Climate Change Conversations was developed by Agnes and Mélanie (see below). We were able to receive funding for one year from the Department of Environmental Systems of ETH Zurich, but ETH is not involved in our project in any other way. We are not conducting any research or pursuing other interests with this project - we simply want to have good conversations about climate change.
I studied psychology and am currently doing my PhD in Zurich. The Climate Change Conversations are very dear to me. Through them, I hope to create an alternative form of environmental communication that gives room to the personal experiences of each individual, but without pathologizing them ("climate fear", but also "climate deniers") and without losing sight of the collective level. Climate change affects us all personally - and at the same time affects us all collectively.
I studied environmental science and agroecology and am now a PhD student at ETHZ. During my studies I was bombarded with many numbers and worrying facts about the current degradation of our ecosystems. This bad news led me to a lot of anger and lack of understanding about why our society does not change its course. Today, I am interested in communication because I believe that a truly empathetic and less judgmental dialogue between individuals is needed. A polarized society will lead nowhere.
I study agricultural sciences and am active in the climate strike movement. As a result, I often find myself in situations that are very new to me, which unsettle and challenge me. But it can also be old familiar patterns that I struggle with. Exchanging with other people about experiences and personal developments fascinates me. I think that approaching each other, listening to each other and learning from each other is an exciting way to better deal with the big questions of our time.
As an oceanography student, I got to experience the unique beauty of Antarctica and subpolar biodiversity hotspots named Inaccessible, Gough, South Georgia – while dropping expendable bathythermographs and taking water samples to document the incessant warming and acidification of the Circumpolar Current. As a PhD student, I develop risk models that help us estimate the costs of weather and climate extremes. The shadows cast on our shared future by the factual pharos of climate change are much longer than I could ever imagine. Community and exchange give me hope and orientation, words and sun beams are my foothold. https://www.consilience-journal.com/si/geoscience/anthropo-obscenity
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