Climate Movement Fundamentals
A free, self-paced, online course that explores the fundamentals of the climate justice movement. 25 video lessons take you through three sections:
- People Power 101
- Climate Justice 101
- Finding Your Place In The Movement
This course was originally called 350PDX Summer School, as we made it over the summer of 2022, but the content is relevant all year round. In some of the videos you might hear it referred to as Summer School, so just a heads up!
Foundational
Trainings and resources that everyone in the movement should be familiar with
Justice Resources
- Read and absorb the Jemez Principles
- Read and absorb the White Supremacy Cultural Traits
- Watch this 350.org Climate and Environmental Justice training (72 min)
Organizing Resources
- Interactive training: How Social Movements Win (20 min)
- Interactive training: Introduction to Campaigning (35 min)
- Watch Disruption (52 min)
- Read Climate Resistance Handbook (download for free or get a hardcopy)
- Watch 350PDX Volunteer Orientation + slides (72 min) or attend an upcoming live orientation
Core
A deeper dive into the movement fundamentals
Justice Resources
- Climate Justice is Racial Justice, Racial Justice is Climate Justice (article)
- Climate Change & White Supremacy (article series)
- Racial Justice is Climate Justice: Pt. 1 – Abolition (54 min)
- Racial Justice is Climate Justice: Pt 2 – Defunding Police (61 min)
- Racial Justice is Climate Justice: Pt 3 – Housing Justice (57 min)
- Racial Justice is Climate Justice – Pt 4: Environmental Justice, Pollution, Community, Health & Wellness (93 min)
- Link to resources, links, slide decks from the above 4-part series
Organizing Resources
- Strategic Messaging (71 min)
- Organizing & Movement Building (79 min)
- Policy Advocacy (110 min)
- Climate Change Science 101 (interactive training – 20 min)
- Having Climate Change Conversations (interactive training – 30 min)
- Organizing During Physical Isolation (74 min)
- Keeping Yourself Healthy and Safe at a Protest (101 min)
Advanced
Level up your skills
Organizing Resources
- Advanced Campaigning Lessons (interactive training – 30 min)
- Digital Security for Protesters (82 min)
- Letter to the Editor Training (61 min)
- Mental Health First Aid: Skills for Street Medics (90 min)
- Divestment (interactive training – 20 min)
- Fracking (interactive training – 25 min)
- A Better World Is Paintable – How to make banners, stencils, street murals, parachute banners, and more! (download for free or get a hardcopy)
- Dare to Question: A Journal for Uprising (download for free or get a hardcopy)
- Leading Groups Online – a down-and-dirty guide to leading online courses, meetings, trainings, and events during the coronavirus pandemic (download for free or get a hardcopy)
- 350.org Trainings website
- Training for Change – organization that puts on training for grassroots movements
Basic Info on Environmental Justice
If you know about the phrase “environmental justice” but don’t know how to explain it to someone, start here!
White supremacy produces disproportionate environmental pollution
The Environmental Justice Movement
Are There Two Different Versions of Environmentalism, One “White,” One “Black”?
Updated Resource document on Race-Climate Intersectionality from MN350
Listen to & Uplift BIPOC Voices in Climate & Environmental Movements
BIPOC stands for “Black, Indigenous, people of color.” It’s imperative that we directly listen to and learn from from those with the lived experience of oppression, including environmental and climate injustice.
Green Voices of Color, compiled by Mary Annaïse Heglar, a Black climate justice writer (read her work on Medium and follow her on Twitter!)
Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism
11 Young Climate Justice Activists You Need to Pay Attention To
The Red Nation Podcast – dedicated to the liberation of Indigenous peoples from colonialism.
More About White Supremacy and Racial Justice
If you don’t know what “whiteness” means or think white supremacy is limited to hate groups and blatant racist acts, read these!
Podcast: Robin DiAngelo and Resmaa Menakem – Towards a Framework for Repair
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism. (A PDF of the full book by Robin DiAngelo can be found here.)
Why We’re Still Unwilling To Admit To Systemic Racism in America
Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People
America’s Protests Won’t Stop Until Police Brutality Does
White Supremacy and Me, book and workbook by Layla Saad
Examples of Environmental Racism
Read here to understand more about how the above problems cause real harm in communities around the United States.
‘Environmental Injustice’: Minorities Face Nearly 40% More Exposure to Toxic Air Pollution
Flint’s water crisis is a blatant example of environmental injustice
Climate Change Forces Northwest Natives From Their Ancestral Homes
5 Things to Know About Communities of Color and Environmental Justice
Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Is Getting Even More Toxic — But Residents Are Fighting Back
White People’s Role in Environmental Justice & Dismantling White Supremacy
Understand the above problems, but don’t know what to do next? Here are some things to keep in mind for antiracist organizing.
Campus Environmental Group Insists ‘White People Step Back’
11 Things White People Can Do to Be Real Anti-Racist Allies
5 Ways White People Can Take Action in Response to White and State-Sanctioned Violence
Got resources or trainings to add to this list? Email info@350pdx.org and we’ll be glad to add them!
