How climate activists in Thunder Bay, Ont., are using postcards to express hope, fear for future

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Messages of hope, fear and calls for action were spelled out in coloured pencil and ink at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., this week as the school wraps up its year of climate action (YOCA).

At a special Postcards for Climate Action workshop, small groups of eager participants sat around tables, writing messages to friends and family, as well as politicians.

Local artist Betty Carpick, who led the workshop hosted by the Lake Superior Living Labs Network (LSLLN), said making small changes go a long way in achieving climate goals.

"I think people have a really deep concern for the planet and sometimes they feel immobilized by their own personal ability to make change. But I feel that we could all make change in small ways, and that's really available to us," she said as she handed out supplies to workshop attendees.

Lindsay Galway is a Canada research chair in social-ecological health and a lead for the LSLLN. 

"This is one of our few in-person events actually, so it's nice to get to this point of the year, the academic year, and have this sort of really creative, fun ... hopeful event."

The launch of the year of Lakehead's climate action in 2021 envisioned contributions through events, art, workshops, panel discussions, all while embedding climate learning and concrete climate actions at the school.

A virtual symposium will be held at the beginning of May to assess the impact of the year, which also set out to build on the 2020 commitment from the university to divest of its endowment of fossil fuel stocks.

"We're really asking, 'What next? What do we need to do as an institution when it comes to climate action next?' So it's a nice way to prime for that event as well," said Galway, who's also with the university's year of climate action co-ordinating committee.

The postcard workshop participants included Mackenzie Barnett, a PhD student who said her involvement in the Fossil Free Lakehead network and her motivation to find new paths to climate action drew her to the event.

"So now we're really thinking about what does climate justice mean to us now and where are our goals on campus," she said. 

"A really important piece about being here today for me is about the relationship building. So we're not just sort of like with the same group of people maybe or doing a specific demonstration, but we're here playing and talking, and just spending some time together," she added.

Barnett said that while climate action can be rooted in "anti" demonstrations, community building is an important aspect of it being effective.