River of Life: Climate Resilience Edition
"The Rivers of Life: Climate Resilience Edition" activity provides a platform for Climate Resilience Groups to visually map their collective experiences and engage in group dialogue around climate-related challenges and opportunities. By drawing a river, individuals and groups communicate their personal and collective journeys, allowing for reflection, dialogue, and identification of strategies for building climate resilience. This method is valuable for Climate Resilience Groups seeking to generate reflection, dialogue, and action around climate-related experiences and community resilience.
Steps:
Introductions: Present the theme and purpose of the exercise, emphasizing the relevance to building climate resilience, and provide materials to each participant.
Prompt: Pose a question related to climate-related challenges and resilience-building efforts, guiding participants in drawing their rivers.
Drawing: Encourage participants to use symbols to represent positive and negative climate-related experiences and resilience-building actions, prompting reflection on changes over time in response to climate challenges.
Presentation: Invite each member of the Climate Resilience Group to present their river, allowing others to listen respectfully without interruption.
Identification of Key Points: Prompt the group to identify common themes and factors related to climate resilience, such as challenges faced and successful resilience strategies employed.
Group Discussion: Facilitate a discussion to deepen understanding of identified factors, asking probing questions to explore effective resilience-building approaches and potential barriers.
Action Planning: Encourage the group to brainbrowse strategies for enhancing climate resilience based on their discussions, noting down ideas for collective action and advocacy.
Duration:
Flexible, depending on group size and depth of discussion.
Group Size:
Ideal for small groups of up to 8 participants to facilitate meaningful dialogue among Climate Resilience Groups.
Materials/Resources Needed:
Flipchart paper
Markers
Optional: Natural materials like leaves, twigs, and stones for outdoor settings
Accessibility Considerations:
Ensure the activity location is accessible to all members of the Climate Resilience Group, and provide support for those who may need assistance in drawing or sharing their experiences related to climate resilience.
Tips/Pointers:
Foster an environment of trust and respect to ensure Climate Resilience Group members feel comfortable sharing their climate-related experiences and perspectives.
Provide appropriate resources and support for Climate Resilience Group members who may find discussing climate-related challenges and vulnerabilities distressing.
Encourage active listening and constructive dialogue to foster shared understanding and collaborative climate resilience-building efforts among group members.