Above photo: Climate Fresk.
Born in France in 2018, the Climate Fresk movement has now educated over 2.3 million people in 168 countries across the world. At its heart, it’s a collaborative workshop that gets participants thinking about the causes and effects of climate change. But for many, it’s a turning point in their lives, motivating them to set up new green initiatives in their schools, workplaces and beyond. Like Extinction Rebellion, Climate Fresk adopted its organisational model from Sweden’s Pirate Party, first codified in Rick Falkvinge’s 2013 handbook Swarmwise. He described the “swarm” structure: a light central scaffold that empowers people with shared tools, enabling an autonomous movement that scales quickly through decentralisation and initiative.
Already over 100,000 trained ‘Freskers’ worldwide deliver the 3-hour workshop in over 45 languages, using a standard set of cards based on the latest IPCC data. The workshop guides participants towards a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms at play in climate science, how they’re interlinked, and the need to seek systemic solutions.
After taking part in a workshop, it’s only a small step to becoming a trained facilitator yourself so you can carry the knowledge out into your own communities. Demand for Climate Fresk workshops is huge – it’s a fun, sociable and collaborative way to learn about climate issues that’s also accessible to all audiences (there are special sets of cards for younger players).
Just eight years after its inception, the basic Fresk concept has morphed into a whole rich ecosystem promoting climate literacy. There are now affinity groups focusing on biodiversity, digitisation, the circular economy, soil or ocean health, textiles, and even scenario-building for business decision-makers, such as 2 Tonnes. If you’re casting around for a way to have an impact in your community, this could be for you! Lots of the workshops and trainings are online and the Fresker network is worldwide.
