Environmental Joy

This past weekend was the Yale Center for Environmental Justice's 5th Annual Conference. The theme this year was “Environmental Joy: Exploring the Transformative Solutions of Environmental Justice Communities.” As many of you are aware, the Forum is now housed at and a part of the YCEJ, and we're extremely pleased to share details about this event, which embodied and evoked what I believe is a very important topic for our work ahead: Joy. In my experience, Joy is often a forgotten element in any non-profit cause work, and is intimately intertwined with our theme for the year: Hope. 

This article in the Yale Daily News provides an overview of the event. Though certainly a different tone and emphasis (RITA had a lot of participation from mental health professionals, as well as environmental activists and academics),  it was reported that “the event foregrounded the importance of community, resilience, and self-care in confronting the inequities of global warming,” much like the Loka Initiative's RITA Summit. Our own Mary Evelyn Tucker reports that the entire conference and exchange of ideas there was excellent. She says it was the most diverse conference she's ever experienced at Yale with space made for feeling and expression, as well as experiential and more integrated conversations and exchanges. The energy was high and there was laughing, weeping, and lots of sharing in the breakout groups. 

You can see the full schedule here and information on the different presenters and panelists here. 

The recordings from the event have not yet been published. But when they become available, you'll find them at the YCEJ YouTube Channel and the conference site. Mary Evelyn says to particularly keep an eye out for the talk by Bishop William Barber when the videos become available. At their YouTube channel you'll also find videos from last year's conference, whose theme was “Reimagining Our Collective Future: Advancing Climate Justice,Food Security and Energy Transition in an Age of Uncertainty.”