by Heather McGray—
Hello from South by Southwest (SXSW)! SXSW is an annual gathering that is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, education, and culture. This year’s conference includes a Climate Change track which covers topics from renewable energy to policy change to just transition.
Hilary Heath and I arrived in Austin, Texas yesterday and are settling into our headquarters for the week – an Airbnb outside the hustle of downtown where we’ll be staying with Farhana Yamin and Maria Alejandra Escalante. Farhana and Maria Alejandra will engage in a Climate Justice Resilience Fund hosted conversation about climate justice on a SXSW stage on Wednesday.
I don’t usually share personal reflections on the CJRF blog, but I decided to make an exception this week. Many of our partners and fellow climate justice advocates, activists, and practitioners aren’t able to attend this conference, so we want to report out our activities this week with a goal of making the conversation around climate justice at SXSW bigger than just those of us who could make it to Austin.
Here's a quick run-down of what we’ll be up to this week:
On Wednesday at 11:30 am Central Time, CJRF is hosting a panel on climate justice, where Farhana Yamin and Maria Alejandra Escalante will take the stage to discuss “Why We Need to Go All in on Climate Justice.” Our team will live tweet the conversation, and we hope you’re able to follow along. We’ll also capture the conversation to share with you after SXSW. Follow along with us on Twitter using the hashtag #CJRF_SXSW
Then on Thursday, our partners at Youth Climate Lab (YCL) will answer the question: “How are You(th) Showing up for Climate Action?” with an international panel of youth activists. The teams at YCL and CJRF will also live tweet during this panel as well!
Finally, CJRF and YCL are co-hosting the Everyone VS Climate Change Brunch to spark new connections and conversations about how our passions and skills can be put to good use—whatever they may be!
As you can see, it’s going to be a busy week. Hilary and I are going to do our best to share our reflections, experiences, and more using the hashtag #CJRF_SXSW on LinkedIn and Twitter so stay tuned!