Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cultivating Resilience, Taking Action, and Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate Change

by Elizabeth Bechard

What do you hope your personal life looks like in ten to twenty years? In twenty to forty years? (For the purpose of this exercise, you can pick just one time point if that feels easier.) What might an ideal day look like for you and your family in the future? How might your day-to-day lifestyle or relationships be different than they are now? What do you hope our collective life looks like in the coming decades? How do you hope current systems and ways of being have shifted? What role could you imagine yourself playing in the movement for climate action and climate justice in the coming years? If you haven’t already seen the film 2040, I highly encourage you to check it out as an inspiration for your visioning practice. It’s a “visual letter” from the filmmaker to his then-four-year-old daughter, offering a hopeful exploration of what the future could look like in 2040 if we embraced the best possible climate solutions we already have.