Tackling Climate Change with Climate Reality – a Melton Opportunity

“One of the big questions in the climate change debate: Are humans any smarter than frogs in a pot? If you put a frog in a pot and slowly turn up the heat, it won’t jump out. Instead, it will enjoy the nice warm bath until it is cooked to death. We humans seem to be doing pretty much the same thing.”
– Jeff Goodell, Author

At the Climate Reality Leader Africa Training in Johannesburg this March, Melton Fellows will be networking with climate leaders from around the world, learning the latest about the effects of climate change, and spreading an important message: It’s time to act and help solve the climate crisis.

This Melton Opportunity will build knowledge and skills to better communicate the effects of climate change and the possible solutions. Furthermore, the participants will experience what it takes to plan and carry out a globally coordinated campaign for climate action.

Meet the team:

• Carrie Radloff (Melton Fellow from Sioux City, USA)
• Ella Bella (Founder of Generation Earth; from Johannesburg, South Africa)
• Eva Junge (Melton Fellow from Hamburg, Germany)
• Jolea Bryant (Melton Fellow from Houston, USA)
• Julia Maier (Melton Fellow from Córdoba, Mexico)
• Karla Araya (Melton Fellow from Temuco, Chile)
• Megan Williams (Melton Fellow from Pine Bluff, USA)
• Prathigna Poonacha (Melton Fellow from Bangalore, India)
• Tshiamo Ndlovu (Content Producer at Lead SA; from Johannesburg, South Africa)

The participants will go through this Melton Opportunity in three concrete stages:

1.  Starting the Conversation (February 2014)
Participants will build a comprehensive understanding for reasons and effects of climate change across the world, researching and sharing examples and approaches to tackle the problems from their vicinity.

2.  Getting in Shape (March 2014)
At Climate Reality‘s Leadership Corps Training (12-14 March 2014), participants will engage with world-renowned experts as they share the latest in climate science and best practices in communication, public relations, social media, and grassroots organizing.
The Melton Foundation’s Campaign Strategy Workshop (15 March 2014) will provide the participants a space to come together as a team, systematize inputs from the training, refine the focus of their campaign, and map out the activities they will carry out in a coordinated way to raise awareness about climate change and offer tangible solutions how the respective communities can act on it.

3.  Becoming a Part of the Solution (April – August 2014)
Upon their return from South Africa, participants will start to implement the climate action campaign as planned. Over a period of four months, they coordinate the campaign as a global team and implement actions locally together with strategic partners.