My first climate fresk workshop
A few days ago, I attended my first climate fresk workshop. I explain what the climate fresk is, the methods that the workshop is based on, as well as its impact and possible ways to get involved with the project yourself. In my opinion, this is a great opportunity to educate yourself (and possibly others) about the science of climate change.
What is the Climate Fresk?
The climate fresk is a French NGO created by Cédric Ringenbach in 2018 that aims to promote climate education through a gamified learning experience. The workshop itself lasts around 3 hours, and is structured around a collective intelligence activity, comprised of 3 main steps:
- Building a ‘climate fresk’ with your fellow participants under the supervision of a facilitator.
- Sharing emotions felt as a result of climate change.
- Discussing potential solutions, organized by their relative difficulty and impact.
A large part of the workshop, however, is focused on the first part.
What is the Climate Fresk Method?
Groups of participants are given a total of 42 cards, each representing a component of climate change. These cards usually contain some graphics, charts, etc… along with some explanatory text regarding the particular phenomenon depicted on the card. Their content is directly connected to the latest findings in the science of climate change, as it appears in the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, a comprehensive scientific assessment released every 6 to 7 years.
Sample card explaining radiative forcing, which measures the (dis)equilibrium between the amount of energy that enters the Earth's atmosphere and the amount of energy that leaves it. Source: Wikipedia
The goal is to link these cards together by organizing them on a sort of canvas (or ‘fresk’), connecting causes and effects. For example, the ‘transport’ card (=cause) would be linked to the C02/greenhouse gases emissions (=effect) card. Throughout the activity, participants are encouraged to discuss between themselves and are guided by the facilitators.
As decks of cards are handed out one after the other, the overall picture begins to surface. In this way, participants start to take notice of the interconnectedness between the various elements of the fresk, starting with human activities, and the resulting real-world consequences, such as famine or conflict for resources.
Hence, the emphasis is more on developing a broad understanding of the climate system as a whole: with the causes of the disequilibrium, its consequences, and potential feedback loops. The part that follows, on the other hand, gives the floor to all participants, so that all may share their emotions and potential solutions.
Impact of the Climate Fresk and How to Volunteer
The climate fresk model has proved to be a massive success in France and it is now exporting itself around the globe. At the time of writing, such workshops have been delivered:
- in 156 countries
- in 45+ languages
- to 1.2 million participants
- by 60,000+ facilitators
These numbers are growing rapidly as more and more facilitators are trained, and organizations begin to offer these kinds of trainings to their employees. You can also sign up on the climate fresk website to receive facilitator training. Do note that you have to attend a workshop yourself to become a facilitator and that this is done on a completely voluntary basis. If you can’t find a workshop in your local area, you should know that trainings are occasionally delivered online. Again, make sure to check out the event details on the official website.
If you haven’t done so already, I strongly encourage you to participate in a climate fresk workshop. Despite having already learned about the science of climate change, I still found the workshop to be extremely insightful. It was not only a refresher of the scientific facts, but also a way to find people in my local area who are interested in these topics and shifting to action. I found that everyone was at a different stage in their climate journey, which paved the way for richer discussions and a better pedagogical experience overall.