Episode 204

Harnessing Collective Intelligence with The Climate Fresk to Unpack Climate Change and Create Millions of Changemakers by Cedric Ringenbach

Episode Summary: In this episode of CarbonSessions, we dive deep into a conversation with Cedric Ringenbach, founder of Climate Fresk, a workshop tool designed to educate people about the science of climate change.

The discussion explores how this interactive workshop helps participants understand the causes and consequences of climate change and empowers them to take meaningful action. 

Highlights Include: 

Impact and Reach: Insights into the impressive numbers—1.5 million participants in 160+ countries, with 70,000 volunteers in 45 languages. 

What is the Climate Fresk? Cedric explains the workshop format and how it facilitates understanding of climate change through cause and effect mapping. 

Origins of Climate Fresk: The story behind its creation and how it evolved from an interactive lesson into a global movement. 

Interactive Learning: The importance of collective intelligence and how mistakes and discussions during the workshop enhance learning. 

Emotional Engagement: Addressing the emotional impact of learning about climate change and strategies for facilitators to support participants. 

Global Expansion: Cedric's vision for international growth and the steps needed to establish Climate Fresk organizations in more countries. 

Personal Stories and Advice: Cedric shares his personal journey into climate activism and offers advice for those interested in participating in or facilitating Climate Fresk workshops. 

Tune in to learn how this impactful initiative harnesses the power of community and interactive learning to spark significant environmental change. 

To find out more about The Climate Fresk, visit climatefresk.org .  

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Leekei Tang, Tania Marien, Brian Tormey, Olabanji Stephen and Jenn Swanson.  

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert, and podcaster from Paris, France.  

From Riverside, California, Tania is an independent environmental education professional and hosts and produces The Talaterra Podcast.  

Brian is a Real Estate Title Insurance Professional and Goat Farmer in the US.  

Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria. He’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work.  

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer, and community Connector, helping people help themselves. 

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For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac (one of Amazon best-selling books of the year!), visit thecarbonalmanac.org 

Want to join in the conversation? 

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives. 

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up! 

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater. 

Transcript
Speaker:

Hi, I'm Christina.

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I'm from Prague.

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Hi, I'm Jen, and I'm from Canada.

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Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Oladunji,

and I'm from Nigeria.

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Speaker: Hello, I'm

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Speaker 3: Liki, and I live in Paris.

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Speaker 4: Hi, I'm Brian,

and I'm from New York.

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Speaker 5: Welcome to Carbon Sessions.

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A podcast with carbon conversations

for every day with everyone

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from everywhere in the world.

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In our conversations, we share ideas,

perspectives, questions, and things we

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can actually do to make a difference.

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So don't be shy and join our carbon

sessions because it's not too late.

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Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Tanya.

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Speaker 4: Hi, I'm Brian.

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Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Jen.

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Hi, I'm Likki.

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And on this podcast and in the Common

Omni community, we really focus on

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the science behind climate change.

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We got over 150 entries in the book,

and it's all about science., but for

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people like me, um, that are very

visual um very hands on, um I need to

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draw a map that shows the event and the

causes, the consequences and how this.

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different articles, these different

entries in the book are interconnected.

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And this really helped me to

understand the big picture.

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And luckily I live in France and

some people, some amazing, incredible

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people have worked on this issue.

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They have developed a tool to

help us better understand the

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science of climate change.

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And today we are very, very, very

honored to have Cedric Kringenbach,

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the mastermind, the leader, the

founder of the Climate Presque.

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So welcome, Cedric.

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Speaker 6: Thank you.

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Hello, everybody.

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Speaker 3: So last month, Cédric, you

gave a keynote speech at Change Now,

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and it's basically the largest event

of solutions for the planet in Europe.

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And I found it very interesting because

when the moderator asked the audience,

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and it is an audience of a few hundred

people, the question was, who has

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taken the climate fresc training?

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I just find it amazing that

70% of people raise their hand

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and it it's very impressive.

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And that's true because in France when we

talk about climate change, uh, networking

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event or business meetings, there's almost

one that will mention the climate risk.

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And the numbers of the climate

risk are really, really impressive.

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It's 1.5 million participants

in 157 countries.

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With 70, 000 volunteers in 45 languages

and all of this in less than six

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years without any grants and any

external sponsorship, first question.

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What is the ClimateFresque?

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Speaker 6: Okay.

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The ClimateFresque, it's a, it's

a workshop that lasts three hours

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and people are around the table.

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You have like five, six, seven

people around the table and you

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give them cards that they have to

put in order of cause and effect.

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Each card represents a component.

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of climate change.

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So you have human activities,

fossil fuel, CO2 emissions,

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CO2 concentration, et cetera.

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So you have the causes of climate change.

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All the physics behind it and, and,

uh, and then you have the consequences

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of climate change consequences on the

biodiversity and on human infrastructures.

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So that's the first part of the workshop.

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People take the cards, try

to make a big map out of it

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with a cause and consequences,

connections between the cards.

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And the second half of the

workshop is to have a discussion

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about what can we do about it?

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Uh, now that we have understood that

it's a big issue, how can we solve

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it at the personal level, at, uh, the

company's level, maybe, and at the

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collective, uh, level, political level.

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And so the, the, the goal for

the facilitator that everybody

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leaves the workshop with the will

to act and, uh, and to have the

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hope that we can solve the issue.

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Speaker 7: Why did you

start ClimateFresque?

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Did the idea for it emerge gradually

or was it a reaction to an event?

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Speaker 6: It happened by chance one day.

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I used to give lessons on climate

change sometimes, like one full

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day with some colleagues, friends.

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I took one day with them on PowerPoint

to teach them about climate change.

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And one day I wanted to try

something more interactive.

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So I printed a few slides of my PowerPoint

and I gave them the slides and I told

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them to try to put them in order and find

some connections, relations between the

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different, uh, the different notions.

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And then I stepped back and I was

listening to their conversation

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and I, The conversation where, uh,

really, um, on easy, people were

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hesitating, making mistakes, et cetera.

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But in fact, they were making mistakes,

but then they were correcting themselves.

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They disagreed and they argued

and then they understood.

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And it's, in fact, it's a very, very

efficient way to learn by hesitating.

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It's, it's, it's what we call

Uh, collective intelligence for

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pedagogy very, very quickly.

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I understood that it was a very good

format and I used it from that moment on.

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I use it every time I was

teaching climate change.

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And so I, I, Gradually, I improved the

set of cards and it became something very

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self sustaining that I was able to give

to my friends so that they were able to

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Speaker 4: moderate themselves.

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Cedric, that's, that's great.

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This is Brian and I'm

really pleased to meet you.

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Thank you for doing

what you've been doing.

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Thanks.

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This is pretty exciting.

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And in my household, games.

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are a big part of what we do my kid

they're just really into all the different

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versions of board games and card games and

i'm curious if you you know almost sort of

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expand a little bit on some of what you've

just spoken about about maybe some of

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those moments or learnings or experiences

or kind of engagement that you've seen

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because you made it not simply a soapbox

kind of presentation lecture, but actually

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you've made it this interactive thing.

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Like, I think your process here is an

interesting thing to think about as

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we think about other ways of conveying

climate information and making it

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less, you know, one directional

and just, and just expounding on

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information and making it like, you

know, a very interactive kind of thing.

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Um, I was helping my kids are

actually in a climate, uh,

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Summits in their school today.

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They've got like three or 400 people

have come to this climate summit and

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I was helping them practice their, uh,

their, uh, presentations last night.

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And, and I'm curious, cause they're

still going to do another round of

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it tonight with community members.

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If you have any tips on like ways

to make the discussion around

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these things more engaging.

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I've said

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Speaker 6: is that

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Speaker 4: the, um,

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Speaker 6: It's a ground for the

moderators, how to moderate, um,

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first, uh, when you are, uh, a

climate, uh, kind of a trace moderator,

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we, we call them climate frescoes.

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I mean, no, frescoes, we call

ourselves great frescoes.

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Um, when you are a moderator, you

are not supposed to give your opinion

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about what should be, should be done.

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You are here to.

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to trigger the discussion.

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So you ask a question to the people.

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Uh, first, when we, when we start the

conversation, people just have, I've

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just put the cards on the table and

they have seen the last cards and the

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very, you know, the very bad news,

like, uh, there will be, uh, there

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will be consequences on, uh, on hers.

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There could be, uh, um, conflict that

could be, uh, climate refugees, et cetera.

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And, um, And it's very bad news.

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And then you have to express what

they have been feeling about it.

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So we, we first have a round table

about how do you feel now that we

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have understood all of these things.

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Sometimes even have a little discussion

by groups of two or three people

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choose pick, pick one word, uh, one

word and, and put it on a sticker.

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Uh, about your, your emotions

and then discuss with people

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about how you feel about it.

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So that's the first, first step.

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And then people have been

able to express things.

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And then we, we, we go on with a

discussion about what could we do?

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And people will say, we

should do this and that.

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We should ban that thing, which would,

uh, uh, force people to do this and that.

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And then.

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People react, no, you cannot say that, you

cannot ban, uh, you cannot oblige people

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not to eat meat, for instance, et cetera.

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So you have a discussion,

there is a discussion going on.

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Um, and, but we, we realize that it's

not easy to, to tackle this issue

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because, uh, um, Some people would

like to become dictators, uh, from,

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from one day to the next and, and

ban everything that is carbonized

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So, uh, and so, um, and some of the bureau

say, no, we'll never manage to do that

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because people will not agree, et cetera.

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So.

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You have this always

interesting discussion.

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Uh, the point is when you

are the moderator, um, you

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need to avoid one thing.

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There's, uh, people tend to say

that it's somebody else's fault.

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And, um, and that's the main point.

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So of course, it's everybody's

fault, but what can you, what

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can I do about climate change?

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At my personal level, what can I do?

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What can my company do

about climate change?

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Uh, what decision should we make?

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Uh, to go in the right direction

and, uh, and, uh, and eventually,

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uh, what should the state do?

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And, uh, how would I vote in the future?

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So you, you can always do something

at least at your personal level.

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So focus on this point,

uh, always focus on that.

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Okay.

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It's difficult, but what can you do?

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What can I do about what can I change?

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And we can all do something.

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That's great.

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Speaker 4: I love that.

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And that, and that asking questions and

sort of that neutrality lens as well.

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Yeah.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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Speaker 7: Thank you.

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Thank you, Cedric.

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Uh, this is Tanya.

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Uh, ClimateFresque is a tool designed to

create the conditions for conversation.

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And you just explained how

beautifully it, it does that.

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Um, and, uh, from what I've read,

the ClimateFresque team encourages

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dialogue, as you've explained,

and discourages lecturing that

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occurs longer than five minutes.

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Extent prolonged lecturing.

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And I get the impression

that the card workshop.

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Was designed for a controlled environment,

like a classroom or a conference room.

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And I was wondering how easy it would

be to transform it into a tabletop

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activity at a more public venue.

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So I was wondering, is anyone leading

a version of this workshop that's

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appropriate for visitor serving

organizations or other informal learning

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environments, say a version that

lasts minutes instead of three hours?

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So I was wondering,

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Speaker 6: We have a format for that.

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It's not, it's not exactly the same

product, in fact, it's still the same

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thing, but, uh, for events, we have,

um, a format where we, We have, uh,

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the climate fresco once it is finished.

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So we have the, not all of the cards,

not the 42 cards, but maybe, uh, 35.

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We just skip a few complicated

cards and they are here on a big

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sheet of paper, like two meters, two

meters, four, four square meters.

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And all the cards are hidden.

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And in the middle, there is one card

that you can see, uh, that is visible.

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For instance, we usually, we

chose a greenhouse effect.

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So, and then people will come and we ask

them, do you know which are the reasons

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for increasing the greenhouse effect?

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And then people will say, Oh, I heard

about something, it's, it's a CO2.

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Okay.

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So you unveil the carbon CO2 emissions.

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And then they say.

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Oh, I heard something about the, the

colors that are 14, something like that.

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And it's, yeah, exactly.

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You're talking about myth and

then you, you, you unveil the

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card about other renounced messes.

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And like this and you go on

and like, it's about cars.

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Yes.

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It's about cars.

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And that is a card about transportation.

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It's not a card about cars.

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It's kind of a transportation, but car is

a good answer and it goes on like that.

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And people say, yeah, I'm happy

because I'm able to, I'm able to find

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the right, uh, the right solutions.

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And after 10 cards, you stop

and you say, you want to go on.

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Now you need to do the climate

press and you need to subscribe to

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an event and it lasts three hours.

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But trust me, it's going to be nice.

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And so we have this, uh, this format that

is a kind of teaser for the people to,

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to get convinced to spend that later,

to spend three hours on the workshop.

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And sometimes on the same event, you

have a few meters away, you have a table

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and people can start a, a workshop.

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Speaker 7: Nice.

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Nice.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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And I was also wondering about your

in person and online experiences.

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How are they different?

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Speaker 6: Oh, the online experience.

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So at first I refused to have an

online version because I thought it

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would not be the same experience.

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People have to see each other eye to eye.

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face to face and to, to feel the

body language, the expressions,

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and it's very important.

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So I didn't want to have a, a real shorter

version of the, of the, of the workshop,

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but then COVID arrived and then we are,

we were obliged to find a solution.

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And within one week, we built a solution.

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Anyway, uh, one of the tools

that you can use online.

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And it works.

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So it's not as, uh, as interactive

is, uh, is a bit less efficient,

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but still it works and clean.

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And it allowed us to go on

frisking during the COVID.

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And it was an amazing moment because

everybody had a completely free agenda.

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So we had a lot of volunteers, a lot

of friskers who were completely free.

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to do whatever we wanted during

the holiday because their company

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did not manage to reorganize

in order to reorganize all the

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meetings online, et cetera.

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So everybody had a lot of time and then

there was a real peak of use of the game

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that, uh, during that moment, because

everybody was able to, to, to fresk

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and to be fresk and also to be trained.

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And, and also we, we launched a lot

of workshops about the association.

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It was, it was, uh, and then a few

weeks later, the companies organized

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themselves and back to business

and everybody was working on zoom.

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Uh, but still, uh, it was a real

improvement because even today,

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even if it's not ideal to work the

kind of trust online, at least you

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can play with people from, uh, you

know, You have a part of the world.

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Sometimes you have a, uh, one

workshop with people on the

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five continents, and it's great.

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And people who are very far away in

the countryside, and they would never

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have the occasion to have to find

a workshop organized close to them.

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So at least they can do it.

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And maybe later they

will train themselves.

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And then later they will moderate

online until they have the

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occasion to moderate in real life.

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So it's great.

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It was funny at the beginning because

we had fresh girls who had to be trained

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on how to use the game online and then a

few months later we had fresh girls who

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had never done it otherwise that online

and they have to, to learn how to do

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it in real life and it was really funny

because they don't have the same reflex.

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And um, and for me it was a complete

discovery to, to rest on a real table

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with real cards in, in their hands.

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It was very funny.

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Speaker 7: Yes.

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Yeah.

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That was a big time of

learning during Covid.

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Uh, that was, yes.

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For all involved for sure.

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Learning

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Speaker 6: and thinking.

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Yeah.

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That's right.

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Speaker 7: So the climate for us

during the workshop, the conversation

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ranges from, of course, the, the

causes of climate change, um, the

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cause and effects, the consequences,

and the subject matter can be very,

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um, traumatic for some people.

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Um, how do you respond to any type of

situation that might, might come up?

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How do you address solutions

and adaptation and, and do you

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follow up with people after?

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a particularly stressful conversation.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, it's true.

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You can have stressful conversation.

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Sometimes you have some participants

who are really shocked by what they

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learn and, um, and you have to be very

attentive, you have to pay a lot of

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attention to them because it's, um,

yeah, it can be, it can be very strong.

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Um, can be very violent.

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We, we are still, uh, You know trying

to find a way to, to teach moderators

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how to handle this kind of situation.

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We, we are seeking for professionals,

uh, psychologists who will help us

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to drive a first aid kit, uh, to be

able to, to deal with a very, uh,

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Uh, very, uh, stressed situation.

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Um, at least all the first girls I've

learned during the training that this

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workshop can be a very harsh experience

for some people and, uh, really

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to, really to, to, or to, to react.

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And it's also, it is also the reason why

we put a lot of emphasis on expressing

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our feelings during the workshop.

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Uh, we have a moment for people

to express how they feel about it.

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And, uh, and people will say, I'm,

uh, they could, sometimes they say,

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I'm, uh, I'm angry about, angry,

uh, against myself, against society.

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I'm angry about, I'm worried for my kids.

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Uh, I, I'm upset.

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So it's very important for them

to have this moment of discussion.

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And, uh, Just that is already

a very good point to address

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these difficult situations.

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It's, uh, it's very important.

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And now, it was not the

case at the beginning.

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A few years ago, we didn't

pay that much attention.

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And then, you know, we have a

very live, full, uh, community.

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When one person has a good idea, he

shares the good idea with others,

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and then the good idea spreads.

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And this idea about, I ask people to

put a word, one word on the, on the, on

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the sticker and share it with everybody.

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I remember one friend of mine, Told

me I, I tried that and it works well

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and I promise you in a few weeks,

all the facilitators were doing that

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because it wasn't today and it's spread

in the community very, very quickly.

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So, yeah, we, we are not over with,

uh, thinking about how to handle that

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difficult situation, but, uh, we have

already started to try to address that.

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Speaker: Hi, Cedric.

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This is Jen.

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Um, so you've answered some of this

question already about how Climate

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Fresc has spread with the help of

online, but I want to go back to the

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very beginning and Seth Godin talks

about a concept that he calls First Ten.

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And, and what he means by this is find

10 people that you trust and who trust

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you, who respect you, and who need you.

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And our question here is,

who were your first 10?

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The

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:

Speaker 6: first 10, what,

the first participants?

350

:

Your

351

:

Speaker: first people that were

participating, and then how did

352

:

they turn into participants?

353

:

you know, how did you gain your moderator?

354

:

It

355

:

Speaker 6: was not even 10 people.

356

:

It was five people and two teams,

one team of two and three people.

357

:

It was just five people.

358

:

And, um, yeah, they were here to

spend one day with me on PowerPoint.

359

:

When I told them, okay, now stand

up and take the cards and put the

360

:

cards on the, on the table, on a

sheet of paper, it was fun for them.

361

:

So, uh, it was, uh, it was great.

362

:

They didn't know what would happen later.

363

:

And then.

364

:

Yes, as I said, I, I stepped back, I

listened to the conversations and I,

365

:

and I realized that It was so powerful

for the pedagogical, uh, purpose.

366

:

Uh, and then, and then I tried again

and every time I was teaching language

367

:

change, I used that, uh, that workshop,

uh, during, uh, two or three hours, uh,

368

:

and then it, it improved all the time.

369

:

Then maybe there was a special event, uh,

a few years later because, so the moment

370

:

when I invented the workshop was 2015

371

:

and it works.

372

:

It took three years before

we had the opportunity to, to

373

:

pay it at a very large scale.

374

:

It was 900 students.

375

:

And, uh, I had for, for this year, I

have, I had to gather 30 facilitators.

376

:

So in two weeks, I managed

to train 50 people and among

377

:

them, 30 came to that event.

378

:

It was the first day they were

facilitating the workshop.

379

:

And not only that, but they are, they

had 30 participants in front of there.

380

:

So five tables of six people as a whole.

381

:

And, uh, and it went well.

382

:

So it's strong because the workshop

is really, uh, self sustaining

383

:

and then, and that's that day.

384

:

At the end of the day, there

were 150 sheet of paper on the

385

:

wall of, of the university,

and the kids were really happy.

386

:

Uh, the, the organizers, the, the

people from the university were very

387

:

happy to, and, and, and both, all the

fresh girls, the facilitators were,

388

:

they, they were so happy to have to,

to, to have his story in the hands

389

:

and say, I, I was trained in three s.

390

:

I'm able to deliver this,

this workshop, and it worked.

391

:

And, uh, and it was so

moving for the people.

392

:

And that was the beginning of, of

the, it was a real beginning of this

393

:

adventure because from that moment

on, we went on training people.

394

:

Very soon, uh, I recruited some

people to, to train other people.

395

:

So, uh, I was not the own trainer.

396

:

Very soon I had other people who were

trainers like me, and then later.

397

:

I told them, you need to recruit the next

trainers yourself and it spread like that.

398

:

Uh, and you know, people trust people

and then people trust you and et cetera.

399

:

So it's a, it became a viral, it, it, uh,

it's started to be a, an organic growth

400

:

and uh, the doubling time was five months.

401

:

We doubled, we doubled inside

each, uh, each five months.

402

:

It means that every year it was a

five fold increase at the beginning.

403

:

Speaker: That's amazing.

404

:

And so now fresking is a verb.

405

:

Yeah,

406

:

Speaker 6: now fresking is a verb.

407

:

To fresk, fresk yourself.

408

:

Speaker 3: Thank you.

409

:

As someone who has been through a

FRESC and has been trained recently,

410

:

because I've done other FRESC and we

can talk about it a bit later, but

411

:

I've done other FRESC, but I've done

the climate FRESC like just recently.

412

:

But even so, what I feel is

that it's always emotionally

413

:

charged very, very heavily.

414

:

And I think one very, um, smart angle

that you, you took to develop this

415

:

FRESC is to talk about feelings.

416

:

Because, you know, we hear a lot

of things about climate change.

417

:

We have stats, we have people's stories,

but with this FRESQ, with this workshop,

418

:

you really feel it, like in your bones.

419

:

So it's, it's really in your gut.

420

:

So I think that no one gets out of it.

421

:

, out of this unchanged because

it's really moving experience.

422

:

Speaker 6: Yeah, it's true.

423

:

And so it will move

everybody in a different way.

424

:

But for some people, yeah, we'd be moved,

but then the next day we'd be the same.

425

:

And I, I met a lot of people and, uh, A

few weeks after they did the workshop,

426

:

they completely changed their life.

427

:

They quit their job.

428

:

They become fresh girls.

429

:

They're, they're involved in

organizations, you know, NGOs.

430

:

They train themselves.

431

:

They watch a lot of videos,

read books, et cetera.

432

:

So for, yeah, for, for me, it

triggered a complete change of life.

433

:

And, uh, I didn't expect

that, uh, the service effect

434

:

Speaker 2: at the beginning,

it's, it's pretty amazing.

435

:

That's interesting.

436

:

My name is Olobanji.

437

:

It's good to meet you.

438

:

Thanks for the incredible

things that you are saying.

439

:

Um, I've got a, I've got a question.

440

:

So based off of your

experience, what would you say?

441

:

I mean, let me, maybe I

should ask this first.

442

:

What is the most common

reaction that you encounter?

443

:

when speaking to people about

climate change for the first time?

444

:

Um, the

445

:

Speaker 6: most frequent answer is,

uh, why didn't people tell me before?

446

:

This, this reaction.

447

:

And, um, and sometimes we also ask,

do the politicians know about it?

448

:

The, the, the bad news is that

they, they have no more knowledge

449

:

than the average guy in the street.

450

:

So, uh, and I can tell you because we,

we are so fresh politicians, so, and

451

:

it's normal in fact, they don't, they

cannot be experts in all the topics.

452

:

So it's like that.

453

:

That was my assessment when I did

the workshop, I, I for, for a long

454

:

time, I, when I read IPCC reports,

um, it was a slap in my face.

455

:

So.

456

:

I said, I need to tell

that story to everybody.

457

:

You know, remember, remember the movie

from Al Gore, uh, An Inconvenient Truth.

458

:

It touched millions of people and

it's people have to do the job.

459

:

By the way, Al Gore got the Nobel prize

with IPCC:

460

:

of gathering the knowledge and Al Gore

Was part of the people who spread the

461

:

knowledge and spreading the knowledge

is as much important as gathering the

462

:

knowledge, because if you just write a

report and nobody reads it, it's useless.

463

:

And so the camera first in the

same, the same kind of project is

464

:

we need to spread this knowledge.

465

:

So when I read my PCC report, I, I,

right away, I started to bring my own

466

:

PowerPoint to make conferences, et cetera.

467

:

And I realized something is that,

When you, when you get to know a

468

:

topic very soon, you think that

everybody has the same level of

469

:

knowledge as you, they don't know it.

470

:

And it happened to one day, it was

one of the first occasion when I

471

:

gave a conference to friends of mine.

472

:

It was like a crash test, 10 people in

a, in a, in a room in front of a flat

473

:

screen in a, in a friend's apartment.

474

:

for my slides.

475

:

And I told them that the CO2

concentration is 390 ppm.

476

:

And, uh, and when I, when I was,

I was pronouncing this sentence, I

477

:

was thinking, why am I saying that?

478

:

Because they should all know about it.

479

:

Imagine I was able to think that

myself one year before I didn't

480

:

know anything about climate change.

481

:

And then I was thinking that

everybody should know that the

482

:

concentration of CO2 is 390 ppm.

483

:

has increased since.

484

:

And thinking back, back about

this event, I was really shocked.

485

:

How was I able to think that?

486

:

And, and I think that many people

who are aware of this climate

487

:

change topic, may think the same.

488

:

They think that everybody

should know that.

489

:

And then they don't take enough time to

spread knowledge because they are too

490

:

focused on, I want to find the solutions.

491

:

I want to think about the solutions

and implement the solutions.

492

:

The point is you arrive with

your solutions in front of

493

:

people who are not aware.

494

:

And they tell you, no,

I don't want to do that.

495

:

It's going to be a change in my life.

496

:

I don't want to change my life.

497

:

I have no reason why,

uh, bringing awareness.

498

:

And it's still, and it's going to be

for a long time, it's going to be the

499

:

first brick of the transition is still

the first brick of the transition is

500

:

going to remain the first brick of the

transition for, for a long time until

501

:

a very big percentage of the population

is aware enough to really make a change.

502

:

Speaker 2: That's incredible

because that was my next question.

503

:

My next question was about what is

the biggest reason why people do not

504

:

take action on climate change and you

just answer that which is awareness.

505

:

Um, but I'm also curious while you

were talking he said you like a

506

:

year ago you didn't know much about

climate change and now you know all

507

:

these things and you assume that

you know everybody should know.

508

:

Um, and my question is Why

did you take it that serious?

509

:

What happened to you or what experience

did you have that made you say,

510

:

um, well, even though this was not

me before, now this has to be me.

511

:

This, this has to be a

mission that I want to pursue.

512

:

Speaker 6: Uh, my first, uh, slap

in the face was a conference of a

513

:

guy called Jean Marc Jean Copsy.

514

:

He's a, he's French and he,

he developed the cardboard

515

:

footprint calculation methodology.

516

:

France for France State Agency.

517

:

And, uh, and then he, so he, he,

he understood, uh, climate change

518

:

issue in, uh, something like 20 oh.

519

:

And uh, and then he, on one side,

he built the methodology and on the

520

:

other side they start to build a

website and also to give conferences.

521

:

And so I started a very long time ago

and, um, and one day I saw one of his

522

:

conferences on the, on the internet

and it was really a slap in the face.

523

:

And then I, I wanted to know more.

524

:

I started to read things.

525

:

I, I watched more videos from him.

526

:

I went to see him live in

conferences, et cetera, to be friends.

527

:

And then, um, And then it took

a few months before I, I decided

528

:

that it should be my job.

529

:

And, uh, one day I say, okay,

so it's very interesting.

530

:

I'm an engineer, uh, and, uh,

and I was thinking it's great.

531

:

Climate change is a great opportunity

for engineers, basically, because there

532

:

will be a lot of technical issues.

533

:

So I'm sure I can find a job in this,

uh, And, and I made a decision that

534

:

one day it would be my full time job.

535

:

And one year later, I stopped

working on my previous job.

536

:

I was a consultant in IT and I gave up

looking for new missions in my field.

537

:

And I, I started to read IPCC reports,

uh, and I was thinking, okay, I'm

538

:

going to read the false assessment

reports, and then I will look for a job.

539

:

And, um, so it took nine months

instead of three, uh, for six, uh,

540

:

because I read a lot of things too.

541

:

I read the website of Jean Marc Jancovici,

and, uh, and then after nine months, I

542

:

applied for a job in the, in Jean Marc

Jancovici's, uh, consulting company.

543

:

And, uh, and he recruited me to be

not for his consulting company, but he

544

:

recruited me to be the narrator of a

think tank called the shift project.

545

:

Um, so I don't know if you are

aware, but it is very famous in

546

:

France, uh, maybe not as much abroad,

but it's very famous in France.

547

:

And, uh, and during six years I was

able to be, uh, paid full time, a full

548

:

time job to be paid on a, And working

on a think tank, it means you are paid

549

:

to get involved in interesting to it.

550

:

So what I did in the past for free,

uh, for myself, I was paid to do it.

551

:

It was great.

552

:

.

Speaker 4: This is Brian and I'll, I'll tag in and ask another one here.

553

:

So all of Bungie had sort of asked like.

554

:

What was it that caused you to, like,

take this seriously and, like, choose

555

:

to make this a pathway for yourself?

556

:

And my question for you is, um, do

you have any words of advice and, and

557

:

wisdom for our audience around why they

should take the time and try a fresk?

558

:

And, you know, and does it matter if

they're, if they, the audience members,

559

:

like, Already very engaged in the climate

activism movement or not, and do you

560

:

have any thoughts and can you sort of

give a little summary as to how a person,

561

:

like what, what is it to go get signed

up and do a fresk and what do they do?

562

:

What does that look like?

563

:

What is the sort of

action steps around that?

564

:

Um, and then related to that, because I

got excited about this when I was perusing

565

:

your website, so much for joining us.

566

:

I appreciate it.

567

:

There's the ability to do sort of like

have these fresks with a group of people.

568

:

Maybe that's your family, a social

group, some coworkers, et cetera.

569

:

Maybe include a little bit of

discussion of not just doing one

570

:

individually, but doing one as a group.

571

:

Yeah.

572

:

So that's four questions for you.

573

:

Uh, you have to, to, to remind

574

:

Speaker 6: me of the, the,

575

:

Speaker 4: the Christians,

576

:

Speaker 6: uh,

577

:

Speaker 4: when I, when

578

:

Speaker 6: I

579

:

Speaker 4: started.

580

:

We'll start with words of

wisdom and advice for, for why

581

:

people should give this a try.

582

:

What should they give it a

583

:

Speaker 6: try?

584

:

Yeah.

585

:

Because.

586

:

Um, well, climate change is a,

is a global issue and is going

587

:

to, to, to concern everybody.

588

:

And, uh, if you want to learn

about climate change, you

589

:

have, uh, several solutions.

590

:

You can spend a few days reading

IPCC reports, or you can spend only

591

:

three hours to do the workshop.

592

:

And it's, uh, it's about the same result.

593

:

So it's, uh, it's not a waste of time.

594

:

It's a gain of a few

days of, uh, of readings.

595

:

So it's, it's important.

596

:

And then the next point is

that climate change can be,

597

:

uh, a very challenging issue.

598

:

It can be, uh, it's a very harsh, uh,

Uh, topic, and it's better if you're not

599

:

by, if you're not alone when you learn

about it, because you will learn bad news.

600

:

And if you are in a group at that

moment, it's better because, uh, learning

601

:

things by yourself in front of your

laptop, reading IPC reports or watching

602

:

a video, it can be a hard moment.

603

:

So it's better to, to spend this

moment with other people around you and

604

:

share what are your feelings about it.

605

:

So it's not always,

606

:

Speaker 4: yeah, I mean, that's great.

607

:

And maybe next we turn a little bit

to, um, you know, a summary of how a

608

:

person goes and gets involved, like

the mechanics and logistics here of if

609

:

a person is listening to this podcast

and they say, This sounds great.

610

:

I want to try this.

611

:

What do I do?

612

:

Oh, it's very easy.

613

:

You go

614

:

Speaker 6: on climatefresh.

615

:

org and you look for, uh, for

a workshop close to your place.

616

:

And if you don't find it, you, you

subscribe to a workshop online.

617

:

And that's, that's very easy.

618

:

They are representatives of the

association in, uh, something

619

:

like 60 or 70 countries.

620

:

So maybe there are

somebody in your country.

621

:

So you, you can also write an email to.

622

:

The name of your country in

English at climatefrance.

623

:

org.

624

:

So us at climatefrance.

625

:

org, uh, germany at climatefrance.

626

:

org, et cetera.

627

:

Um, you have, uh, rather good chance

to have somebody answering you.

628

:

If you try that plus the website

and subscribe to an event.

629

:

Speaker 4: Wonderful.

630

:

And, and there's an interesting

availability to just sort of do a

631

:

Group, like, I think they were called

a pro session and go do like a group

632

:

led session for your own group.

633

:

Like I could bring in a group of

my coworkers and have a session

634

:

that's not already scheduled

635

:

Speaker 6: facilitated.

636

:

Yeah.

637

:

You have, there are several ways, as

you said, to, to work for a workshop.

638

:

You can, you can go on a website

and find an event that is for

639

:

general public and you can also

organize one for your company.

640

:

So yeah, you will look for a fresco,

a pro fresco, professional fresco.

641

:

And, um, this person will, uh, will make a

quote, uh, to give, uh, his or her affair.

642

:

And, uh, and then, uh, she will

come to your place and do the

643

:

workshop for your colleagues.

644

:

You can be between 10 and 20.

645

:

20 people.

646

:

And, um, and that's it.

647

:

And at the end of the workshop, you may

be interested in, uh, getting trained

648

:

yourself to become a facilitator.

649

:

And so when we roll out the climate

risk in a company, first we do

650

:

some workshops, then we do some

trainings and people get trained and

651

:

maybe we will coach the beginners.

652

:

The beginners are trained, uh,

653

:

Um, and, uh, and then

they become autonomous.

654

:

And, and then they don't need you

anymore except that you go on teaching.

655

:

Uh, you, you, you go on training new

facilitators and after a few months you

656

:

even try to recruit among the fresh girls,

the internal free girls in the company.

657

:

You try to hoot a green belt,

which means, uh, uh, a trainer.

658

:

And then once you have a trainer in

your company, you are almost completely

659

:

autonomous and, uh, and you can,

uh, do your own training, et cetera.

660

:

So you just need somebody to help you

find new, uh, trainers and, uh, and to

661

:

help them pass the, uh, the green light.

662

:

That's great.

663

:

Speaker 7: Yeah, that's great.

664

:

It's so, it's, it's

so, uh, well organized.

665

:

I've read that, you know, you mentioned

you have 1 million participants and

666

:

your next milestone was to get 1 million

facilitators and you just answered

667

:

any question that I had about that.

668

:

And that's just beautiful process.

669

:

Thank you, Cedric.

670

:

Thank you.

671

:

Thank you, Miki.

672

:

Speaker 3: Um, okay.

673

:

I have a very quick question.

674

:

So what's your plan now?

675

:

Because, um, I've read that you step

down of the, I can't remember exactly,

676

:

but step down from something to be, uh,

to be part of an organization because

677

:

you want to take the climate fresc.

678

:

To the next level, basically

take it internationally.

679

:

So what's the plan?

680

:

How, how are you doing that

and how we can help you?

681

:

Speaker 6: Yeah.

682

:

So I was, I was a chairman of the French

association and, uh, yeah, as we said,

683

:

I stepped down because I need to spend

more time now on two different things.

684

:

One is internationalization and the other

one is what comes after the climate risk.

685

:

Uh, and, and especially how to train,

uh, The frescoes have to train them to

686

:

be experts, not only in climate, but also

in a ecological transition in general.

687

:

Um, so about internationalization,

that's where you can help.

688

:

Maybe, um, we need to get global.

689

:

I mean, we are already global as

I said, there have been a climate

690

:

fresco played in a more than 120

countries, something like that.

691

:

And we have official representatives.

692

:

What we call country coordinators in

something like 60 or 70 countries.

693

:

Sorry if I don't remember the figures,

he said, because they increased

694

:

so quickly that I cannot, uh, cope

with the, uh, with the figures.

695

:

So, um, And, um, so we are already

global, but the next step is that each

696

:

country, each country where we have a

big enough community, we set up, uh, an

697

:

organization like one foundation plus a

company or one association and a company.

698

:

Most of the time they will

have two organizations, one for

699

:

non profit and one for profit.

700

:

And we need to help them to do that.

701

:

And it's, uh, it's a lot of work.

702

:

It's a completely different work

from, uh, just, uh, animating

703

:

a big community of rescuers.

704

:

It's a different, different job.

705

:

And, uh, how can we help these,

um, Uh, these country to, to set

706

:

up, uh, organization and to start,

uh, running out the climate risk.

707

:

First we need to give

them a financial means.

708

:

So one of my goal is to raise money

and to, to be able to give to these new

709

:

country the means to go quicker, to, to

go even faster than what we did in France.

710

:

In France, it took us five years

to go from:

711

:

to 1, 000, 000 participants.

712

:

It's great.

713

:

It's impressive.

714

:

But still, we want to do that

even faster in other countries.

715

:

We want them to do the

same in two to three years.

716

:

Uh, so we need to give them the

means to go to start even quicker.

717

:

Then we want to give them contacts.

718

:

Like, uh, maybe institutional

contacts, maybe we go through

719

:

the French embassies as a start.

720

:

Maybe we can find a contact at the

ministries levels because today in

721

:

France, we have these kind of contacts

with French ministries and, um, and

722

:

it's okay that sometimes they take

the phone and they ring their, their

723

:

colleague in another country to put them

in contact with the French girls so it

724

:

can, um, it can give them the means.

725

:

To go even quicker to spread and also

the last thing that we need to give them

726

:

is autonomy and to let them adapt, uh,

not adapt the game because the game is

727

:

as it is and you don't, you don't, uh,

you don't have to change the cards, but,

728

:

uh, maybe adapt the way you want to roll

out the way you, you want to animate.

729

:

Maybe you don't choose the same arguments.

730

:

You don't have the same, you don't ask

the same questions in every country.

731

:

Uh, if you are in a developing country,

it's not the same, uh, issues as

732

:

when you are in a developed country.

733

:

Uh, so you have to adapt the

way you use a workshop, the

734

:

way, uh, you you word it out.

735

:

Depending on the context, sometimes

it will be only not for profit.

736

:

Sometimes it's going

to be only for profit.

737

:

You have all the situations.

738

:

So that's that.

739

:

And how can you help?

740

:

Uh, just by, uh, maybe in, in your

country, you'll try to contact

741

:

the local coordinators, country

coordinators, as I said, the name

742

:

of your country at climate rest.

743

:

org, contact them.

744

:

And.

745

:

Ask them, how can you, how can you

help, uh, if you didn't play the

746

:

workshop, first play the workshop,

then maybe become a moderator because

747

:

it's, it really helps for, to, to,

to be active in the, in the system.

748

:

And then.

749

:

Put us in touch with as many people as

possible with, uh, you know, networks,

750

:

uh, like big associations, places

where we can, uh, where we can, uh,

751

:

do the fresco at a very large scale

and all of these things will help.

752

:

Speaker 4: That's great.

753

:

Cedric, I have a question for you.

754

:

You know, you, you mentioned

reading the, the IPCC reports

755

:

and doing research and being, you

know, heavily involved in looking.

756

:

We're in the face, you know, eye to eye,

all these issues and the data and the

757

:

science that is coming out regarding

these things and, and you've sort of

758

:

mentioned that sometimes that moment

for your frescoes when they're first

759

:

doing a press, is itself emotional and

challenging to like, look this squarely

760

:

in the eyes and really, really look

at the, at The challenge is facing us.

761

:

So I'm curious as someone who's

chosen to spend so much time and

762

:

focus your, your professional time

and your volunteer time towards this.

763

:

How do you keep hope?

764

:

Like, how, how do you keep this

sort of resiliency and happiness

765

:

and hope alive in, in you?

766

:

Speaker 6: Yeah.

767

:

To, to start with, I, I went through

difficult moments myself, of course,

768

:

when I, uh, when I realized how

important the topic is, um, And, um,

769

:

and then you had the first slap in

your face in ways you realize that

770

:

climate change is such a big subject.

771

:

The next is when you realize that nobody

knows about it and nobody cares about it.

772

:

So that's, and that's very, very,

uh, very, very difficult moment too.

773

:

Uh, and today I tend to think that, uh,

The best ideas to solve climate change

774

:

will come from the people who today

still don't know anything about it.

775

:

And, um, you may wonder why,

because I, I, I know about

776

:

climate change for a long time.

777

:

I run a think tank and I spent

six years of my time full time

778

:

thinking about the transition.

779

:

So I should be thinking I have

the solutions and still I don't

780

:

think I have the solution.

781

:

And I still think that.

782

:

Those relations will come from

people who still don't know about it.

783

:

And do you know why?

784

:

It's just that these people are

so much more numerous than us.

785

:

And so once they get to be aware, once

they know, Um, about, about it, there will

786

:

be millions, tens of millions, hundreds of

millions to think about how to solve it.

787

:

And um, and it will be much

easier when we be more people

788

:

thinking about, about the topic.

789

:

So that's why I keep up.

790

:

And the point is, uh, uh, bringing

awareness is still the first

791

:

brick of the transition and we

need to go and get these people.

792

:

Speaker 4: Yeah.

793

:

I think, I think that's, that's

beautifully said and, and that,

794

:

that helped it keeps you alive.

795

:

Yeah.

796

:

I believe.

797

:

We've just in my company, um, we're

all, um, I've got a few hundred

798

:

colleagues and we're all going to be

watching the beyond zero documentary,

799

:

which is the Ray Anderson story about,

uh, interface flooring and the sort

800

:

of this very inspirational story.

801

:

And, and I just, uh, talks today at work

on our town hall to my colleagues about

802

:

how we've got this vision that everyone

in the company should act like an owner.

803

:

And as we look at.

804

:

Problems and challenges

in front of us very much.

805

:

Exactly what you just

said, Cedric, which is.

806

:

the greatest likelihood of the solutions

aren't necessarily going to come from

807

:

like, the one person who's just trying

to think of the strategy, it's going

808

:

to come from all the people who have

so many varied, different experiences

809

:

and the solutions to our challenges.

810

:

This is me speaking, you know, as I was

to my colleagues today within a company.

811

:

The solutions are going to come

from all the people and just

812

:

helping them be aware of what

challenges we're trying to overcome.

813

:

And I love that that's sort of

your vision for the planet, right?

814

:

That like, if we all treat the

planet, like we're owners and like

815

:

it's our business to be responsible

for figuring out solutions.

816

:

And we just go share what those

challenges are and those pathways

817

:

that we need to navigate.

818

:

Someone amongst us will

figure out how to do it.

819

:

So I love that.

820

:

It's going to be a great road.

821

:

We're going to have a lot of fun.

822

:

I'm excited to go do my first frest

now that I know much more about this.

823

:

Right.

824

:

Yeah, you're right.

825

:

It's a great, it's going

to be a great adventure.

826

:

Well, thank you for joining us today.

827

:

We really appreciate it.

828

:

I know Tanya and Alibanji, Leaky, Jen,

all of us have greatly appreciated this.

829

:

Thank you.

830

:

Speaker 5: Thank you so much.

831

:

You've been listening to Carbon

Sessions, a podcast with carbon

832

:

conversations for every day with

everyone from everywhere in the world.

833

:

We'd love you to join the Carbon

Sessions so you too can share your

834

:

perspectives from wherever you are.

835

:

This is a great way for our community

to learn from your ideas and

836

:

experiences, connect, and take action.

837

:

If you want to add your voice to the

conversation, go to thecarbonalmanac.

838

:

org slash podcasts and sign up

to be part of a future episode.

839

:

This podcast is also part of

the Carbon Almanac Network.

840

:

For more information, to sign up

for the emails, To join the movement

841

:

and to order your copy of The Carbon

Almanac, go to thecarbonalmanac.

842

:

org.

843

:

Be sure to subscribe and join

us here again, as together

844

:

we can change the world.

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Carbon Almanac

When it comes to the climate, we don’t need more marketing or anxiety. We need established facts and a plan for collective action.

The climate is the fundamental issue of our time, and now we face a critical decision. Whether to be optimistic or fatalistic, whether to profess skepticism or to take action. Yet it seems we can barely agree on what is really going on, let alone what needs to be done. We urgently need facts, not opinions. Insights, not statistics. And a shift from thinking about climate change as a “me” problem to a “we” problem.

The Carbon Almanac is a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and illustrators that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next. Drawing on over 1,000 data points, the book uses cartoons, quotes, illustrations, tables, histories, and articles to lay out carbon’s impact on our food system, ocean acidity, agriculture, energy, biodiversity, extreme weather events, the economy, human health, and best and worst-case scenarios. Visually engaging and built to share, The Carbon Almanac is the definitive source for facts and the basis for a global movement to fight climate change.

This isn’t what the oil companies, marketers, activists, or politicians want you to believe. This is what’s really happening, right now. Our planet is in trouble, and no one concerned group, corporation, country, or hemisphere can address this on its own. Self-interest only increases the problem. We are in this together. And it’s not too late to for concerted, collective action for change.