Mia Jongkind is a co-organizer with Seniors for Climate in Nanaimo. (Luis Zablah/CHLY 101.7FM)

Seniors, activists and community groups gather in defiance against climate change for Break Through the Climate Silence week.

Last Saturday June 6, local residents gathered around Diana Krall Plaza and the Harbourfront Library at 90 Commercial Street in downtown Nanaimo. Seniors for Climate consists of peaceful protests where participants sit and chat while making collages on climate themes as they sing protest songs.

The protest is part of the nationwide movement known as Break Through the Climate Silence Week, organized by Seniors for Climate. The organization is a volunteer lead group concerned by the climate crisis, working to rally seniors around Canada to encourage conversations about climate change highlighting local action and what else can be done.

CHLY spoke with Mia Jongkind, co-organizer of the event, with Seniors for Climate. She comments on her reasoning for being involved with the movement.

Seniors for Climate consists of peaceful protests where participants sit and chat while making collages on climate themes as they sing protest songs. (Luis Zablah/CHLY 101.7FM)

“We want to hand over a beautiful planet to our grandchildren. That's why we're doing this. We're doing this for our grand little peeps, that they have a place to live, and a place to work, and a place to play, and a place to be happy, and a place to love this beautiful planet, and I love our beautiful earth, said Jongkind.

She explains the movement wants to move beyond fear based messages and focus on community, solutions, and responsibility. She emphasized that the climate action isn’t just about warnings, but talking about all the great action actually happening. She lists gardening, cycling, green energy, and green cars just to name a few examples. Jongkind fears people might feel lost regarding climate change, making moving beyond fear one of the drivers behind Saturday's event, by raising awareness of the good things happening.

She commented on all the teams and groups behind the movement.

“We are affiliated with Council of Canadians … we have had a meeting in front of Sheila Malcolm's office with some speakers and songs and politicians,” said Jongkind. “We have done two events in the park with music and singing and speakers about the climate, and this time, I thought it's nice to do something downtown and involve the library, because libraries are a place where people create community”

She also touches on advice from a famed environmentalist and broadcaster.

“David Suzuki bless his 90th birthday. He says, what we have to do right now is create community in our neighborhoods. We have to get to know our neighbors, and we have to connect. That is the main thing that we can do.”

The event is a hub for organizations passionately advocating against climate change by educating the public about it. The event was supported in part by Nanaimo Climate Action Hub (NCAH), a community driven group connected to the Climate Reality Project Canada network.

CHLY spoke with Kevin Lindsay, the chair of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub, as he explained how the group got involved with Seniors for Climate.

“Seniors for Climate is kind of a sister organization,” said Lindsay. “We've done multiple events with seniors for climate. They've joined our events that we put on. We come to the events that they put on. So, just kind of working across all these different organizations, we reach the maximum number of people because of the different audiences and demographics that we reach.”

The event was supported in part by Nanaimo Climate Action Hub (NCAH), a community driven group connected to the Climate Reality Project Canada network. (Luis Zablah/CHLY 101.7FM)

Lindsay explained he hoped the event would attract more people who are not aware of the climate crisis and pedestrians who are curious. He emphasized that he wants them to come by and learn as much as they can and get involved in the organization and what they’re working towards.

Seniors for Climate had interactive activities like climate trivia to spark discussions and challenge common misconceptions. With questions asking participants to identify who warned in a 2015 speech that most fossil fuel reserves could become “stranded assets” if climate targets are met. Additionally, the event featured a collage project inside the library where participants were encouraged to vision positive environmental futures and express them visually.

Bella Doyle, one of the collage organizers, comments on how the project came to be part of Seniors for Climate.

“We met at the collage club that I run, and they saw us sitting together making art, and they asked if I would help come contribute some collage making that would be themed around imagine a better future for our children, which I'm very passionate about, having kids and doing art and collective groups,” said Doyle.

She explains what she hopes to achieve with the collage.

“The grannies and the ladies all put together some slogans with actionable items, and then I'm hoping to help people go through the images to make illustrations of some ways that we could change our lives to help make the future better as well”, said Doyle.

Seniors for Climate focused on a consistent message of climate action being most effective when people work together, and collaborate to get things done. Mia Jongkind emphasizes the importance of people coming together in public spaces.

“We're doing this together, citizens coming together, that's what it's all about. And thinking about the climate, talking about the climate.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.