The Common Ills: Don't Miss These Stories! Watch Keynotes from the 2020 Conference Now

Bioneers Pulse – updates from the Bioneers Community

Bioneer,

As we closed out a tumultuous year, the 2020 Bioneers Conference was a much-needed gathering around solutions to our biggest social and environmental challenges.

Now we’re sharing this wisdom with the world. We're excited to announce the release of all 2020 keynote addresses! Visit the full collection here.

This week, we’re featuring just a few (not an easy choice!) of the incredible talks from this event, with leaders from a variety of fields share their guidance on critical issues like Indigenous rights, feminist climate leadership, and more. Check out the featured talks below, explore the whole collection here, and stay tuned for more as we unpack and share the collective wisdom from the 2020 Bioneers Conference.

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Cutcha Risling Baldy: Indigenous Voices for Decolonized Futures

“At the heart of this decolonization has to be land return. We don’t need to think about that as the last step, like after we’ve decolonized our minds, our curriculums, our movies, our TV shows, our clothing, then maybe we’ll finally get to the return of land. I say let’s start with the return of land and know that it’s possible, and it’s powerful, and that it’s going to be the thing that changes the world.”

Cutcha Risling Baldy is a professor and the co-founder of the Native Women's Collective, a nonprofit supporting the revitalization of Native American arts and culture, researches Indigenous feminisms, California Indians and decolonization.

In this keynote talk, Cutcha explores how Indigenous peoples are leading the way in developing strategies for climate resilience. She provides a three-step approach to re-imagining climate and environmental justice in California and beyond, focusing on concrete actions that challenge us to dream better futures together.

Watch Cutcha’s full keynote here.

Racial Justice Beyond Trump: Confronting an American Legacy

This panel brings together leaders in the areas of voting rights, technological futures and immigrants’ rights to discuss where we should focus racial justice efforts for the Biden administration, and how everyday Americans can re-imagine ways of healing the fractured soul of our nation. Racial justice advocates reflect on the question, “How do we address setbacks posed to racial justice over the last four years, as well as institutional racism that persists and has never been addressed in the nation’s history?”

Trathen Heckman: The Power of Small for Big Transformations

“We can build the resilience to stay awake and engaged in the great work of remaking our lives and world through an infinite procession of itsy, bitsy small actions and efforts. The power of small is much bigger than you think. But we have to believe, and we have to invest, and we have to keep leaning in.”

Trathen Heckman is the founder and Director of Daily Acts Organization, a non-profit dedicated to “transformative action that creates connected, equitable, climate resilient communities.”

In this keynote talk, Trathen reflects on how we can nurture hope, build power, and contribute meaningfully—even while the world confronts multiple, epochal crises. Though these problems seem larger than life, our greatest power may lie in our closest communities, in small daily acts of courage and conviction.

Watch Trathen’s full keynote here.

One Earth: Integrating Climate Action and Biodiversity Conservation into a Blueprint for a Livable Planet

This panel discussion weighs the vast biodiversity of our planet—the underlying fabric supporting all life on Earth—with the solutions we need to slow plummeting biodiversity rates, accelerating extinction of various species, and reverse the grim prognosis of climate change. Watch this panel now to hear climate leaders reflect on new projects that are providing a roadmap to sustainability, including the Global Safety Net, which focuses on Indigenous stewardship and grassroots action.

Watch here.

Ayana Johnson: The Feminist Climate Renaissance: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis

“We need transformational leadership to transform society, with this clear task science has set before us. We need feminist climate leadership, which is wide open to people of any gender. This is where possibility lives — possibility that we can turn away from the brink and move toward a life-giving future for all.”

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a Brooklyn native marine biologist and policy expert. Her mission is to build community around solutions for our climate crisis.

In this keynote talk, Ayana explains how she developed a passion for marine biology and ocean conservation. She draws from the brand new anthology of wisdom by women climate leaders she co-edited with Katharine Wilkinson, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, to share her vision of how emerging forms of honest, heart-centered leadership can help humanity address the greatest crisis it has ever faced.

Watch Ayana’s full keynote here.

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“Using the Pandemic as a Catalyst for Change: Advocating for Herbicide-Free Campuses and Non Toxic Spaces” | Now is the optimal moment for schools to prioritize health and social justice. Herbicide-Free Campus writes this essay about their commitment to upholding a new caliber of safety — and only through ending the use of toxic pesticides in public green spaces can we truly achieve that goal.