All We Can Save “Circles” Pilot Addressing Climate Anxiety Launching in 2024
The University of Pittsburgh has been actively working to combat, mitigate and adapt to our climate emergency since the nineties, and in that time, much progress has been made! In 2020, Pitt committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2037 and published our first Pitt Climate Action Plan in 2022 detailing how we will achieve this goal, and our 2018-22 Progress Report on the Pitt Sustainability Plan and FY22 Greenhouse Gas Inventory demonstrate our strides towards this and our 67 other sustainability goals; we are on track to meet our commitments.
This progress is the result of the collaborative and combined efforts of hundreds of leaders and thousands of individuals both on and off campus.
Source: All We Can Save.
Despite these efforts and their collective necessity, working and caring about the climate emergency can be an isolating experience. This spring, the Office of Sustainability will pilot All We Can Save “Circles“, a new program for individuals to connect more deeply, generously, and openly about the climate crisis to strengthen our community of climate action.
“Circles” operate “like a book club”, a framework of 10 self-led sessions that follow All We Can Save, an anthology of climate essays, art and poetry by 60 women working in diverse ways to address the climate crisis. These sessions are an invitation to share, explore and connect with your peers’ experience, feelings and response to climate change.
Our goal with this program is to provide a generous space for open dialogue, to foster deeper connections & support among our peers, and “seed action for climate solutions“. Further action is not required, but opportunities to take climate action will be offered throughout the program.
Source: All We Can Save.
The pilot program is open to any Pitt employee (staff or faculty). One-hour sessions will be held biweekly February 5 – June 10, 2024. Exact session times will be determined based on availability of the cohort. Books will be provided, and initial space is limited to 10 participants. To participate in the pilot, please register by January 31st. Our intent is to offer this program each semester.
Please send any questions to Emily Potoczny, Sustainability Engagement Manager.
