Grassroots Climate Champions

Faiths for Climate Justice workshops

Faith for the Climate is launching a new workshop series! 

These workshops aim at helping people of all faiths and spiritualities explore climate justice and how we can put it into action – whatever our backgrounds and wherever we are located.

Ever since we helped to mobilise UK faith communities in the leadup to the UN talks, COP26, we have seen growing public awareness that the climate crisis is an issue of injustice. Within our network, there are now flourishing faith-based educational resources and toolkits on climate justice. 

But what exactly is “climate justice”? 

How does a justice-centered approach differ from other ways of addressing the climate crisis? 

Does “justice” mean the same thing to everyone? 

Our Faiths for Climate Justice workshops will address these questions by exploring the core elements of what faith-based, justice-centered approaches to climate action should entail. These workshops are aimed at people who want to work in partnership with people of other faiths and/or across faith and secular constituencies. 

Our diverse network provides unique opportunities: 

  • To understand the root causes of climate breakdown and how it is connected with other forms of injustice.
  • To offer a model of collaboration that draws upon our deepest personal inspirations and lived experiences as people of faith. 

Our workshops aim to expand and deepen these opportunities to create a community of faith-inspired grassroots champions for climate justice. 

Interested? Then read on….

Background

If you’ve ever wondered about what climate justice really means at a deeper level, or how it connects with your experiences and faith journey – and you want to work with a diverse group of people who are grappling with these same questions – these workshops are for you!

These workshops will offer you an opportunity to deepen your understanding of climate justice, including:

  • A hands-on understanding and application of the principles of climate justice
  • A framework that integrates your own faith and/or spiritual journey with climate justice
  • How an inclusively faith-inspired approach can complement and strengthen other approaches to climate justice
  • An opportunity to pursue more advanced learnings and/or opportunities to work together on faith-inspired climate justice

We will be holding our first workshop online in November 2023, and are working towards making this a regular offering from Faith for the Climate. The workshops will be free to attend, with an option to donate what you can for their ongoing viability. 

Although these workshops are designed specifically with people of faith in mind, they are also open to people of all beliefs as long as you have a desire to engage meaningfully with faith communities. 

rehena harilall, Alaa Al-Samarrai , Shanon Shah. Photo credit – FFTC

Workshop pre-requisites

While these workshops are open to all, we do ask for some non-negotiable commitments when you sign up: 

  • At this stage, each workshop will take place online and require full participation – you will need a working internet connection and will need to turn cameras on, mute/unmute for group discussions, and be able to provide input into the chatbox and/or any other interactive activities. 
  • You must be able to stay and participate for the entire workshop duration (3 hours).
  • As the workshops are open to people of all faiths, we ask that participants understand that we do not endorse a particular religious standpoint or interpretation as more valid than others. 

There will be registrations prior to each workshop with a specified deadline. Once your applications are reviewed and accepted, we will send you joining instructions by email. Check our Forthcoming Events section for when registrations are open. 

Don’t worry if the timings don’t work for you with an upcoming workshop – we will try to vary the day/time of the week throughout the year so that it will be accessible to people in different circumstances. 

If you are on low income, or unemployed, and/or require other forms of support to attend, get in touch and we will see how we can help.  

Resources and preparation

Any pre-workshop readings will be minimal, and will be given to you with the joining instructions once you have registered. Resources that are shared during the workshop will be provided afterwards. But to get a sense of who we are and what we aim to accomplish, do browse through our website. 

If the workshops are too much of a time commitment for now, you are also most welcome to make use of our other resources, including: 

You can also subscribe to our regular e-news to get updates on other free-to-attend webinars and other actions. 

F4TC Zimbabwe. Photo credit: GreenFaith International

More about our Faiths for Climate Justice principles