ONLINE WEBINARS, TRAININGS &
NETWORK-WIDE ORGANIZING CALLS
As we face the double crises of COVID-19 and climate disruption, and with much of the world in lockdown, there is a crack, an opening, in the system where we have the possibility to shape a new world, and dismantle the detrimental, institutionalized systems of patriarchy, colonization, racism, and predator capitalism that lie at the root of our perilous predicament.
To build a foundation for deep systemic change, which is necessary at this moment to care for our communities and the Earth, it is vital to uplift and amplify women's unique leadership, Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge, as well as the deep political analysis of all historically marginalized frontline communities and justice movements, while we continue to challenge corporate power.
The same ideologies and behaviors that led to COVID-19, climate chaos, and environmental degradation display a human relationship with Nature that is devastatingly out of balance. To address this profound moment in time, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network has launched, “A Just and Healthy World is Possible: WECAN Advocacy and Solutions Series,” an ongoing webinar program lifting up women's leadership to support next steps as we continue to collectively build a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and each other
We held our first webinar in the series on March 25, "Caring for Our Communities: COVID-19 and our Health, Connections to Climate Preparedness, and Systemic Change", where frontline women practictioners and advocates shared best practices for caring for ourselves and communities, while providing political and cultural analysis. Speakers included Rupa Marya, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF; Linda Black Elk (Catawba Nation), Director of Food Sovereignty Programs at United Tribes Technical College; Jacqui Patterson, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN International. A recording of the first webinar in the series is available on YouTube or on our Facebook page.
To live in a healthy and just world, we must fundamentally change how we respect and interact with the Earth and each other. During the series, we will offer opportunities to participate in immediate solutions and actions, deepen political analysis, learn from and uplift frontline women's leadership, gain understanding of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, exchange movement information, and address the climate crisis through a feminist lens. Topics will include forest and biodiversity protection, Indigenous rights, self-care and healing practices, agro-ecology and home-permaculture, fossil fuel resistance, divestment and a just transition, feminist economics, protection of women land defenders, rights of nature, decentralized/democratized energy grids, deepening our connection to nature, and more.
We are at a turning point, and it is now more than ever that we must strengthen our commitment to the vision and world we seek — together. While we can’t physically be together, there is a lot we can do by connecting digitally to ensure the acceleration of a global feminist movement for the protection and defense of the Earth’s diverse ecosystems and communities — all are welcome, please join us! In case you miss live webinars, all are recorded and links to view are below.
Please direct any and all questions to: katherine@wecaninternational.org
Check back for more online events, coming soon!
Please find past recordings, descriptions, and speaker details for
WECAN's recent online events and webinars down below!
Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice:
Solutions from the Frontlines and the Protection and Defense of Human Rights and Nature
During the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice, grassroots, Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women leaders, global advocates, and policy-makers will join together in solidarity to speak out against environmental and social injustice, draw attention to root causes of multiple interlocking crises, and present the diverse array of visions, projects, policy frameworks and strategies with which they are working to shape a healthy and equitable world. The Assembly was held during the UN General Assembly from September 25-30, 2021, and was an inclusive space across identities and the gender spectrum.
The assembly brought together over 100+ speakers across 20 diverse panels.
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Assembly topics included the intersectionality of gender, racial and environmental justice; Indigenous rights and resistance efforts; the just transition to renewable, regenerative energy; feminist global policy; women and forest protection and regeneration; fossil fuel resistance campaigns; agro-ecology/farming/soils; environmental racism; feminist care economics and policy agendas; rights of nature; challenging corporate power; and women and feminist leadership across all sectors.
Indigenous Women Upholding Indigenous Rights
and Knowledge, and Leading Climate Solutions
Indigenous Women Upholding Indigenous Rights and Knowledge, and Leading Climate Solutions, 2023
During this UNPFII side event we hear from global Indigenous women leaders on the impacts of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the climate crisis in their communities and how they are implementing solutions, practicing traditional knowledge systems, upholding Indigenous rights, and advancing policies and practices of care and climate justice.
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Panel one speakers included: Ruth Łchav’aya K’isen Miller (Curyung Tribe of Dena’ina Athabaskan) | Indigenous Climate Activist, Turtle Island, USA; Yasso Kanti Bhattachan (Thakali) | Founding Member and the Vice Chair of the National Indigenous Women’s Forum (NIWF), Nepal; Claire Charlo (Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes)| Indigenous Feminisms Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Turtle Island/USA; Xiye Bastida (Otomi-Toltec)| Co-founder and Board, Re-earth Initiative, USA
Panel two speakers included: Josefina Tunki (Shuar) | First woman president of the Shuar Arutam organization (PSHA); President Whitney Gravelle (Bay Mills Indian Community) | President and Executive Council Bay Mills Indian Community, Chair of the Department of Interior’s Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee and Commissioner on the Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, Turtle Island/USA; Michelle Woodhouse (Métis) | Water Program Manager, Environmental Defence, Canada; Majo Andrade Cerda (Kichwa) | Young leader of the Kichwa People of Napo, Land is Life’s Latin America Program Assistant, Ecuador. Panel moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director
Indigenous Women from North America Defending Biodiversity, Human Rights, and our Global Climate
Indigenous Women from North America Defending Biodiversity, Human Rights, and our Global Climate, 2023
During this virtual event held in parallel to the UNPFII, Indigenous women leaders addressed a variety of topics, highlighting how Indigenous women are leading efforts to uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the right of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with the aim of advocating to global governments and financial institutions that respecting Indigenous knowledge, ways of life, and FPIC, and the right to say “no” to continued extraction, is paramount to addressing the global climate and environmental crises. Speakers also presented solutions grounded in Indigenous knowledge and expertise for protecting and defending communities and Mother Earth.
Speakers included: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation) | Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Tara Houska (Couchiching First Nation) | Tribal Attorney and Founder of Giniw Collective, Line 3 pipeline Resistance Leader, Turtle Island, USA; Dr. Crystal A Cavalier, Ed.D, MPA (Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation) | Co-Founder, 7 Directions of Service, Turtle Island, USA; Monique Verdin (Houma Nation) | WECAN Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator in the Gulf South, Director of Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange, Turtle Island, USA; Jannan J. Cornstalk (Citizen of Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians) | Director Water is Life Festival, Turtle Island, USA; and Moderation and Comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
Uplifting Women Human Rights Defenders
and Advancing the Escazu Agreement
Uplifting Women Human Rights Defenders and Advancing the Escazu Agreement, 2023
During this virtual event, women environmental and human rights defenders, policy makers, and feminist advocates highlighted the challenges women in all of their diversity face in securing human and Indigenous rights, gaining access to information, public participation, access to justice and protecting land, territories and communities in the context of implications and opportunities women have as part of the Escazú Agreement. This was a formal side event of the Escazu COP2 in 2023.
Women for Climate Justice Leading Protection of Water
Women for Climate Justice Leading Protection of Water, 2023
During this event we heard from grassroots women leaders, water protectors, and international policy experts, who addressed the impacts of climate change and destructive projects on global water, and shared ongoing solutions and strategies for the protection of oceans, freshwater, rivers, and aquatic ecosystems based in a climate justice framework.
This is a formal side event of the UN Water Conference happening right now in New York City. In addition to the event, WECAN is submitting a commitment and releasing a Call to Action urging governments to increase and improve their ambition to protect global water sources by enacting a rights-based approach and ensuring women’s leadership in decision- making spaces. Read and share the call to action here.
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A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
Speakers included: Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons | Band of Ojibwe, Ojibwe Elder, Women of Wellbriety, International, United Nations Observer on Women/Indigenous Issues, Turtle Island/USA; Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner | Poet, Director for Marshallese youth nonprofit Jo-Jikum, and Climate Envoy, Marshall Islands; Alexandra Narvaez (Cofán) | Indigenous rights & Land Defender, Goldman Prize Winner, Ecuador; Maude Barlow | Founding Member of the Council of Canadians, Co-Founder, the Blue Planet Project, Canada; Aurora Conley | Bad River Ojibwe, Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance, Turtle Island/USA; Vasser Seydel | President at The Oxygen Project, USA; Moderation and Comments by Osprey Orielle Lake | Executive Director, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).
Global Voices and Women-Led Calls to Action
in Response to COP27
Global Voices and Women-Led Calls to Action in Response to COP27, 2022
Around the world, peoples’ movements are responding to the escalating climate crisis and rising to address the urgency and needs of people and the planet. During this event, we heard from women and gender-diverse leaders on the ground at #COP27 to report out on negotiations, share highlights, report releases, calls to action, demands from women globally, struggles, and solutions.
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Speakers included: Noelene Nabulivou, Co-founder/Director, DIVA for Equality, Fiji; Carmen Capriles, Founder of Reacción Climática, WECAN Coordinator for Latin America; Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Leader from Sarayaku, and Spokeswoman, Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva; Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Convenor and International Spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP); Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project; Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch; Geraldine Patrick Encina, Indigenous Relations Advisor, One Earth Member of Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor, and member of Earth Timekeepers; Adriana Calderón, Youth Climate Activist, USA & Mexico; Advocate with Fridays For Future, Fridays For Future MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas) and Fridays For Future in Mexico (Viernes Por El Futuro Mexico); Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).
WECAN Climate Justice Forum
Facing the Climate Emergency on the Road to COP27: Solutions and Perspectives from Global Women and Gender Diverse Leaders
From September 19 - 24, the WECAN team was on the ground in New York City for Climate Week and the UN General Assembly to host "Facing the Climate Emergency on the Road to COP27: Solutions and Perspectives from Global Women and Gender Diverse Leaders," a three-day Climate Justice Forum, bringing together women and gender-diverse leaders in solidarity to speak out against environmental and social injustice, draw attention to root causes of multiple interlocking crises, and present the diverse array of visions, projects, policy frameworks and strategies with which they are working to shape a healthy and just world. See below for recordings and resources from the Forum. Find recordings and information for all forum events below.
Women Leading Fossil Fuel Divestment and Resistance
During this virtual event at Climate Week, frontline women and global leaders shared critical strategies for national and international divestment from harmful extractive industries, while calling for justice and accountability from financial institutions.
A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
Speakers Included: Roishetta Ozane, Community Organizer for Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, Healthy Gulf; Gaagigeyaashiik - Dawn Goodwin (Ojibwe/White Earth), Representative at Indigenous Environmental Network and Co-founder of R.I.S.E. Coalition, 1855 Treaty; Dr. Laalitha Surapaneni, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota; Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch; Jodie Evans, Co-founder, CODEPINK; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
Women Land Defenders on the Frontlines of Biodiversity Protection and Climate Actio
During this event held in-person at Climate Week, Indigenous and frontline leaders, and global advocates highlighted the challenges women face as land defenders. They also addressed securing human and Indigenous rights and how women are working to protect the global climate and diverse ecosystems in challenging political and economic contexts.
A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
Speakers Included: Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Leader from Sarayaku, and Spokeswoman, Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva, Ecuador; Ozawa Bineshi Albert, Climate Justice Alliance Co-Executive Director, Turtle Island; Xiye Bastida (Otomi-Toltec), Co-founder and Board, Re-earth Initiative, Turtle Island; Carmen Capriles, Founder of Reaccion Climatica and WECAN Latin America Coordinator; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
Women for Climate Justice: Solutions and Calls to Action on the Road to COP27
During this in-person event at Climate Week, grassroots, Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women and gender diverse leaders, global advocates, and policy-makers shared perspectives and analysis on the climate crisis and COP27 and how we can confront deepening interlocking crises and accelerate a path forward, advancing just and resilient community-led solutions.
To open the event, Thilmeeza Hussain, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States from the Maldives and WECAN Executive Director Osprey Orielle Lake, had an intimate conversation discussing climate policy and the climate impacts on Island Nations. Watch the conversation between Thilmeeza Hussain and Osprey Orielle Lake here.
Speakers Included: Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA; Diana Duarte, Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement, MADRE, USA; Farhana Yamin, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme Chatham House, UK; Jade Begay (Diné / Tesuque Pueblo), Climate Justice Campaign Director, NDN Collective, Turtle Island; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
African Feminist Perspectives on COP27 and Beyond
As the world prepares for COP27 in Egypt, African feminist leaders called for a different path forward demanding urgent climate action from governments centered on justice and rights. During this event we heard from women leaders from Africa sharing struggles, analysis, solutions and successful on the ground projects for climate justice.
A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
Speakers Included: Neema Namadamu, Founder, Synergy of Congolese Women’s Associations (SAFECO), and Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), DR Congo; Rita Uwaka, Forest & Biodiversity Program Coordinator, Friends of the Earth Africa (FoEA), Nigeria; Sostine Namanya, Gender & Food Security Projects Officer, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda; Anne Songole, Climate Justice Coordinator, The African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET), Kenya; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
Women Leading Solutions for a Healthy and Just Planet, Stockholm+50 Event
Women Leading Solutions for a Healthy and Just Planet, June 2, 2022
Global women are leading movements and projects to build a healthy and just world! During this event, grassroots women leaders and global advocates discussed environmental degradation, the climate crisis, and present a diverse array of strategies and solutions to secure strong communities and a just planet for current and future generations including: Indigenous rights, Rights of Nature, Women’s Leadership, Forest Protection, Food Sovereignty, and much more.
Speakers included: Carmen Capriles, Founder of Reacción Climática, WECAN Coordinator for Latin America, Bolivia; Dipti Bhatnagar, International Program Coordinator for Climate Justice and Energy, FoE International, Mozambique; Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA; Neema Namadamu, SAFECO and WECAN Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator, DR Congo; Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Convenor and International Spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), The Philippines; Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, USA; and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, USA
Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations
Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations, April 27, 2022
During the event, Indigenous women leaders and global advocates discussed how financial institutions and corporations perpetuate human and Indigenous rights violations in relation to extractive and other industries and the necessary steps these institutions must take to stop these egregious activities— and instead, implement FPIC, Indigenous rights and due diligence, while also investing in solutions within a climate justice framework centering Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Additionally, given the severity of the climate crisis and existential threat to all of humanity, it is important to highlight that 80% of biodiversity remaining on Earth is in Indigenous lands and territories. Respecting Indigenous knowledge, ways of life, and FPIC, and the right to say “no” to continued extraction, is thus paramount to the discussion. This was a formal side-event of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2022.
Speakers included: Michelle Cook (Dine’/Navajo), Human rights lawyer and founder of Divest Invest Protect and Indigenous Human Rights Defenders and Corporate Accountability Program; Summer Blaze Aubrey (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Descendant of the Blackfeet Nation), Law Fellow, Indigenous Human Rights Defenders & Corporate Accountability Program and Staff Attorney for the International Indian Treaty Council; Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch; Sônia Guajajara (Guajajara), Executive Coordinator for Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB); Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member; Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN); and Special Guests Maria Violet Medina Quiscue (Nasa), Autoridades Indigenas en Bakata, Colombia with Xiomara Chingate.
Building Systemic Change:
Frontline Women-Led Solutions for Climate Justice
Building Systemic Change: Frontline Women-Led Solutions for Climate Justice, March 24, 2022
During this event Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women leaders and global advocates addressed multiple interlocking crises, and presented a diverse array of visions, projects, policy frameworks and strategies based in a climate justice framework, including forest and biodiversity protection, Indigenous rights, food sovereignty, protection of women land defenders, and community-led solutions. This was formal side event hosted as part of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66).
The voices, analysis and leadership of global women, feminist and gender diverse leaders are critical to the years ahead, as we work collectively and urgently to build the resilient and just future we know is possible.
A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
Speakers included: Neema Namadamu, Founder, Synergy of Congolese Women’s Associations (SAFECO), and WECAN Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Monique Verdin (Houma Nation), Director, The Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange, and WECAN Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator, USA; Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA; Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree), Co-founder and Senior Director, Indigenous Climate Action, and Founder, Sacred Earth Solar, Canada; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), Environmental and Indigenous Rights Defender, WECAN Young Women Project Lead, Ecuador; Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, USA.
Structuring an Economy for People and the Planet
in the Time of Climate Crisis & COVID-19
May 28 - Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis & COVID-19
During the webinar, women and feminists from different regions of the world will unite to discuss alternative economies that counteract extractive economic systems, colonization, racism, and patriarchy— and instead uplift women’s labor, center Indigenous knowledge, and prioritize people and planet. There could not be a more important time to ensure we do not go back to business as usual.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the severe cracks in our global economic system. Rooted in neo-liberal capitalism, the current economic system is set to continue to rapaciously extract resources from the Earth and drive the dual crises of climate chaos and pandemics, while exploiting the labor of people worldwide to line the pockets of wealthy CEOs, fossil fuel companies and other large corporations.
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A recording of this webinar is available via the buttons below.
As we see disaster capitalism play out in real time, we must disrupt the system and call for a regenerative, rights-based economy that prioritizes communities and nature. What is needed now is an investment in alternative economic models predicated on community-led solutions, Indigenous knowledge, and ancient concepts of reciprocity with the Earth and all living beings. Already there are Indigenous economies to learn from and an emergence of socially just, place-based, caring economic models that are structuring a path forward.
Speakers include: Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree First Nation), Campaign Director, Indigenous Climate Action; Ruth Nyambura, Kenyan Activist with African Ecofeminist Collective; Dr. Julia Kim, Program Director, Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan; Cindy Wiesner, Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Ellen Brown, Attorney and Founder of the Public Banking Institute; Rauna Kuokkanen (Sápmi) Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland; Comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). Full bios are available here.
Global women leaders strategize together - Photo via Lori Waselchuk
Resources & Blogs From Past Online Trainings
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Womxn Act for Climate Justice: International Women's Day Online Event (2021)
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Ratifying the Escazú Agreement: Women for Human Rights and the Defense of Nature (2020)
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Indigenous Rights and Women's Leadership are Central to Divestment Strategies (2020)
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Caring For Our Communities: Covid -19, Our Health, Climate, and Systemic Change (2020)
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Indigenous Women on the Frontlines of Fossil Fuel Resistance (2019)
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Indigenous Women on the Frontlines: Report Backs and Calls To Action (2018)
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Rights of Nature: Protecting and Defending the Places We Live(2018)
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Women for Soils: Healthy Soils, Restorative Small-Scale Farming and Carbon Sequestration (2017)
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Bringing Power to the People: Women for 100% Renewable Energy (2016)
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Uplifting Rights of Nature to Protect Our Living Earth (2016)
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Direct Action and Non-Violent Civil Disobedience: Tools for Your Advocacy Work (2016)
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Health and Climate Change: What Is At Stake, What Can Be Done? (2016)
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'We Are All Solar Sisters': Women for 100% Renewable Energy (2015)
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'For Our Children & All Generations: Health & Climate Training Recap Day One' (2015)
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'Health & Climate: Changing the Narrative - Training Recap Day Two' (2015)
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'Resistance & Solutions: Women on the Frontlines Training Recap' (2015)
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'Rights of Nature & Community Rights Training Resources' (2015)