C.A.T. Group’s Post

I got to give a talk with my friend Bob Johansen recently. He’s the longest paid futurist in the country (perhaps world) for Fortune 500 companies and governments. It’s a bit of a mash up between his "Office Shock" book and my "Prepared Neighborhoods" book. Eagle Harbor Bookstore on Bainbridge Island, Washington hosted this 55 minute interactive conversation titled “Being Future Ready in the Noisy Now”. Bob represented the voice of the “future back” while I had the voice of the “future ready”. The first two minutes explain the reason for the filming: it is part of a free kit we’re creating to help other towns replicate my nonprofit (bainbridgeprepares.org). You can fast forward to minute 1:53 if you like. You'll hear many references to us living on Bainbridge Island that are still directly applicable to those not living on an island. Consider how your area of the city you live in will become an “island” after a regional disaster (e.g. flooding, hurricane, earthquake). The organizational model behind Bainbridge Prepares (bainbridgeprepares.org) can scale up or down to adapt for the type of regional natural disasters you face, as well as match the size town you live in. #officeshock #bobjohansen #preparedneighborhoods #scottjames #bainbridgeisland #longemergency #preparedness #community #resilience #neighborhoodresilience #mutualaid

Happy Independence Day! As we celebrate our nation's freedom and autonomy, let's also reflect on the broader concept of independence—socioeconomic independence. Our communities continually demonstrate remarkable resilience to extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean, flooding in the Midwest, and wildfires out west. But true socioeconomic independence requires more than just bouncing back. It involves creating sustainable systems that withstand and adapt to challenges. Despite the complexities of our current political climate, there are immense opportunities for unity and collaboration. Tools like the SustainImpact Navigator and SouthStar Analytics play a crucial role in this journey by bringing communities together and uplifting every voice. This July 4th, let's commit to building a future where resilience leads to lasting prosperity. Together, we can pave the way for a brighter, more independent future for all. #IndependenceDay #SocioeconomicIndependence #Resilience #Community #Sustainability #Unity #Prosperity #SustainImpactNavigator #SouthStarAnalytics

New #article from Lynne Keevers et al: Practices Supporting Community Recovery and Healing from Climate-Related Disasters: A Systematic Review TL;DR: importance of collective and community-led recovery + recognize the criticality of context, place, and identity https://lnkd.in/eUaqz8Ek

In response to the climate crisis, the American Red Cross is enhancing its support for those who need it most and its capacity to respond to the continuous pace of climate disasters. One of the organization’s new initiatives — the Community Adaptation Program — is focused on strengthening local partner networks in communities with chronic disaster risks and socioeconomic issues. To boost disaster preparedness and resilience, the Red Cross is working with hyper-local partners that focus on increasing access to food, health and housing resources. https://lnkd.in/dbK7jCwh

Closing out the #10Across LA Summit Megan Garvey, Rosanna Xia, Dorothy Fortenberry, Brianna Sacks, Duchesne Drew, and Sadie Babits had a very open forum with our Founder and Executive Director Wellington Reiter, FAIA and the audience about their ideas for improving media around #climatechange. For journalism editors Garvey, Drew, and Babits this means thinking creatively about the framing of stories, the diversity of voices reporting or quoted, and the intended impact of your project or message. "I think we need to think carefully about how we’re framing and not assume that everyone is following right along with us," said Babits. Garvey echoed this concisely: "We need to not be boring. You should be thinking about engaging people." Xia and Sacks shared perspectives of being on the ground with those directly impacted and how it has changed their ideas of community recovery and resilience. In the aftermath of disaster, we are quick to begin conjuring up timelines for recovery and ideas for rebuilding. But as disasters become more frequent, these processes are becoming unsustainable, leading Xia to question: “Is the status quo what we actually want to preserve in the future?” Deploying to disaster zones frequently in her work, Sacks has come to find that, “a community actually never recovers from a disaster,” she said. “The people who do ‘quote unquote’ recover are the ones with the money.” #journalism #climatecommunications

Their home is snatched away from them, leaving them with no choice but to roam.  Some damages we can fix, some we can't. But look at how nature manages to recover despite our mess. For World Environment Day, share one thing you do to help the environment. Your example can inspire others to make a change. #WED2024 #WorldEnvironmentDay #LandRestoration #Desertification #DroughtResilience

Climate Change Resources has named This Spaceship Earth's "The Quartermaster's Report Volume 3" as its Book of the Week. Climate Change Resources is enabling a more educated and empowered army of climate change activists to take all of the critical steps necessary to rescue humanity’s future. The Quartermaster's Report tracks the changes of hundreds of climate-related data points to determine the current status of Spaceship Earth. Because that status is rapidly deteriorating, we have committed to research, write and publish a new volume every six months. #systemschange #climateresilience #crewconsciousness David Houle Sean O'Sullivan David Ross - VUCA Strategist. Peacemaker. Author https://lnkd.in/gfmnymWm

Our social platforms create an open gateway to stories previously untold. Real time and real lives, we enter into worlds previously unseen. The volume and frequency changing our own internal tolerance for what is expected. Humanity and History in turmoil, anger and justification competes with compassion and care. The use of white phosphorus reported widely. Thermal and chemical burns endured, burns can be right down to the bone. For survivors, long term health conditions to prevail- muscular, infectious, respiratory, mobility and trauma to be a few. Environmental impacts ‘gifted’ to future surviving generations, crops and wildlife compromised. Praying for a ceasefire, praying for peace. Praying for hearts and minds to soften towards humanitarian decisions.

🔥The recent Maui #wildfire underscores the daily struggles of vulnerable communities, none more so than those in New Orleans. Situated 6 feet below sea level, with coastal erosion devouring marshland at the rate of one-football-field per hour, the city teeters on the brink. With recurring, long overdue super storms looming, local oil and gas politics remain obstinately indifferent, calling #ClimateChange a “hoax.”   Last night’s screening of Lede New Orleans' #KatrinaBabies at Stanford University #EnvironmentalJusticeFilmFestival laid bare this harsh reality. Director Edward Buckles Jr. was just 13 when #HurricaneKatrina hit in 2005, and narrated the disaster through first-hand perspectives of his peers, who were children at the time. The film opens with “they never asked the children how they are doing”. With evacuation and displacement, impacted children were insensitively labeled as “refugees” and “looters” in their new schools and couldn't feel vulnerability from survivor's guilt (“you are lucky if you left [and were not] in the water”). Once New Orleans reopened, families rushed back to find their life’s work unsalvageable (“everything you consider to be who you are gets reduced to a trash bag”). Many were housed in #fema trailers tainted with formaldehyde, suffering detrimental illnesses. #KatrinaBabies confronts the legacy of #EnvironmentalRacism and systemic failures and serves as a cautionary tale for crises yet to come. The film asserts that healing is possible when we honor the impacted communities by preserving their narratives and sharing their lessons learned. Recovery is possible when communities are provided resources, empowered to lead and restore from within. 🎥 Watch the film on HBO Max-->https://lnkd.in/gBwRYgdd 🎥 Attend the next #EnvironmentalJustice festival--> https://lnkd.in/gMKdJcBV 👇 Share your climate change stories below #EarthMonth #ClimateJustice #RestorativeJustice #Equity #CommunityVoice Irma Rodriguez Mitton Evan Lam Richard Ng Matthias Muehlbauer Ejaaz Mason Carine Gibert