Chris and Heather are joined by Julianna Gwiszcz, MSSW, PhD to explore what this moment means for professionals like her working in or across the education, climate and sustainability, global health and related fields, and why this matters.

We consider the mental health and wellbeing implications of it all and ways we can better navigate these challenging times together through cultivating hope in place of fear, reclaiming our individual and collective agency, and leaning into and lifting up community however and wherever we can.

As a justice-oriented leader, educator, scholar-practivist, social worker/healer, strategist and engagement steward (among other things), Julianna has devoted 15+ years to catalyzing transformations and weaving unlikely connections across divides. She works at the intersections of higher education and experiential (lifelong) learning, international sustainable development and climate action, global health and human rights, social change and systems change, youth/leadership development, healing art, design and communications, and social impact innovation and philanthropy.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this episode are those of the hosts and guest alone and should not be taken to represent any present or former institutional affiliations they may have.
Wellbeing Economy Alliance

Climate Mental Health Network

Collective Change Lab

2023 Report on “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community”

Another shorter and more digestible resource on this “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”

An older but just-as-fitting-for-today article on “Finding Hope in Hard Times”

The Greater Good Science Center, which has some amazing resources on the “keys to well-being” and “bridging differences” among other things

The Interaction Institute for Social Change, which has (or had!) an upcoming workshop on “Moving Through Chaos and Complexity: Network Weaving for Social Healing in Times of Great Change”.

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⁠⁠⁠Find more from Lavinia, Chris, and Heather⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠Listen to our positionality introduction⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thank you to Alex and the Wonderland for the theme song: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Climb Aboard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

As promised, Chris and Heather are back with a (maybe weekly) podcast, drinking in the news. Here is the first episode of Morning Tinto. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as we won't keep sharing it to this feed.

In this episode, we discuss the banning of DEI/EDI in the US. And can you guess who Heather's poem is about??

Show notes:

Executive Order and news article from today

Lavinia, Chris, and Heather speak with María Lucía Luna Borda (yes, relation) about the recent Biodiversity COP held in Cali, Colombia. We talk about biodiversity, the concept of “peace with nature”, community knowledge, nature as a victim of armed conflict, and the need for healing and justice.

María Lucía is a sociologist and researcher specializing in the impacts of armed conflict and socio-environmental issues on Nature and Territory. María Lucía has worked extensively on territorial dispossession, community resistance, and resilience, including her contributions to the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth and her current role at the National Center for Historical Memory in Colombia.

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⁠⁠Find more from Lavinia, Chris, and Heather⁠⁠.

⁠⁠Listen to our positionality introduction⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thank you to Alex and the Wonderland for the theme song: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Climb Aboard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.