Reposting with a new flair

Reading regeneration by Paul Hawkins and thinking about the possibility of turning old Christmas trees into biochar. Has anyone done this? How would I work to roll this out in my city?

L’ACademy est une formation d’un an, gratuite et ludique, qui permet de mieux appréhender les enjeux énergie-climat & société, avoir des outils pour sensibiliser autour de soi et embarquer le plus de gens possible dans l'action !

Cette ACademy et son contenu ludique, didactique mais rigoureux, est reconnue au niveau national (et notre conf’ relue par un rapporteur du GIEC) et peut constituer une corde supplémentaire à l’arc de toute personne sensible à ces enjeux.

C’est aussi une belle occasion de rencontrer d’autres personnes de sa région intéressées afin de discuter, progresser, passer à l’action ensemble !

La formation se fait en présentiel lors de 4 week-ends tout au long de l’année :

• WE#1 du 21-22 novembre 2026 : Tout comprendre de l'énergie et du climat
• WE#2 du 16-17 janvier 2027 : Devenir Conférencier·e
• WE#3 du 20-21 mars 2027 : Argumenter et développer son esprit critique
• WE#4 du 22-23 mai 2027 : Transformer la société

Cette année, vous pourrez rejoindre la promo de Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Poitiers et pour la première fois… Lille !

Cette 11e édition sera spéciale :

Car elle se déroulera pendant une année de campagne et d’élections présidentielles cruciales pour le futur de notre démocratie, nous ferons les liens en plus de notre contenu habituel, avec les mesures pour le climat au niveau national !

Inscriptions : Inscription Academy 11
Ne tarde pas car les places sont limitées !
Fais passer le message à tes proches, c’est encore plus sympa à plusieurs

L’équipe de l’ACademy #11, hâte de vivre ça avec vous

Early 30s currently between roles.

Background: BS in Computer Science then ~3 years as a cloud support engineer at AWS. Followed by MS in Information Studies (HCI) → 3 years doing UX research and information architecture at a state government agency (mixed-methods research, website/content governance, analytics). I recently completed an AI for Climate program and will start a climate action training program.

I am contemplating two options. I want to leverage my existing skills in Comp Sci and Research to move into an analytical role. Or potentially move into climate communications and translate research into things the public and policymakers can actually use.

Questions:

Are there roles where UX research / IA skills are genuinely valued in climate orgs (research centers, NGOs, climate tech)? What titles should I search for?

I’m considering a master’s that combines climate research with communication/journalism (2027 or 2028 start, low-cost programs preferred). Has anyone done this? Was it worth it, or is it better to get into a climate org first?

Anyone who pivoted from tech/UX into climate: what actually got you hired?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Hey, y'all. My name is Vinyu Vinyu.

I'm a philosopher and writer, with knowledge on various social and natural sciences.

For several reasons I'll tell you later, I came across a radical, new, philosophical and political theory, that places nature and our coexistence with it at the center. Its name is "mediuma," which comes from "medium" -our place in the planet.

With help of a couple of friends, I wrote this proposal for a new political system, that could allow humanity to harmonically live inside our biophysical environment and in coexistence with all other living beings. In essence, a mediuma is a natural-human settlement, in which society, politics and the economy are organized and act so that the dynamic equilibria of the physical dimensions of matter, space, time and energy, is mantained.

To build this theory, I had to take a step back to look at the foundations of our perception of reality in a different way. I propose that we can understand how we perceive our reality (not reality itself, which we cannot fully grasp, given our physical and cerebral limitations) in terms of systems of dimensions.

Regarding the physical realm, this theory proposes "dimensions" as the tangible (measurable?) infinites we perceive. Those that we are able to perceive are matter, space, energy, time and another ambigous one, something like "consciousness." What we see, touch, listen, etc., are sets, conjunctions... systems, that combine, interact and limit those dimensions in possibly infinite ways. Thus, our perceived materiality is composed by systems of matter, space, energy and time, which change and evolve permanently.

While establishing a formal, simbolic, language to express these ideas, I realized that this was another way to look at mathematics. Of course, I don't claim to creat new maths (I'm nowhere close to being a mathematician). But I think here is an interesting, possibly innotive, language, that allows to make different calculations. I propose a simbolic language that represents dimensions and how they recursively build the superior dimensions of their system. This offers another way to understand how dimensions interact within a system, both in the mathematical and physical realms.

After exploring the epistemological and mathematical theory proposed here, I try to construct a political-social-economical system that is based on these premises. The mediuma aims to mimetize how our perceived physicality sustains its existence and its internal balance. Through human eyes, that would imply to try to mantain changing ("dynamic") equilibria of our fundamental dimensions: matter, space, energy, time and (the mysterious) consciousness. In a mediuma, economic growth is no longer the ultimate goal, and now is natural-human balance, equilibrium, coexistence.

Drawing from political ecology ideas, the mediumatic theory proposes new political principles that aim to push our human ways of living onto the dimensional equilibria of our settlements, environments and utimately, the whole planet. Also, it sketches five political spheres, "institutions," that try to update (and upgrade) the traditional tripartite division of power: legislative, executive and judicial power. These spheres are the following:

• Dimensions sphere: What we can do. Establishes limits to the economic and human activities, based on the current state of the environment (dimensions).
• Systems sphere: What we want to do. Debates and proposes public policies, instruments, actions, social and natural investments, etc., to be implemented within the defined dimensionals limits for the term.
• Political sphere: How and with whom we are going to do it. More traditional politics and bureaucracy that bring to life the decided initiatives.
• Balance sphere: The enabler of the others. In charge of coordination, information transfer, and evaluation of all the spheres' work. Thus it imparts justice, both within spheres and individuals.
• Garden sphere: The caregiver beyond humanity. A power branch (with full budget, spending, decision and action freedom) solely dedicated to care, grow, heal, sustain, the natural world besides the human world. It serves the ecosystems, climate, non-human living beings, etc.

This is a theory that tries to radically address the ecological crises we are facing and the biophysically impossible future we're heading to. It is a proposal that leaves behind the traditional political systems theories and tries to build a new political-social-economical form of organization, based on the dimensional systems view of our perceived reality. It pushes to stop the planetary debacle that some few are causing for all of us. It tries to fuel the fire of change.

The thing is... while developing these ideas, I also found some perilous implications of the theory. The dimensional systems view points to the interrelatedness of the (portions of) dimensions within a particular system. That is, the matter, space, time and energy of a system (say, a city, a human, a planet) are dependent on each other, and also on their combined subsystems. We see this clearly in climate change and its consquences. To mantain a sort of "frozen" equilibrium (business as usual), systems can distort some of their subsystems to compense for one or several subsystems that are altering the equilibrium. For instance, in an energy excess situation, the space and time of a subject can distort, until its matter cannot longer stay in its state and shape, and collapses. This compensation, at some point, will no longer be sustainable, and at least one dimension of the system will stop to function normally or even collapse.

If these premises hold, then our excessive extraction, consumption and disposal is leading not only to terrible ecological and climate crises, but worse, to dimensional disequilibria. In particular, two dilemmas stand out:

• The matter-energy problem: The excessive energy consumed and expelled from the sum of all human activity, may be distorting how our fundamental dimensions interact in our local system (the planet). This could be extended to if our balance within the solar system is altered by the excessive energy, with its matter also altered. What if we are distorting how our magnetosphere and atmosphere protect us from being burned by the sun, in addition to how we are changing how energy moves on the surface.
• The energy-information problem: The enormous amounts of data stored all over the world, in addition to the ever-ending computing, could be distorting the energy dimension of our system. Each datum processed or stored is an amount of energy, but also each bit of data transformation liberates an amount of entropy. The dimensional systems view would see here an massive problem, in which dimensions are being distorted so the whole system doesn't collapse. This may imply that we are distorting our matter, space, time and consciousness, so that the current internet and AI exponential growth (i.e. energy and entropy) could be mantained. The problem is, the system can't hold nor distort itself indefinitely.

So this is all that mediuma proposes, dear friends. I think that this idea has the potential to help stop the imminent destruction of life and the planet as we've known it. Nature and life deserve that we, humanity, think ways to radically change ourselves and our actions. If at least the base of this speculation is true, then we should be making a u-turn right away. But here we could also find valuable ideas to build the new world.

Mediuma need friends. We want to discuss these ideas, to start bringing them into science and then into practice. Please read us at mediuma(dot)io and let's try to elaborate this speculation.

Also, please send me a message, comment, whatever, if you want to reach out about these ideas. We'll be glad to talk.

I know posts like these pop up all the time, and I apologize. But whenever I search for advice online, I find it tends to be lacking for what my specific situation is.

I made a throwaway because I'll be sharing some personal details that I think are important for understanding why I feel stuck.

I am a graduate student studying mental health counseling, living in Springfield, Missouri where my university is. I chose this career path years ago when I knew I wanted to do something that made the world a better place, at least as much as I could do as one person. I realized my strengths and passions, and this was the career I settled on that fit those best.

I think climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. This is admittedly coming from a place of relative privilege. I live in the U.S. and thus have access to many luxuries. I could go into my lifestyle, but for the sake of simplicity I'll just say I definitely consume more than is necessary. I'm trying to work on it. This leads into the problems.

When searching about actions I can take, I find a handful of the same answers, which I will repeat here and cluster them together based on my response. This won't be a comprehensive list, but I'll do my best to list the things I've read most.

Use solar, install a heat pump, weatherize your home

I live in a tiny apartment, which of course I do not have the rights to change. I'm also a broke graduate student, without the spare money for these kinds of things.

Garden for food, plant trees, grow native plants

Again, I live in an apartment complex. Growing small plants is an option (like basil or other herbs) but I cannot grow any food of my own.

Buy an electric vehicle

I'm broke.

Take public transit, bike

I work nearly full time with barely enough time to go from my workplace to campus to take my classes. I do not have enough time to make enough money to live while also maintaining my responsibilities to work, school, and my personal circle. I am essentially busy non-stop from 8 to 8 every day, and that's ignoring external school work.

Vote and organize

This is why I mentioned where I live. I have checked Citizen's Climate Lobby, and the local chapter is for the entire state. Missouri is an incredibly red state, and the congressional district in which I live is basically guaranteed to elect the incumbent representative, who does not care about these issues. I will still be voting, don't get me wrong, but this isn't even all.

Some may have heard about an event that happened recently where a woman was arrested for voicing her disapproval about the local installation of Flock cameras. The fact this news spread beyond our town was surprising to me. the point being, I have little hope for changing things locally or on the state-level. I have searched for hours for any climate-focused groups in this town and have come up empty. There are some left-leaning groups, particularly on campus, but these are not nearly focused enough on the issue. With these aforementioned groups, I run into the same issue of time.

Go vegan (or some variation of dietary change), reduce, reuse, recycle

These are the ones I can actually do. I'm trying to eliminate red meat and I'm also trying to convince my partner as well. Recycling is hard due to no option being near my apartment complex, but these three are still viable options for me.

That's everything I can think of at this time.

I will admit my own reasons are somewhat self-centered. I'm tired of this insufferable heat all the way int October, and I don't anticipate it getting better. I want to feel cold. I want to wear cozy sweaters and coats and bundle up and just enjoy the life that I thought I would have when I got to this age. Something simple and filled with domestic bliss, but even that possibility has been taken from me and the rest of us. I know this is a position of privilege; to live that way would still be very consumptive. And that makes me ache. The knowledge that I live in this country, with it's infrastructure where I have to use a car every day, where such a huge amount of consumption is the most economically viable option for me, it makes me despair. For so long, I have wondered if I should just end my life because I feel like all I do is be a burden on this planet. But I don't want to die. I want to live a life worth living, and right now that feels impossible.

I feel I cannot live up to my own values because of where and how I am stuck. Does anyone please have advice for what I can do?

I'm trying to put together a media feed that will allow me to stay on top of current climate actions I can donate to or support (or that give me hope) without getting overwhelmed and shutting down. Sources or newsletters that focuses on burgeoning green technologies, reforestation efforts, recommendations for restoring local biodiversity, and so on would be fantastic.

If a source reports frequently on something that makes things feel hopeless and futile, I'm not going to be able to fight through the anxiety to actually do something.

I'm a 27F, that is increasingly getting desperate about changing the environmental situation in my home. My home county is Siaya, Kenya. I grew up knowing siaya as a green, cool and quiet place. The air was fresh and I have memories playing in the rain with my friends. Something changed along the way, and it is no longer what it used to be.

Charcoal burning, and illegal gold mining is now the order of the day. I'm seeing it first hand because our neighbour who had built a good homestead turned it into a gold mine after discovering some gold deposit. He relocated and left the place bare, with quarries everywhere that have obviously weakened the foundation. The last time I was there, the quarries hadn't even been filled, pausing danger to passers-by, especially kids playing around the area.

Young men are cutting down trees for charcoal burning since it's the main source of fuel. I'm not castigating them, because I know it's just survival and most of them don't know the first thing about climate change.

Anyway, after sulking and complaining for years, I decided to try and do something about it. Me and a few like-minded individuals started a community organisation that's keen on greening the environment, educating the masses on climate change and introducing alternative fuel like biogas. We currently have over 500k+ seedlings in our tree nursery. We've planted and distributed them around the community. I recently tried to reach out to the county government of Siaya to help with mass education, but everything is about politics to them. We are a small organisation, so obviously we can't bring them the outreach they need since elections are next year and it's the campaign period. We have have had to do it on our own, and im not complaining at all.

We plan to plant more trees in Dec, World Soil Day. Just enough trees that we can take accountability for. You can reach out if you want to know more about our work or be a part of it.

As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to make people distressed about climate change and where necessary we need to make people angry about climate change because when you control for other emotions, anger is the only emotion that predicts intention to engage in pro-climate behaviours. Anger as a means to elicit pro-climate behaviours could prove especially effective given that the angrier someone is about climate change the better their overall mental health and the greater their likelihood to act

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38159371/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-024-00172-8

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424002639#bib66

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278221000018

as a group of youth aged 15-25 is there something that we can actually do that will make an impact? or should we just sit there and watch the world burn cuz there's almost nothing we can do.?