On Friday, March 31, 2023, the Institute of Sustainable Energy and Environment, School of World Studies, and VCU Libraries hosted a Climate Teach-in, attended by over 90 students, faculty, staff, and Richmond area community members. The event was part of the Worldwide Climate Justice Teach-in, and it featured sessions led by John Henry Williams, of Sunrise RVA, on the ecology of the Richmond climate movement as well as the use of storytelling as a tool to inspire others to action on climate change.

Throughout the afternoon, participants were invited to join seven workshops facilitated by Appalachian Voices, Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Sunrise RVA and Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, with topics ranging from climate justice and mass transit, to communicating about climate change.

The workshop facilitators included some of the leading voices in climate advocacy and organizing in the Virginia climate justice movement. VCU alum Michael James-Deramo, co-founder of Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, led a workshop on the theory and practice of nonviolent direct action. 

Facilitators offered participants training in strategies for advocating for climate justice policies with policymakers, ranging from lobbying representatives at local, state, and federal level to organizing nonviolent direct action protests. Carolyn Hindle and Lee Finch, alongside several other student leaders from Green Action!, an undergraduate organization focused on climate justice advocacy, facilitated a workshop discussion intended to build energy behind a Declaration of Climate Emergency here at VCU, an effort that they’ve been mobilizing behind since the spring of 2022. 

“The Climate Emergency Declaration is just the first step that VCU needs to take,” says Carolyn Hindle, co-president of Green Action! and one of many VCU students who helped organize the Teach-In. “Divestment from fossil fuels, removing single use plastic from VCU Dining locations, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are things that VCU as an institution has power over.”

There was also an inspiring climate art exhibition, organized primarily by three students, Ivy Walbert, Caroline May, and Sirena Pearl. The exhibition featured art contributed by students, faculty, and community members.

By bringing together VCU students, faculty, staff, community members, and members of prominent climate and environmental activist organizations, the Climate Teach-in facilitated partnership and relationship building across communities.

“One thing that was really special to me was how we talked about loss of hope in advocacy, something we all deal with at one time or another,” says Carolyn Hindle. “Knowing I'm not alone, and that I can pick myself up when I fall down in despair, really helps me keep the ball rolling.”