Climate change series hosted at Longmont Museum in celebration of Earth Day

Education is a key to the Longmont Museum’s vision. This week, in celebration of Earth Day, the cultural center is focusing its efforts on sharing information about climate change to residents of all ages through a virtual series, Big Picture Climate Change .

Justin Veach, events manager for the museum, is co-curating the event with Journalist and Moderator Susan Moran. 

Veach was approached by a former professor, Peter Wood, who was part of the city of Longmont’s climate action task force, about a year ago. 

“We discussed how some of the basic information on climate change was lacking for the majority of the public, and so we started working out what the educational opportunities were,” Veach said.

Those discussions evolved into the Big Picture series, broken down into the four elements; air, fire, water, and earth.

“We are experiencing the warmest years on record. Carbon dioxide levels continue to climb. More powerful storms and mega-wildfires are raging. What we are learning about these vast and shifting realms is both scary and encouraging. We curated this series to move the conversation forward, to inform ourselves and to empower us all to think globally and act locally,” Moran said in a press release.

“We wanted to have that conversation, what does equitable climate change look like in Longmont? How do we address it so that we can make policies that promote a just transition for everyone?” said SRL’s Earth Day chair Naomi Curland.

“We want to offer a global perspective and then zoom in on the local aspect. I’m excited about the totality of it, our panelists have such varied expertise and focus, it will paint a deep, layered picture,” Veach said.

Starting tonight, April 19, the museum will host panel discussions called the Big Picture Climate Change series. The first, starting at 7:30 p.m., is titled Air: As We Live & Breathe at 7:30 p.m.

The majority of the panelists will be present on stage at the Stewart Auditorium, while being streamed virtually in collaboration with Longmont Public Media. For Thursday’s Earth: Grounds for Innovation, Dr. Atreyee Bhattacharya will join remotely from Mumbai.

Capping off the week are a series of events with Sustainable Resilient Longmont on Saturday, April 24, hosted by the museum. 

The early block of programming, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. is aimed at the elementary school students, starting with an interactive presentation from Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Greenwood’s outreach manager, Claudia Laprise, will lead a presentation on how the nonprofit works, identifying local species and learning what to do when injured animals are found in the wild.

Following the wildlife presentation, a bilingual art project will show kids and adults watching from home how to make art from common household items. All interested in the Saturday programming are asked to register online to get the Zoom link from SRL.

The teen programming block begins at 1 p.m. with an environmental leadership panel led by local youth environmental activists. Following the panel, there will be a series of environmentally focused films made by students of all ages. Following the films, a few of the filmmakers will discuss their work.

Closing off the evening, the Equitable Climate Action Team for Longmont will discuss the intersection of climate change, equity, and economic and racial justice in Longmont. Following the panel discussion will be a Q&A for the public.

The end of the week of festivities is a clean up with SRL at Kensington and Clark Centennial Park, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 25. The clean up is sponsored by SRL’s Zero Waste committee, and is open to the public. While supplies like trash bags will be provided by SRL, participants should bring their own gloves and wear appropriate clothing. Registration is requested for the event, and the parks are large enough to promote social distancing, Curland explained.

“The museum is dedicated to providing a venue and forum for issues that affect our city. We’ve hosted panels and presentations on gun violence, homelessness, and social equity - the climate change series is an extension of that role,” Veach said.