)

• 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch Break ​(video)
  Monica Henriques leads song: "Sing for the Climate," adapted from "Bella Ciao" (traditional) by Nic Balthazar and Stef Kamil Carlens (https://paulettemeier.bandcamp.com/tr...).
  Lunchtime music organized by The Evolutionary Music Co-op: included Rene Eryn (windhorse-music.com) and Nadia High (Nadiahigh.com), with Najla and Thorne (her children) and Osman: world beats DJ and Drum master.
  
  
• 1:00 Solutions Panel​

Speakers included:

1. Owen Goltz of Riverdale Farm and Forest, organic “second-career” farmer, arborist, permaculturist, educator, and farmers’ market vendor from Inglewood, Caledon. (video)
2. Tomislav Svoboda, active transport advocate. Dynamic and engaging speaker with a broad knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions per transportation solutions. (video)
3. Jessica Ferne, Director of Global Health Impact, Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health (CanWaCH) addressed Canadian family planning-related initiatives around the world. (video)
4. Lloyd Alter, writer and design editor of TreeHugger.com and Adjunct Professor teaching sustainable design at Ryerson University School of Interior Design addressed solutions in the Buildings and Cities Sector.
5. Heather Rigby, Officer at Large and Resident Artist on the executive of Land Over Landings, a grass-roots, non-profit organization whose mission is to convince the Government of Canada to cancel the Pickering airport plan.
6. Josephine Grey, eco-human rights organizer, co-founder of Low Income Families Together (LIFT), co-founder of Foodshare Toronto and a founder/director of the St. James Town Community Co-operative and the OASIS Food hub pilot project, and Roxy Cohen, OASIS Food hub, Conscious Minds Camp (video)

Panel discussion and Q & A (video)

• 2:30 Open Space: a totally interactive and participatory session to allow participants to connect with people who are creating and enacting innovative solutions and even join together in collaborative action for the future.
• 5:00 Singing, Storytelling, cheers, laughter.
• 5:30 Ceremonial closing

​View all the videos of the summit here.

View the consolidated slideshow here.

And finally, check out the event write-up by one of the Summit panellists:
Solutions summit: How do decarbonize now, by Lloyd Alter

Thanks to the many--presenters, panellists, organizers, hosts, musicians, artists and participants--who made the event an inspiration and success!

Did you know that the number one solution to global warming is educating girls and family planning combined?

Drawdown Toronto, a project of Unify Toronto, held this Summit to spark a conversation on the nexus between climate and gender. 

About 65 participants attended this dynamic evening to:

• learn more about Project Drawdown’s comprehensive model to reverse global warming, and particularly the three solutions Project Drawdown has grouped into the “Women and Girls” sector: girls’ education, family planning and women smallholders; 
• hear from Ontario-based International Cooperation organizations and institutions about their programming related to the three Drawdown Women and Girls solutions;
• expand and share insights on how to contribute to climate change action in Toronto, Ontario and Canada, and move forward Women and Girls-related solutions globally;
• meet local and global organizations working in Climate Action and Gender Equality and learn how to get involved.
  
  

​Speakers:

• Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, Vice-President of Communication & Engagement, Project Drawdown (pre-recorded), on how empowering women and girls can help stop global warming
• Kristiana Bruneau, International Policy Specialist, UNICEF Canada, on UNICEF's girls' education programming and the links to climate change 
• Jessica Ferne, Director of Global Health Impact, Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health (CanWaCH), on sexual and reproductive health and rights and climate change
• Janine Hodgson, Manager of Program Development and Quality, Canadian Feed the Children, on Canadian support to smallholder farmers and the links between climate change, migration and child protection and sexual and gender-based violence (cancelled)
• Ana González Guerrero, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Youth Climate Lab, on Canadian youth perspectives on the intersection between climate and gender

Presentations by each speaker were followed by a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Eugenia Ochoa, Public Engagement Coordinator at the Ontario Council for International Cooperation.

This was the last of seven Drawdown sector summits organized by Unify Toronto’s Drawdown program.
See event invitation here (click on "here" and then on "view details" in the upper right corner of your screen).

For a captivating overview of Project Drawdown's take on the links between gender and climate, check out Dr. Katharine Wilkinson's TED talk, "How Empowering Women and Girls can Help Stop Global Warming."

To download the consolidated slide deck with the slides of each of the three live speakers, click here.

A full video record of the event, including a two-minute video of highlights, is available here. 

J. Wallace Skelton captured highlights of the event in this graphic record:

This was a collective effort! Deep thanks to the presenters; moderator; Eugenia Ochoa at OCIC for helping to curate the panel; graphic recorder; our hosts at Friends House; our sponsors, The Quaker Peace and Social Action Committee, videographers Andre Forsythe of Climate Challenge and Leila Mireskandari of Drawdown Toronto, and the many Drawdown Toronto volunteers who stepped up to make the event possible: Charlene Day, book sales and registration; Paul Overy, room set-up and registration; Julie Saunders, refreshments; David Burman, administration; Jon Love, Satya Robinson, event visioning; Mia Astudillo, event coordination and registration; Natalie Zend, overall coordination. 

​Join us to find out how you can get involved in Drawdown. Hosted by Charlene Day and David Burman of DrawdownTO.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the constant stream of stories about Climate Change (aka Global Warming) that imply there's little we can do about it, or that it’s not really happening? Are you feeling despair that the proposed solutions are too little and too late? Having pangs of guilt that you aren’t doing more? 

Well there is a research-based project underway to actually reverse global warming - to pull carbon out of the atmosphere, as opposed to merely slowing down the rate of emissions. It is not only possible, but feasible and eminently practical. The graphic record above, from the first introduction session on January 31st 2018, gives you an idea of the energy and enthusiasm of the 140 participants, and offers a sense of the possibilities for effective action. 

Come and find out what you can do to help reverse global warming!
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This very interactive program will present an inspiring, uplifting and empowering approach to the issue, based on the latest research from a team of over 200 scientists and researchers from around the world.

What kind of world are you passing onto your children?

What hope do they have for the future of the planet?

What are you doing now to create a better future?

Together in this symposium, we will explore the above questions by looking at: Where we are now, how did we get here, the new story, what is possible now and where do we go from here?

Saturday, June 8, 2019
11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Location: 23 Diana Dr. (Keele/Sheppard)
Sliding scale: $20-40 (to cover materials)

​RSVP to [email protected]
RSVP required! You're welcome to invite friends.

The AWAKENING THE DREAMER, CHANGING THE DREAM SYMPOSIUM is part of a rapidly expanding global initiative of the Pachamama Alliance, in more than 80 countries in 16 languages.

It's a totally unique workshop -- live facilitation and participant interaction are combined with a tapestry of video interviews, drawing upon leading edge information and the wisdom of our time, with some of our most respected global elders, luminaries and leaders. 

What you will get from this process:

• An experience that will change the way you see the world
• Reflection time away from your busy life 
• A mindset shift
• Access to a strong community of passionate people
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Seating is limited, and on a first-come basis (15 seats currently available).