8×8 Challenge Week Three Explore and Learn Discover what you don’t know, and rediscover what you forgot. We all have an intuitive connection to the natural world. But with our busy lives, it’s easy for that connection to dim. So let’s make (just a little bit of) time for exploring the world around us. Let’s stock up on the knowledge and ideas that will help us make better decisions for animals, people, and the environment. Because we’re exploring and learning, this week’s impact stats are about the importance of education on climate change. Check them out! Your Actions Watch a Video on SDGs Watch this video about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Learn how people just like you are contributing around the world. Take a Walk That’s it. Just take a walk in your neighbourhood, on your land, around your block, or through your community. Try to notice things you haven’t noticed before. Try to touch a branch or smell a rose. Try not to change anything, just be a part of it. Identify a Plant or Tree Use an app or book to identify a tree or plant species in your area. There are a number of plant identification apps you can choose from (check out our list here). Learn what this tree or plant needs to thrive (take note, we’ll be revisiting this tree or plant later). Find Out Whose Land You Occupy Find out whose land you occupy through native-land.ca. If you’re a Canadian settler, then you’re on borrowed land. Understanding the traditional territory of the Indigenous people of what is now known as Canada is an important aspect of understanding the world around us. Explore the “Hopecast” Explore Jane Goodall’s Hopecast. This podcast takes listeners on a one-of-a-kind journey. Learn from Dr. Goodall’s extraordinary life and hear from change-making guests like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Dave Matthews, or Cory Booker. You don’t need to listen to a full episode, but poke around and see if anything interests you. Get to Know Local Guidelines Make sure you know your city’s recycling and compost guidelines. They’re often not as straightforward as you think. Your municipality likely has an app or website with all the information to help make sure you and your household are properly disposing of your waste. Brush Up on Biodiversity Loss Watch our quick video and check out our page on biodiversity loss. There are millions of ecosystems around the world, and each one is a complex web of interacting species. All those species work together, and help our planet breathe and grow. But when one thread of the tapestry is pulled out, the whole thing starts to unravel. Send Us the Send us the ☀️ Emoji Send us the ☀️ emoji once you’ve completed all of your actions for this week! Let us know when week 3 is in the bag! We’ll send you a small celebration gift. Sustainable Development Goals The inspirational message we all deserve. Biodiversity Loss The inspirational message we all deserve. Support Materials Our Favourite Plant Identification Apps These apps help you identify plants and trees in your community. Picture This: a “botanist in your pocket” Seek by iNaturalist: a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. The app uses image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals all around you. The Hopecast Jane’s podcast has been downloaded by millions and continues to be a chart-topper. You can learn all about it here. Below are some of our favourite episodes (links are to Spotify, but the Hopecast is available wherever you get your podcasts). Robin Wall Kimmerer: Hope is the Power of Plants and Indigenous Knowledge Margaret Atwood: Hope is The Legacy We Build Together for a Better World Adam McKay: Hope Is Found In Climate Action and the Community Created by Laughter Dig In Your Impact These findings are from a Lakehead University and Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) survey and underscore the importance of education when it comes to climate change and conservation. Education 87% of teachers in a survey believed that climate change education provides opportunities to discuss social justice and world issues. Education 46% of students in the same survey understand that climate change is human caused, but don’t believe that human actions in mitigation will be effective. Education 82% of teachers in the same survey believe the education system should be doing more to educate about climate change.
