Open Climate

Open Climate

From March-September 2021, a pilot series of "OpenClimate" calls will be convened with the aim of understanding the relationship of the open movement to the climate crisis. Each call will be facilitated by one of the conveners and will start with 1-2 quick talks meant to prompt additional conversation. If you are interested in giving a short talk under one of the topics below or would like to propose a future topic for these calls, please use the talk page.

A link to join each call will be available several days prior and posted on this page. You can also see the call notes here.

Season 1 of Open Climate has ended. We'll be back in November. Stay tuned!

More details about season 2 soon

About OpenClimate

In Fall 2020 Evelin Heidel and Alex Stinson facilitated a panel, "Open Questions in a Warming World" at the Creative Commons Summit. There they met Shannon Dosemagen. The three later connected and got excited by the idea of starting to understand who from the open movement is working on the climate crisis, what they're up to, and how the Open movement can be strong allies on Climate-related work. Teaming up with Luis Felipe Murillo, Michelle Thorne and Emilio Velis in early 2021, the small group (from different organizations around the open movement) started moving plans forward on doing a pilot series of "OpenClimate" calls, mapping the space, and collaborating on a session at the March 2021 MozFest.

Check out our June 2021 article "Open Climate Now" in Branch Magazine.

Past calls

Mar
18th,
2021

"MozFest session: Open Questions in a Warming World: Defining Our Audience"

Link to session information.

Mar
30th,
2021

Call #01: Can the Open movement contribute to the climate crisis? —Recording

Presenters: Presenters: Emilio Velis (Appropedia —slides); Tjark Döring & Tobias Augspurger from Open Sustainable Technology. Facilitated by: Evelin Heidel. Write-up of this call.

Questions:

• What is the *thing* that the Open movement can contribute to solving the Climate Crisis?
• Where do you go to find solutions/information about how to solve some of these problems?
• How do you close the information gap?

Apr
27th,
2021

Call #02: How does open data work for decision-makers? —Recording

Presenters: Ana Grijalva (UNDP Accelerator Lab Ecuador); Angela Eaton (Open Environmental Data). Facilitated by: Emilio Velis. Write-up of the call.

Main questions:

• How is using open data different in different contexts (kinds of work, geographies, etc)?
• Why are people going to other kinds of data? Are there other competing alternatives to open data? Are there practicality issues or tradeoffs with open data?
• What kinds of impact does open data create? How are end-users using it in the workflows?
• What challenges do you run into when talking with other people in your space about open data?

May
25th,
2021

Call #03: What content gap questions are the Open movement missing in relation to the Climate Crisis? —Recording

• Facilitator: Evelin Heidel
• Presenters: Lisa McNamara and Emma Baker, Climate and Development Knowledge Network; Alex Stinson, Wikimedia

Main questions:

• Where do we see knowledge gaps and audiences needing access to information?
• How is the global picture different from local geographies or in local languages?

June
29th,
2021

Call #04: What are the challenges of "openness" in environmental research of the climate crisis? —Recording

This OpenClimate call will focus on the challenges of translating the Open movement work into environmental research of the climate crisis. It will be facilitated by Luis Felipe Murillo with short talks by Myanna Lahsen (National Institute for Space Research, Brazil) and Sílvio Carlos (Socioenvironmental Institute, Brazil).

• June 29, 2021: 10am ET (find your time) Registration link
• Facilitator: Luis Felipe R. Murillo (UVA Data Science)
• Presenters: Myanna Lahsen, National Institute for Space Research, Brazil; Sílvio Carlos, Socioenvironmental Institute, Brazil.

Aug
31th,
2021

Call #05: How can the Open internet dismantle the power structures that delay climate action?

• August 31, 2021: 10am ET (find your time) Registration link
• Presenters: Chris Adams, The Green Web Foundation. Facilitator: Michelle Thorne, Mozilla and Branch Magazine.

The internet is the world's largest coal-powered machine. It is increasingly controlled by a few tech companies and is under threat of becoming a monoculture.

We envision an internet that is sustainable and just. The internet should be a global public resource: one that is fossil-free, open and accessible to all, and in service to the diverse needs of people everywhere.

We'll discuss:

• How can the open internet dismantle the power structures that delay climate action?
• How can the open movement accelerate the internet's transition from fossil fuels?
• How can the internet itself become a sustainable and positive force for climate justice?

Sep
28th,
2021

Call #06: Open Climate Season 1 wrap-up

Join us September 28th, 14:00 UTC as we close season 1 of #OpenClimate calls with Michelle Thorne, Emilio Velis, Alex Stinson, Evelin Heidel and Luis Felipe Murillo. Help us think how do we move from here to better connect the open movement with the climate crisis.

• Facilitator: Shannon Dosemagen.
• September 28, 2021: 10am ET (find your time)