“When you have two hundred of the best climate adaptation professionals in the room together, that’s an opportunity…” said Phoenix Armenta from the Resilient Communities Initiative. Armenta and Lucas Zucker from the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy were members of a special equity-tribal advisory committee convened before the conference to help with program development, diversify attendance, and elevate the conversation on equitable climate adaptation. “There’s always tension about whether to weave [equity] into every single session or give it its own separate track,” said Zucker. “You get your planner types… who can go through the entire conference never being exposed to any of the equity content.” In 2018, the committee ultimately decided to integrate equity across the conference tracks and worked hard to make speaker recommendations to create more diverse panels. But “the space wasn’t created to give people that are most impacted a sense of ownership or… community,” said speaker Lil Milagro Henriquez-Cornejo from the Mycelium Youth Network.  More feedback and a young reporter’s perspective can be found in Acclimatewest’s Adaptation by Another Name. TO

Pearls in the ocean of information that our reporters didn’t want you to miss
 

The recent California Adaptation Forum in Sacramento included more sessions and voices on climate justice and equity issues than in year’s past, but the public was missing.  “When you have two hundred of the best climate adaptation professionals in the room together, that’s an opportunity…” said Phoenix Armenta from the Resilient Communities Initiative. Armenta and Lucas Zucker from the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy were members of a special equity-tribal advisory committee convened before the conference to help with program development, diversify attendance, and elevate the conversation on equitable climate adaptation. “There’s always tension about whether to weave [equity] into every single session or give it its own separate track,” said Zucker. “You get your planner types... who can go through the entire conference never being exposed to any of the equity content.” In 2018, the committee ultimately decided to integrate equity across the conference tracks and worked hard to make speaker recommendations to create more diverse panels. But “the space wasn’t created to give people that are most impacted a sense of ownership or… community,” said speaker Lil Milagro Henriquez-Cornejo from the Mycelium Youth Network.  More feedback and a young reporter’s perspective can be found in Acclimatewest's Adaptation by Another Name. TO

About the author

Born and raised in San Francisco, Tira is a young climate communications professional currently working to foster equitable collaboration between cities and schools. She is fascinated with capturing the people side of climate adaptation and is passionate about climate justice, arts activism, and storytelling.

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