Holiday Parties Fit For the Decade Ahead
By Jennie Rose, guest blogger
There’s something so right about a simple kitchen cluster when baby, it’s cold outside. If goodwill is in the air and you feel it everywhere, the winter holidays can’t be far away, right? Should you want to organize your guests this year, we offer a short list of 5 climate-related ideas for your consideration.
EAT FOR THOUGHT
HOST AN OXFAM HUNGER BANQUET
Imagine arriving as a guest and drawing a ticket that determines your meal prospects for the evening. If you end up in the role of someone from a low-income tier country, a tasty dinner is not on your menu.
Half the guests at an Oxfam Hunger Banquet will play the low-income role. This proportion represents the half of the world population earning less than $2,255 a year. 20% in the high-income tier are served a sumptuous meal, while 30% in the middle-income group eat a simple meal, like rice and beans. Afterwards, guests come together to share their thoughts.
Watch the YouTube video by Oxfam on how banquet setup works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N99Q5aLo8Q#action=share.
The Oxfam Hunger Banquet® toolkit provides logistical information.
BE A QUEEN OF THE MATCHSTICK KINGDOM
MAKE THE POPULATION CONNECTION
All players start with the same number of matchsticks in the Population Connection game. The bag of matchsticks represents energy use per capita. Each player uses their bundle for running scenarios on sustainable management of resources, while giving consideration to human factors like fertility, education, and region.
Population Education also offers workshops for staff development and teacher groups. https://populationeducation.org/teacher-workshops/workshops-for-nonformal-educators/
General information about Population Connection can be found at http://www.popconnect.org.
LECTURES ARE BORING
PLAY A SIMULATION INSTEAD
If your high school Model UN club and The Sims had a child, the World Climate game would be it. Do you shudder at the thought of sitting through another slide show of firestorms and melting glaciers? This game will appeal. World Climate is designed to practice the skills needed to manage in climate emergency conditions; risk perception, vulnerability assessment and systems thinking are built into the game play.
Materials and tools for World Climate are available for free in multiple languages.
UPCYCLE YOUR SOCIAL LIFE
GIVE AN ECO CRAFT SOCIAL
If role playing is just not your jam, consider hosting an up-cycle social through the Green Art Workshop where your guests will make art, socialize, and sip local craft beverages. Learn to make an earring organizer out of an old picture frame or a sculpture from old old keys, for example. Hands-on projects for the event will feature a new up-cycling technique with a highly-trained artist resident to teach it. Fee includes instruction, all materials, beverages, and light refreshments.
To schedule an event, fill out this program request form, http://www.greenartworkshop.org/special-events and workshop staff will respond with a quote.
PLAY THE LONG GAME
BET ON THE FUTURE
Homebound or snowed in? Try betting on the future without ever leaving the house. In this game, created by SF-based nonprofit the Long Now Foundation, players speculate on long-term events to stimulate discussion about the future. For $50 (which is subsequently donated as philanthropic funds), you can explain your prediction and supporting arguments.
Long Bets are not guesses. Each predictor has a theory of how an event or innovation will transpire, and each prediction will be followed by public examination to see how it matches with reality. One player, for example, predicted that it will be illegal to drive in the US by the year 2044.
For a full list of active predictions and bets, see http://longbets.org/predictions/.
More information is available at http://longbets.org/.
