The Mindset Needed To Confront Climate Disruption by Andrew Kelly.

🌡️ New highs for global average temperature recorded on consecutive days
🧊 Record lows for Antarctic sea ice this summer and winter
🥵 Extreme heatwaves in North America, Europe and China
🌊 The slowing of the Southern Ocean and Atlantic Overturning Circulations
⛈ The “externalities” of fossil fuel use are becoming increasingly apparent in the biosphere and food systems.

When confronted by the events and forecasts wrought by climate disruption, a personal, constructive response toward a solution may be:

“What can I do?”

Recognising the limitations of the individual, a second-order response might be:

“What can I do to agitate for systemic change?”

But a scan of the experts, books, reports, and papers reveals almost no discussion about the type of mindset we need, both as individuals and communities, to approach the challenges ahead.

This Dialogic Drinks session invites conversation to consider how we can promote a mindset that will bring us into right relations with each other, our natural environment and the Earth.

Let us consider what psychology, behavioural economics, indigenous wisdom and other traditions can bring to the most significant challenge we have ever faced.

Some questions to consider:

Will the traditional patterns of cognitive thought (command and control, masculine) be as effective in the solution phase as they were in the accumulation, extractive phase?

What do other forms of knowledge, way-making, and wisdom (the feminine, indigenous traditions, nurturing and regenerative understanding) offer in this moment?

How can we reframe the challenge by focusing on individual and collective agency rather than descending into denialism, despair and indifference?

Let’s talk about the types of emergent thinking which will help us avoid the epistemic traps of the past: how do we prepare our thinking and mental models for a future we can anticipate but not foresee?

Andrew is the CEO of The Antarctic Science Foundation, which connects supporters with researchers to enable catalytic scientific research on the Icy Continent. Across two decades, he has witnessed the power of generosity by facilitating transformational gifts to Youth Off The Streets, The Smith Family, The Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), the Society of St Vincent De Paul and Children’s Medical Research Institute. Andrew trained as an economist before commencing a career in banking with Macquarie, Bank of America and Westpac. He has competed at an elite level in road cycling and is an Observer on the Australian Antarctic Science Council. His favourite role is being a Dad.