COLONIALISM, EXTRACTIVISM

AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Written by: Sian Cowman
Consultant: Decolonising Economics
Designer: Gabriel Rodriguez
Cover art: Pedro Rodriguez
Project overseen by Emma Jayne Geraghty, Head of Movement Building, Friends of the Earth Ireland.

Three sets of resources were particularly important in writing this handbook:

• The Uprising documentary and educational toolkit;
• The Connected Sociologies curriculum;
• and Decolonial Futures’ Global Citizenship Otherwise resources.
The author would like to thank the individuals, groups and collectives who produced these resources.

This handbook is funded by Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs as part of Friends of the Earth’s Global
Citizenship Education programme, Making Common Cause – Global Citizenship Education for a Global Justice Transition
(2020-2022). Irish Aid is the Government’s overseas development co-operation programme which supports partners
working in some of the world’s poorest countries. Irish Aid also supports Global Citizenship and Education in Ireland to
encourage learning and public engagement with global issues. The views expressed in this handbook are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of Irish Aid.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

International License. You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or
format); or adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material); under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes
were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor
endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material,
you must distribute your contributions under the same license as
the original.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 4
How to use this Handbook 5
Theme 1 – Historical Colonisation 12
Theme 2 – Modern-day Colonialism 18
Theme 3 – Extractivism and Colonialism 25
Theme 4 – Solidarity and Justice 31
INTRODUCTION

As the world recognises the intense challenges and destruction caused by climate change, there is
increasing awareness in the Global North and in communities with privileged access to resources,
that communities from the Global South and Black, Indigenous and communities of colour are
most affected by climate change impacts.
There is also a recognition that those same communities are often on the front line of living with
the impacts of extractive projects that threaten the environment and exacerbate the impact of
climate change, particularly mining, fossil fuel extraction, mass hydroelectric infrastructure and
industrial agriculture.
What sometimes gets left out of the narratives about different impacts of climate change drivers
and climate change itself, is why Black, Indigenous and communities of colour are more affected.
It can be attributed to structural or systemic racism, but again, why does this exist?
This handbook aims to provide a framework for a process of co-(un)learning into these themes and
questions by exploring colonisation, colonialism and racialisation, and linking them to climate
and environmental justice.
It’s designed as a set of resources for facilitators, or for climate or environmental activist groups
who wish to co-design a (un)learning experience together. It’s intended for people who already
have some knowledge about climate change and climate justice, and experiences of climate and
environmental activism and organising.
We hope it will be especially helpful for people and groups who wish to delve deeper into some
of the root causes of climate change and climate and environmental injustice in order to use
this awareness to underpin meaningful solidarity with groups who are most affected by climate
change drivers and impacts because of systemic oppressions.
 HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK

Practical considerations

Each theme covers three to four hours of activities. If you are facilitating the course or working on it
within your group or collective with a rotating facilitator(s), you could plan to cover each theme in a one-
day workshop, over two half-day sessions, or over a few two-hour sessions. We have included estimated
timeframes for each activity, but we encourage flexibility. The facilitator(s), or the group as a whole, could
decide to give some activities more or less time.
Those who wish to learn about the themes in this course but don’t have the opportunity to do it as part of
a group can also follow the course individually, using the video and article resources in the course as a
learning hub and reflecting on the group discussion questions individually.
The activities are built to be as interactive and accessible as possible. There are quite a lot of activities that
involve small group discussion, so it’s useful to have a reasonable number of participants so that groups
can form and change – a minimum of six, although ten would be ideal. The group dynamic will work well
with up to 20 participants. With more than 20, it might be more difficult to have whole group discussions.
Ideally the course would take place in person, but for reasons of accessibility we have designed each
activity with suggestions for both offline and online use. Depending on whether the activity is in-person
or not, the facilitator(s) will need to prepare different materials – for example, for in-person breakout
groups you’ll need flipchart paper and markers, for online breakout groups you’ll need a shared online
document. For organising participants into small groups, the steps will also be slightly different - either
in-person, or online by preparing breakout rooms on Zoom or other online video conferencing platform.
You can read the steps for each activity to check what needs to be prepared beforehand depending on
your context.
To make the course as accessible as possible for disabled people, we have used videos that have captions
available. We plan to provide video transcripts for download on the handbook’s page on the Friends of
the Earth Ireland website. There are other practical considerations for accessibility during a workshop
such as colour and font size for digital materials, physical accessibility, scheduling and timing, and more.
This set of accessibility guidelines (pdf) by Accessibilize Montreal is a useful resource.

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Considerations for Facilitation
This handbook assumes a basic to intermediate level
of facilitation skills such as being able to actively
listen and ask clarifying questions, facilitating a group
discussion, organising people into small groups, time
management and so on. For facilitation guidance, we
recommend Seeds for Change’s Facilitation Tools for
Meetings and Workshops.
The handbook also assumes a good working
knowledge amongst facilitators and participants
around climate and environmental justice and
climate change drivers such as extractive industries.
It also includes some terms around colonisation and
colonialism which might be new. This glossary from
Racial Equity Tools might be useful for facilitators and
participants.
The activities are participative and approach learning
from people’s own experiences and knowledge and
their perspectives on learning inputs such as videos.
It’s not necessary for facilitators have any expertise on
colonisation/colonialism in order to facilitate these
discussions and participatory activities – they are
designed to encourage open discussion between the
facilitator(s) and the learners.
The activities are not proscriptive, and you may wish
to adapt some of them depending on your context.
For example, some of the group discussions could
be individual journaling or creative exercises
instead, or you could give participants a choice to
work individually or in groups. Not every activity will
be accessible to every individual or group. Wherever
possible, ask people to give you information in
advance about any access requirements that are
relevant to the workshop. If necessary, you can adapt
the activities based on these.
There is a fair amount of emphasis on videos in
this short course, as we found the most accessible
educational resources on colonialism were in this
format. If the group or some participants would
benefit more from texts, some of the activities have
suggested alternative inputs or additional resources

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -8-
 in the Facilitator Notes sections which you could use
instead of the videos (bearing in mind you may have
to adapt the activity, for example by changing the
guiding questions).
As you work through the handbook and develop more
familiarity with the group, try to be intentional in
dividing participants into small groups as much as
possible. You might divide some small groups based
on random selection, especially at the beginning of
the course. But if you can, work to propose some of
the small group composition based on encouraging
interaction between participants.
Try to facilitate the participants to be in charge of
their learning process. Focus on the ways you can
create a sense of ownership and co-learning within
the group by asking for volunteers for small group
work – for example, several activities require group
facilitators and notetakers - reorganising the learning
space for activities; coming up with examples or ideas
for a specific exercise; or collating the notes from the
discussion sessions and sharing them with the group.
Finally, in order for the facilitator(s) to check progress
and ensure participants are getting the best of the
activities, we have provided some short learning
outcomes at the beginning of each theme, which you
can use to check learning during the closing rounds
after each theme. Each activity also has a summary
section which points towards key learning and aims
which you can use to check understanding.
Rather than include opening, debrief, and closing
activities for each of the four themes, we have
included some suggestions and resources below
which the facilitator(s) can mix and match to suit the
group and the context.

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Opening, Reflection, and Closing Activities

As facilitators or a group/collective working together, you may well have your own methods which you
use to open up co-learning spaces, as well as ‘intermittent activities’ that bring energy, levity or depth
to the group work. We would like to offer some suggestions and links to resources that you may find
useful to in your collective work on this short course. How you use them or combine them with your own
preferred methods is completely up to you.

1. An introduction round at the beginning of the first

session. You could do this in creative ways or add elements
such as checking in on what people need to participate as fully
as possible. This manual for online meetings has a useful section
on openings, and this compilation of facilitation tools (pdf) has
suggestions for introduction rounds. You might also want to
begin with a short meditation or breathing exercise.

2. Energisers – to get to know one another, to have some fun,

and to get the creative energies flowing. Try the examples in the
Games and Energisers section of Seeds for Change’s Facilitation
Tools for Meetings and Workshops.

3. Creating a group agreement. You could start by asking

people what helps them to participate, and what makes it more
difficult for them to participate. These points could form the
basis of an agreement. For other points which you may want
to add if participants haven’t already mentioned them, see this
safer spaces policy.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -10-
 4. Creating a brave space. While it’s important
to have a group agreement to create a space where
participants feel safe, a brave space acknowledges
that power structures, dynamics and ideas will
always be present in one form or another in
learning spaces. Creating a brave space helps us to
be vulnerable and challenge ourselves and others
in our thinking. Some of the elements of a brave
space will already be in the group agreement.

You can add or clarify these elements:

• Every individual brings to the space valid and legitimate knowledge constructed in their own
contexts.
• All knowledge is partial and incomplete.
• All knowledge can be questioned.
• You don’t have to agree with each other, you don’t have to convince each other, you do have to
understand each other in terms of point of view.
• Something that is normal to you might be new to someone else.
• Be mindful of the group dynamics and your own role in this.
* Adapted from The Uprising Educational Toolkit and Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry’s Resource Pack in Critical Literacy
in Global Citizenship Education

5. If you want to go deeper into creating a

brave space and procedures for enquiry,
you could use this ‘broccoli seed agreement’ by
Decolonial Futures, where the co-(un)learners
agree together to approach the process with
discernment, accountability, and (self-)tenderness.
The learning is not about the content, but about
ways of relating.

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6. Setting some procedures for enquiry.
The facilitator(s) and participants are co-creating a
• Critical engagement with different
collective space to unlearn and learn together. It
perspectives: what are the limitations/
can be useful to signal some ways of thinking and
implications of each perspective
relating to assist in these processes:
presented?
• Informed thinking: what are the
dominant views? Why are they
dominant? Where to find out more?
• Reflexive questions: what do I think
about this and why?
• Group dialogue questions: what are
the key tensions? What do other people
think?
• Responsible choices: what does it have
to do with me?
• Debriefing: what have I learned?
Adapted from Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry’s
Resource Pack in Critical Literacy in Global Citizenship
Education

7. Space for individual reflection. In the

middle or end of the sessions, give people a few • What have you learned about yourself?
minutes to reflect individually. Ask them to think
about their learning process in this session. • What have you learned about others?
• What have you learned about knowledge
and about learning?
• Is there anything else you need to facilitate
your learning?
• Do you feel you and other participants
could express themselves in an open and
safe space?
• What could be done to improve the
learning process of the group and the
relationships within the space?
(And let them know that during the break they
can come and talk to you or talk to others in
the group one on one (this obviously works
better in-person).

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -12-
 8. Take breaks! We haven’t signalled where the
breaks should go as each group will have different
timeframes and paces. Let the group decide
according to energy and comfort levels.

9. Closing rounds after each session. These could be group

debriefs, or individual journaling or drawing, perhaps based on
the reflection questions in point 7. You could also end with a
breathing exercise or embodied practice such as stretching or
dance.

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 THEME 1
HISTORICAL COLONISATION

This session will encourage participants to:

• Draw links between climate change and historical colonisation.

• Recognise how today’s environmental and climate problems have colonial roots.

Activity 1.1 – Warm-up

Summary
This activity is designed to get participants thinking about what they
already know about the overall theme of the course, for the facilitator to
get an idea of participants’ understanding of the theme, and to begin
developing a connection between participants (if they don’t already know each other).
30 - 40
minutes

Exercise
Step 1: Organise the participants into groups of 3 or 4.
Step 2: Let participants know they’ll be in small groups for 15 or 20 minutes, and the activity is to
idea-storm on what comes to mind or what they feel when they think of the terms climate change and
colonisation together.
Step 3: Ask them to note words down on a mind-map or draw what comes up. Use flipchart paper and
markers if offline, and a Zoom whiteboard or Google Jamboard if online.
Step 4: Once the group work wraps up, hear back from each group for a minute or two. If you’re short
on time, call on one person in each group to spontaneously call out one term/phrase/word or show one
drawing that impacted them or appealed to them.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -14-
 Facilitator notes
As a warm-up activity, the main task of the facilitator is to draw out the contributions of
participants and listen actively. There are no wrong answers, the point is to get the creative
and thoughtful juices flowing and begin a learning process on the theme of the course starting from
participants’ own understanding. You may find it useful to take your own notes or keep the flipchart
paper/online documents to revisit at the end of the course.

Activity 1.2 – Colonisation and Racialisation

Summary
This activity, based on a video input, introduces the idea that racialisation
—frameworks of superiority and inferiority based on race— and racism
were invented and applied during the European colonial expansion.
The activity relates the concept to environmental justice, introducing the idea that 60 - 75
communities and groups who are at the frontlines of environmental injustice are often minutes
racialised and oppressed through similar dynamics and narratives as in colonial times.

Inputs
Video - Chapter 2 – The Injustice of The Uprising Documentary (minute 8.43, here, to 14.42).

Exercise
Step 1: Watch the six minute video clip together.
Step 2: Ask the group if anyone wants to share any thoughts or feelings that come up. If you like, give
a prompt by asking what they learned about Columbus in school and how it compares to the video.
Facilitate a full-group discussion.
Step 3: Let participants know they’re going to be working in small groups again, and that their first task
will be to think of an oppressed and/or racialised community resisting environmental injustice such as
an extractive industry or large-scale renewable energy project. The example would ideally be one that is
already familiar to participants through their activism. Let them know that they’ll be using this example
to consider if and how this community has been oppressed or racialised through similar narratives to
those in the video.

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Step 4: Organise participants into groups of 3 or 4 (different groups than for Activity 1.1), either in-person
or pre-prepare the Zoom breakout rooms. Ask them to spend five minutes agreeing on an example to
work on. Reiterate that it would ideally be an example that all or some of the group have some knowledge
of. Check in on the groups and help them along if necessary.
Step 5: Bring the small groups back into the full group. Remind participants of the points of the debate
of Valladolid - Sepúlveda argued that Indigenous people are not human, but animals who can be
enslaved. Las Casas argued Indigenous people are human but like children and need to be helped and
Christianised.
Step 6: Either on flipchart or on an online document, give them the following questions for them to work
on using the example of environmental injustice their group has chosen. They can look up materials
online if they wish.
• Do you see the narratives used by Sepúlveda and Las Casas to oppress Indigenous people being
used to oppress communities resisting environmental injustice? In what ways?
• Where do these narratives appear? Think of examples which set dominant discourses like the
traditional media, corporations, politicians or other powerful actors, including large and mainstream
NGOs.
• Who in these narratives are considered superior and inferior?
Step 7: Invite participants to get back into their small groups. Let them know they’ll have around half an
hour for this discussion. Ask them to agree on a facilitator and a notetaker within their groups and give
them flipchart paper or a shared online document.
Step 8: Bring participants back to the full group. Ask the facilitator in each group to summarise the main
points of the group’s discussions. Either pin the groups’ flipchart sheets around the room or encourage
participants to look at the other groups’ notes on the online document.
Credit: This activity is a modified version of Activity 2.2 in The Uprising Educational Toolkit.

Facilitator notes
Even though the video segment is only six minutes long, there’s a lot to absorb. If the group
prefers to debrief the content of the video for longer, give the process its time. If you’re short
on time, reduce the amount of time for the small group work in Step 7.
To reduce the length of the activity and to make it slightly easier for participants, before the workshop you
could choose two to five examples of environmental injustice, depending on how many small groups
there are, and print out one article or input for each group to use as a basis for their discussion. Presuming
you are familiar with the group you are working with, you can choose examples that they already know.
Otherwise, you can choose examples for which participants will be able to look up materials online. We
suggest the Environmental Justice Atlas as a good place to start, and some examples you might find
useful are: resistance against Brazil’s Belo Monte megadam, resistance against the Lamu coal power
plant in Kenya, or the resistance against the Dairi Lead-Zinc project in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -16-
 During the small group debrief in Step 8, listen for understanding of what racialisation is - frameworks of
superiority and inferiority based on race - and how narratives and dynamics of racialisation are applied
to communities resisting environmental injustice.
If you have some extra time during the small group debrief, you could encourage participants to consider
how they would challenge these dehumanising and oppressive narratives - what language and terms
would they use to differentiate from the dominant discourses?

Activity 1.3 – Colonial Extraction & Dispossession

Summary
This activity is based on a 20-minute academic lecture-style video, which
explains the environmental impacts of colonisation and the colonial
roots of environmental crises using concrete examples. The group activity
involves a World Café discussion. The idea of World Cafe is to hold “table discussions”
where participants can move around from table to table as they desire. This works best 60 - 90
with a group of ten or more, if the group is smaller, you could consider doing regular minutes
small group work.

Inputs
Colonial Extraction and Dispossession, a 20 minute Video lecture by Dr Su-ming Khoo.

Exercise
Step 1: Watch the video together. Ask participants to jot down key words that they hear or
that come to mind as they watch the video.
Step 2: Ask the group if anyone has any comments or reactions they’d like to share – these can also be
emotional reactions. Facilitate a short full group discussion or if there are no comments, move on to the
next step.
Step 3: Let participants know they will be working in small groups in a World Café-style activity. Explain
the activity – there will be three tables, each with a different theme for discussion. Participants can join
whichever table they choose, and they can move between tables as they choose. Each table has one
facilitator who stays put and takes notes. The “tables” can either be real tables and flipchart paper or
Zoom breakout rooms with Google jamboards or another online post-it platform, and the participants
move between breakout rooms themselves, or you move them at their request.
Step 4: Explain the themes and questions of the three tables to the participants. Share them either on
pre-prepared flipchart sheets or on an online document. Ask if any clarifications are needed.

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 Table 1 Table 2
Theme: The European colonisation of the Theme: The concept of terra nullius –and
Americas caused not only severe epidemics, without people– was used to justify destruction
but environmental crises such as drought and of life in colonised lands.
climate change also.
Question: How does terra nullius relate to
Question: How do you think this history what we see happening today with extractive
might change how we understand and talk industries, and other drivers of climate change?
about modern-day climate change?
On the flipchart/jamboard, write “terra nullius
On the flipchart/jamboard, write “historical and extractivism”.
climate change and colonisation”.

Table 3
Theme: At the end of the video, Dr Khoo speaks of climate change as atmospheric colonisation, and
how struggles for climate justice must also be struggles against (material) colonisation – meaning the
exploitation of materials, life and labour for accumulation of wealth.
Question: What do you think it means to struggle against material colonisation within climate justice
struggles?
On the flipchart/jamboard, write “climate justice and material colonisation”.

Step 5: Ask for volunteer facilitators for each table (or, if possible, pre-arrange this with people who have
some facilitation experience and then let the group know who the facilitators are).
Step 6: Let the participants choose which table/breakout room they want to be in. Let them know they
have around a half hour total for the discussions.
Step 7: Go around to the groups and check in. If groups are stuck in any way, you could suggest that they
focus their discussion on how these themes apply to their own experiences of activism and organising
and consider how they might change the language they use in their communications, or the targets and
types of actions they do, or other aspects.
Step 8: Once the tables wrap up, back in the full group, invite each facilitator to share a summary of their
table’s discussion for a few minutes each. Ask if anyone else has any reflections they’d like to share.
Step 9: Optional. Ask for a volunteer to write up notes from the flipcharts or the jamboards to share with
the rest of the group later.
Credit: The Connected Sociologies group provided discussion questions for this video lecture. The questions used in this
activity have been modified.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -18-
 Facilitator notes
Even though this video is academically focused, it’s not necessary to understand all of the
terms – if any participants are hesitant about the academic terms, you can let them know
that the main purpose is to notice what strikes them most.
If participants struggle with the theme and questions for Table 1 of the breakout discussion, encourage
them to consider the terms “climate crisis” or “climate emergency”. If we understand that environmental
and climate crises have been part of the impacts of colonisation, does it change the way we use these
terms?
You can find more information about colonial climate and environmental destruction here (academic
text), terra nullius here, and materialism here.
During the debrief from the tables in Step 8, listen for understanding of environmental impacts of
colonisation and the colonial roots of environmental crises.

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 THEME 2
MODERN-DAY COLONIALISM

This session will encourage participants to:

• Understand how colonial dynamics continue today and play a role in environ-
mental and climate injustice;
• Analyse language in media coverage of environmental and climate struggles
and identify colonial narratives.

Activity 2.1 – Warm-up

Summary
This activity is designed to remind participants of some of the learning from
Theme 1 on the links between historical and modern-day colonialism and
climate change, and to start the workshop with a fun interactive dynamic. 20 - 30
minutes
Inputs
The flipchart sheets or the digital notes from Activity 1.3 on colonial extraction and dispossession.

Exercise
Step 1: As a group, review the notes from Activity 1.3. Give people a few minutes to read
them.
Step 2: Explain the activity. Let participants know that they’re each going to think of processes, items, or
dynamics – anything which they can draw - which for them represent the discussions we had on colonial
extraction and dispossession. Encourage them to think broad and creative, and not to worry about getting
the “right” answers. In small groups, they’re going to take turns drawing and the others in the group try
to guess what they’ve drawn.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -20-
 Step 3: Give participants either flipchart paper and markers or show them how to use the Zoom whiteboard
or another online programme that allows users to draw with their mouse. Let them know they’ll be taking
turns drawing that they’ve thought of for 1 minute each while the other participants try to guess what
they’re drawing. The person drawing is not allowed to talk, only signal yes or no.
Step 4: Invite participants to get into groups of three or four. Give them enough time in the groups so
that everyone has at least one go.

Facilitator notes
This activity is designed to refresh participants’ memory of learning from Theme 1 and start
the workshop in a fun way. If participants seems stuck, encourage them to think of things
they know from everyday life: cash crop exports, or industrial processes in the Global South/majority
world.

Activity 2.2 – Colonisation and Racialisation

Summary
This activity is based on a 4-minute video clip from The Uprising
documentary which explains five dimensions of colonialism around
economic, political, social, cultural, and geographic power. The activity
then relates these dimensions of colonialism to modern-day extractive industries 60 - 75
and environmental injustice in the Global South, majority world, and/or oppressed minutes
communities.

Inputs
The Uprising documentary, Chapter 2 - Concept 2.3, the Five Dimensions of Colonialism, minute 15.59
to minute 18.15.

Exercise
Step 1: Watch the two-minute video clip together.
Step 2: Ask participants if anyone has any comments, thoughts or feelings they would like to share.
Facilitate a full group discussion for a few minutes or if there are no comments, move on to the next step.
Step 3: Either write on a flipchart sheet or share in an online document the Five Dimensions of Colonialism
discussed in the documentary. Ideally participants would be able to view these during the rest of the
exercise as a learning aide.

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 Political:
the coloniser instituted an
administration in the colony,
run by white people from the
colony.

Economic: Cultural:
a new form of knowledge
wealth created in the colonised
production came into
world was transported to the
being, where university and
coloniser’s world.
universalism and exclusive
western knowledge was
seen as superior.

Social:
social relations were Geographic:
organised on the base of race
a new world civilization came
and ethnicity. White on the
into being.
top, black and brown on the
bottom.

Step 4: Explain the activity to the participants. In small groups, they are going to relate these five
dimensions of colonialism to an example of environmental injustice in the Global South/majority world/
oppressed community, using guiding questions. The examples ideally would be already known to
participants, so that they understand the context well enough to follow the activity.
Step 5: Organise participants into groups of 3 or 4 (different groups than for Activity 2.1), either in-person
or pre-prepare the Zoom breakout rooms. Ask them to spend five minutes agreeing on an example to
work on. Reiterate that it would ideally be an example that all or some of the group have some knowledge
of. Check in on the groups and help them along if necessary.
Step 6: Bring the small groups back to the full group. Let them know that they’re going to discuss their
chosen example using five guiding questions, which you can share on an online document, a flipchart
sheet, or on a projector screen.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -22-
 • How are the oppressed and oppressor connected economically?
• To what extent does the oppressor still influence the political landscape of the oppressed?
• To what extent is the oppressor still considered superior?
• What is the influence of the knowledge production of the oppressor on the oppressed community?
• To what extent is the community part of a global struggle?
Step 7: Invite participants to get back into their small groups. Let them know they’ll have around half an
hour for this discussion. Ask them to agree on a facilitator and a notetaker within their groups and give
them flipchart paper or a shared online document.
Step 8: Bring participants back to the full group. Ask the facilitator in each group to summarise the main
points of the group’s discussions. Either pin the groups’ flipchart sheets around the room or encourage
participants to look at the other groups’ notes on the online document.
Credit: This activity is an adapted version of Activity 2.3 in The Uprising Educational Toolkit.

Facilitator notes
In choosing the examples for participants to work on, if you notice that the groups are stuck,
you could suggest some well-known examples of extractivism like Shell’s destruction in
Ogoniland, Nigeria; the struggle against the DAPL pipeline in Indigenous territories in North Dakota,
USA; or Chevron’s oil spills and pollution of Indigenous territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon. You can
find information on all of these, and other environmental justice struggles such as against megadams or
large-scale conservation projects, on the Environmental Justice Atlas.
When participants are working with the guiding questions, encourage them to think of the oppressor
as multinational corporations, along with the political, legal and policy structure that supports and
encourages corporate activity.
During the small group debrief in Step 8, listen for understanding of how economic, political, social,
cultural, and geographic power are intertwined with environmental injustice and how it affects frontline
communities.

Activity 2.3 – Civilising Narratives

Summary
This activity builds on the learning in Activity 2.2, based on another short
clip from The Uprising documentary which reflects on how colonialism
and colonial dynamics have influenced dominant and false narratives in
history, media, education and other spaces. The group exercise uses these dynamics to 60 - 75
analyse media coverage of struggles against environmental and climate injustice. minutes

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 Inputs
The Uprising Chapter 3: The Narrative from minute 32.21 to minute 39.20.

Exercise
Step 1: Watch the 7-minute video clip together.
Step 2: Ask participants if anyone has any comments, thoughts or feelings they would like to share.
Facilitate a full group discussion for a few minutes or if there are no comments, move on to the next step.
Step 3: Write on a flipchart sheet, or share in an online document, the five techniques of the “lies of
colonialism” shared in the documentary. Ideally participants would be able to view these during the rest
of the exercise as a learning aide.

Lies of colonialism:
Terminology: The first technique is using a terminology that covers up
the truth.
Selective facts: The second is that you don’t use all the facts. You use
only some facts to distort the world.
Narrative lies: Then the third is, you create a narrative of lies.
Greater therory: You put this narrative into a greater theory, which is the rise of civilization.
Erasure of ethics: And the last part of creating lies is that you leave ethics out of the story.

Step 4: Explain the group exercise to participants. You, as facilitator, are going to share three articles from
the traditional media about environmental justice issues and struggles in the Global South/majority
world and/or in an oppressed community. Individually, participants are going to reflect on one of the
articles and then discuss in pairs.
Step 5: Let participants know that to assign the articles, you’re going to give them each a number from
one to three and their number corresponds to their article. Go around the group counting from one to
three so each person has a number.
Step 6: Either share printouts or links to the three articles:
1. BBC article about Shell in Nigeria
2. Financial Times article about lithium mining in Serbia
3. New York Times article about arrests at a pipeline protest in Canada

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -24-
 Step 7: Let participants know that they’re going to reflect on the article individually for about ten minutes
using several guiding questions, which you can share on an online document, a flipchart sheet, or on a
projector screen. Ask them to take some notes as they reflect. If not all of the questions seem to relate
or fit with the content of the article, that’s OK – they can focus on the ones that do. Invite them to check
back over the techniques of colonial narratives that you shared in Step 3 as a support for this part of the
activity.
• To what extent are the words used considered universal or specific to western society?
• Who in this text is considered part of the norm and who is considered the other?
• To what extent has the terminology shaped collective memory in society?
• To what extent are the selected facts embedded in institutions of power?
• To what extent is the narrative positioned as objective and neutral?
• Who is presenting this narrative and how is their view connected to power?
• How would the inclusion of more stories and experiences of the people affected change the narrative?
• To what extent is western/dominant culture characterised as progressive, modern, and advanced?
• To what extent is non-western/non-dominant culture characterised as backward, traditional and
primitive?
• To what extent is the perspective of the colonizer/dominant culture presented as neutral and
objective?
Step 8: After about 10 minutes, invite the participants to get into pairs and ask them to share their
reflections with each other for another 10 minutes.
Step 9: Briefly hear back from each person – ask them to share one thing they noticed in the article that
they wouldn’t have thought of in the same way before.
*Credit: This activity is an adapted version of the activities in Chapter 3 of The Uprising Educational Toolkit.

Facilitator notes
You might find this extract from Chapter 3 - The Narrative of The Uprising Educational Toolkit
useful for preparing to facilitate this activity: “This chapter invites students to analyse the
storytelling of history and how it has been shaped by the specific views and interests of
the coloniser, leaving out the perspectives of the colonised. An important aspect in this analysis is to
understand how these stories have been embedded into institutions of power, like education and media.
It has created a state of amnesia, leaving many with a false assumption that the stories they are being
told are neutral and objective. Part of a decolonial approach is to challenge these stories as neutral
and objective and offer alternative views taking into account the experiences of the colonized people.
It requires an understanding of the mechanisms and tactics that are being used to shape stories and
therefore our collective memory of history. Once we understand those mechanisms, we’re better able to
address the missing links in those stories.”

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In Step 6, we have provided some example articles for the activity but modify as required – for example, if
your group is more familiar with other environmental justice struggles you could look up articles related
to those.
When hearing back from the participants in Step 9, listen to the examples participants share from
the articles for their understanding of how colonial narrative techniques influence media coverage of
struggles against environmental and climate injustice in subtle ways.

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 THEME 3
EXTRACTIVISM AND COLONIALISM

This session will encourage participants to:

• Reflect on lived experiences of those affected by extractive industries;

• Explore colonial dynamics of the global supply chains of extracted and exploited
common goods.

Activity 3.1 – Coal, Colonialism, and Resistance

Summary
This activity is based on a 25 minute documentary about the impacts of
coal mining in Wayúu Indigenous territory in La Guajira, Colombia. The
activity uses a creative approach to encourage participants to consider the
importance of listening to frontline communities affected by extractivism and identify
60 - 75
examples of colonial dynamics which were explored in Theme 2. minutes

Inputs
Notes on flipchart sheets or online documents from Activity 2.2 – Dimensions of Colonialism and Activity
2.3 – Civilising Narratives;
The first film of the series made by Still Burning, Colonialismo y Resistencia.

Exercise
Step 1: Share the notes from Activity 2.2 – Dimensions of Colonialism and Activity 2.3 –
Civilising Narratives, either by hanging the flipchart sheets around the room or sharing
links to online documents.
Step 2: Remind participants that both activities 2.2 and 2.3 focused on colonial underpinnings of
extractive industry, by looking at dynamics of economic, political, social, cultural, and geographic power

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as well as colonial narratives in media coverage of environmental justice struggles. Let them know that
this activity is going to explore extractivism in more depth. Ask them to skim the notes from the two
previous activities, as a refresher and an aide for discussion in today’s activity.
Step 3: Let participants know that we’re going to watch a 25-minute documentary that centres the voices
of Indigenous communities in Colombia affected by coal mining. Ask them to jot down points that relate
to our learning from Activities 2.2 and 2.3 as they watch the documentary, for example, what colonial
dynamics do the members of communities affected by coal mining identify in the film?
Step 4: Watch the film together.
Step 5: Let participants know that they’re going to each share their notes from the film in small groups, as
well as any other comments they’d like to share. Ask them to either make a collective drawing of the main
themes or a mind-map of keywords as they share their thoughts. They can work on it together or assign a
note-taker/artist. If you’re online, do this on a shared whiteboard, jamboard, or online document.
Step 6: Organise participants into groups of three or four. Give them around half an hour for the discussion
and the drawing or mind-map.
Step 7: Back in the full group, ask each small group to share their creative works with the rest of the
group.

Activity 3.2 – Extractivism, Neocolonialism and Climate Change

Summary
This activity is based on a reading on extractivism and neocolonialism
and a short video clip about the coal supply chain from Colombia to
Europe. The purpose is to consider how an understanding of the colonial
foundations of extractivism, global inequalities, and vulnerability to climate impacts
60 - 75
might change approaches to climate activism. minutes

Inputs
A reading on Extractivism and Neo-colonialism – The Pillars of Fossil Capitalism (up to the section header
“Colonising the Mind”);
A 4-minute video clip Living Wetiko, where two members of communities affected by the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia
speak of/to the European coal supply chain.

Exercise
Step 1: Share the reading with participants as either a link or printed copies. Give them a
few minutes to read (up to the section header “Colonising the Mind”).
Step 2: Watch the four-minute video clip together, which emphasises some of the points made in the
reading.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -28-
 Step 3: Ask participants if anyone has any comments, thoughts or feelings they would like to share.
Facilitate a full group discussion for a few minutes or if there are no comments, move on to the next step.
Step 4: Let participants know they will be working in small groups in a World Café Style activity. Explain
the activity – there will be two tables, each with a different theme. Participants can join whichever table
they choose, and they can move between tables as they choose. Each table has one facilitator who stays
put and takes notes. The “tables” can either be real tables and flipchart paper or Zoom breakout rooms
with Google jamboards or another online post-it platform, and the participants move between breakout
rooms themselves, or you move them at their request.
Step 5: Explain the themes of the two tables to the participants. Share them either on pre-prepared
flipchart sheets or on an online document. Ask if any clarifications are needed.

Table 1 Table 2
Quote from reading: Quote from reading:
“Importantly, the term [extractivism] refers “Centuries of colonial rule have created highly
to much more than merely the extraction of unequal global structures. There are great
resources from the earth. When we speak of disparities between the Global North and
extractivism, we refer to the whole economic Global South in terms of financial wealth.
system and ideology, as well as the social and The capitalist economic system and its global
human-nature relations through which the supply chains continue to reproduce colonial
extraction of natural resources is mediated.” forms of exploitation. Since these structures
have never been fundamentally changed,
Question: colonial power relations continue to maintain
If we understand extractivism in the or even increase global inequalities.”
Global South/majority world as a form of Question:
neocolonialism as well as a driver of climate
change and cause of severe impacts on If we understand how modern dynamics of
frontline communities, what implications does inequality, vulnerability to climate impacts,
this have for climate activism? How does it and exploitation relate to histories of colonial
change our demands, our communications, plunder and expropriation, what implications
strategies and tactics? does this have for climate activism? How does
it change our demands, our communications,
On the flipchart/jamboard, write strategies and tactics?
“Extractivism & Neocolonialism: Implications
for Climate Activism”. On the flipchart/jamboard, write “Colonial
dynamics of inequality: Implications for
Climate Activism”.

Step 6: Ask for volunteer facilitators for each table (or, if possible, pre-arrange this with people who have
some facilitation experience and then let the group know who the facilitators are).
Step 7: Let the participants choose which table/breakout room they want to be in. Let them know they
have around a half hour total for the discussions.

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Step 8: Go around to the groups and check in. If groups are stuck in any way, suggest that they think
of their own activism and organising, choose some concrete examples of actions or activities they have
done, and consider if retrospectively they would make any changes to these based on their learning in
this course.
Step 9: Once the tables wrap up, back in the full group, invite each facilitator to share a summary of their
table’s discussion for a few minutes each. Ask if anyone else has any reflections they’d like to share.
Step 10: Optional. Ask for a volunteer to write up notes from the flipcharts or the jamboards to share with
the rest of the group later.

Facilitator notes
This activity encourages participants to think of their own experiences and knowledge of
climate activism and consider if there are other approaches they could integrate based on
a more in-depth understanding of neocolonialism and colonial dynamics to climate change
drivers such as extractivism. There are no particular right answers to these considerations; encourage
participants to start from where they’re at. If they’re finding it hard to think of examples from their own
climate activism, you could encourage them to use an example of a global climate action policy or
measure such as climate finance for large-scale renewable energy projects, the use of carbon credits, or
the extraction of minerals for renewable energy infrastructure.
For a series of suggestions on how to frame communications on climate justice that take into account
issues including colonialism and international solidarity, see this research project.

Activity 3.2 – Colonial Supply Chains and Sacrifice Zones

Summary
This activity is based on a creative project which superimposes maps of
mining concessions onto maps of European cities to illustrate sacrifice zones.
It builds on Activity 3.1 which explored the consequences of coal mining
in Indigenous Wayúu territory in Colombia and how those relate to logics and practices
of neocolonialism. The exercise asks participants to consider the process of the supply 40 - 60
chain — from the sacrifice zone in La Guajira to those who benefit from the extraction and minutes
exploitation of coal – and what structural changes need to happen to change this dynamic.

Inputs
A creative project by the Gastivists collective related to fossil gas supply chains

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -30-
 Exercise
Step 1: Ask participants to find their notes from Activity 3.1, the documentary viewing on
the impacts of coal mining on Indigenous and Afro communities in La Guajira, Colombia,
and give them a few minutes to review them, as they will find them useful as inputs into this exercise.
Step 2: Screenshare or project the creative project or ask participants to open the link on their phones or
laptops and take 5 minutes to read/look at the section titled “In/version I: Territories bleed through their
maps”.
Step 3: Project or screenshare one of the images from the project alongside this quote and read it out.

Cities are inverted mines... They are both the financial origins and the material destinations
of extractive projects. In the imaginary advertised by oil and gas companies, fossil fuels
are indispensable resources, extracted responsibly, in communities far away who benefit
immensely. The continuity of the fossil fuel industry – and extractive industries as a whole – rests
on this fabricated story. A story which silences inevitable questions: What makes a ‘wasteland’?
What if an extractive site was in the middle of what some consider ‘valuable’ or ‘worthy’ land?
If these extractive projects can be done in places at the peripheries of our worldview, why
can’t they be done in places that are not? How does our gaze differentiate between Paris and
Wallmapu? Between London and Cabo Delgado? Extractive logics demand we subscribe to
blatant double standards in the treatment of territories. What would be inadmissible in wealthy
European cities, is acceptable – if not imperative – elsewhere.

Step 4: Ask participants to take a few minutes individually to think about how they feel about the quote
and the questions it contains.
Step 5: Invite participants to form pairs and share with each other some of their individual reflections.
Give them around five minutes for this.
Step 6: Still in pairs, ask participants to imagine what La Guajira could look like for the people and the
territory if there were not a double standard in terms of what is considered the periphery or a sacrifice
zone and what is considered valuable and worthy land. Encourage them to think of the Colonialismo y
Resistencia documentary from Activity 3.1 – how did Wayúu people live before the mine? What would
need to happen for the people of La Guajira if the mine closed? What implications would it have for
richer countries like Ireland? Give them at around ten minutes for this discussion.
Step 7: Back in the full group, ask participants to feedback some of the elements of the second part of
their discussion.
Step 8: Ask participants to think about the process and destination of the supply chain. Facilitate a full-
group discussion for a few minutes. Who benefits from the exploitation of sacrifice zones like La Guajira?
In which ways? What can be done about it on a structural level, and as activists? Take some notes on a
flipchart sheet or an online document.

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 Facilitator notes
In Steps 6 and 8, when participants are discussing what structural changes need to happen to
change this dynamic of sacrifice zones and what implications that might have in Ireland and
for activism, you might find it helpful to remind them that these are huge questions about
a highly complex context, and it’s OK to find it challenging, and there are no hard and fast solutions.
Encourage them to think of actions that are within reach, for example international solidarity actions
which might help to challenge corporate power and pressure for reparations and land rehabilitation for
frontline communities.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -32-
 THEME 4
SOLIDARITY AND JUSTICE
This session will encourage participants to:

• Draw links between racialisation and capitalism, and understand the implica-
tions of these for climate activism;
• Discuss and critically evaluate case studies of solidarity in action from a decolo-
nial perspective;
• Think about individual and societal understandings and meanings of justice.

Activity 4.1 – Racial Capitalism

Summary
This activity is based on a short documentary about racial capitalism,
building on learning from previous activities which explored how colonial
racialisation and oppression continues today in the form of extractivism
in the Global South/majority world. It will encourage participants to think 60 - 75
critically and constructively about climate activism through this lens. minutes

Inputs
The mini-documentary on ‘Geographies of racial capitalism’ with Ruth Wilson Gilmore (16 minutes).

Exercise
Step 1: Watch the mini-documentary together.
Step 2: Ask participants if anyone has any comments, thoughts or feelings they would like to share.
Facilitate a full group discussion for a few minutes or if there are no comments, move on to the next step.
Step 3: Explain the activity to participants. First, they’re going to discuss their impressions of the videos -

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what most impacted them; and what learning would they like to take forward into their work. After a few
minutes, you as facilitator are going to share some additional questions with them.
Step 4: Invite participants to self-form into groups of three or four. Ask them to agree on a facilitator and
a notetaker within their groups and give them flipchart paper or a shared online document.
Step 5: When you feel the groups have had a chance to have an open discussion, share some further
reflections and questions with them, either on a flipchart sheet or on an online document, and let them
know they’ll have an additional 30 minutes for this discussion.

“All capitalism is racial from its beginning...and “All liberation struggle is place-based. The
it will continue to depend on racial practice and scale and the size might differ wildly but it’s all
racial hierarchy no matter what. This is another place-based. Liberation struggle is specific to
way of saying we can’t undo racism without the needs and the struggles of people where
undoing capitalism.” - Ruth Wilson Gilmore they are and that ‘where’ has many, many
dimensions.” - Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Given that racialised people are most affected
by climate and environmental injustice, what Think about the example that Gilmore gives
do you think this statement means for our of a community’s struggle to save their homes
work as climate and environmental activists and their community - what does this mean
and organisers? for struggles for climate and environmental
justice?

Step 6: Bring participants back to the full group. Ask the facilitator in each group to summarise the main
points of the group’s discussions.

Facilitator notes
If you feel it might be helpful, before the documentary viewing in Step 1 you could remind
participants of the learning in Activity 1.2 on racialisation, which discussed how colonialism
created a false framework of superiority and inferiority based on race, and this framework was
used by Europeans to justify the dispossession and exploitation of racialised people during historical
colonisation. Racial capitalism is a continuation of this dynamic.
For the small group work in Step 5, if participants seem stuck, encourage them to start from where they’re
at, perhaps by thinking of a concrete example of climate activism and applying the questions to that
example. You could refer them to points we touched on in Activity 3.1 around the importance of taking a
lead from frontline communities, and Activity 3.3 on struggles in and against sacrifice zones.
Some additional resources you can share with participants are this video lecture by Lisa Tilley; this article
on Cedric Robinson and racial capitalism; and this podcast from Open Democracy.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -34-
 Activity 4.2 – Solidarity

Summary
This activity uses a quote from Ruth Wilson Gilmore to encourage
participants to think about what solidarity means in practice and their
own experiences of solidarity. The exercise is based on a tool developed
by a decolonial education collective to build a critical view of solidarity extended by
dominant groups toward marginalised groups.

Inputs
Table from the ‘Heads Up’ tool by the Decolonial Futures collective, also available on page 37 of this
handbook.

Exercise
Step 1: Share a quote with participants from the Ruth Wilson Gilmore mini-documentary. In
the film, after the example of a community’s collective place-based struggle and co-learning
process of political education and debate, Gilmore says “it’s making solidarity. Solidarity is something
that’s made and remade and remade, it never just is. I think of it in terms of radical dependency, that
we come absolutely to depend on each other. And solidarity and radical dependency are ... about living
together in beautiful ways.”
Step 2: Ask participants to take a few minutes to reflect individually on the quote and on their own
experiences of solidarity. Encourage them to think of both when they’ve acted in solidarity, or others
have acted in solidarity with them. In their experiences, was it solidarity of the type that Gilmore is talking
about, radical dependency? Were there other times when they’ve experienced solidarity as radical
dependency, but it wasn’t named as such?
Step 3: Open up space for a group discussion – ask participants to share one reflection each. If the group
is large, do it popcorn-style (allow people to pop up) but ask them to keep their reflections short so as
many people as possible have a chance to share.
Step 4: Invite participants to form groups of three or four. Ask them to decide between themselves on
one example of a solidarity action or initiative related to climate change or environmental activism. Let
them know that it would ideally be an example that all or some of the group have some knowledge of.
Check in on the groups and help them along if necessary.
Step 5: Bring the small groups back to the full group. Let them know that they’re going to discuss their
chosen example using a tool called ‘Heads Up’, which is an acronym of a list of patterns of engagement and
representations that are common in initiatives involving dominant groups reaching out to marginalised
groups. Each pattern comes with sets of questions, which they’re going to apply to their chosen example
of solidarity. Explain that the tool is focused on constructively critiquing global citizenship education but
applies well to solidarity work also.

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Step 6: Project, share printouts, or share a link to an online copy of the ‘Heads Up’ tool from the Decolonial
Futures collective. Give participants a few minutes to look at the table.
Step 7: Give participants flipchart paper and ask them to draw a blank table in the same format as the
Heads Up tool which they can then fill in with keywords in response to the questions, or give them a
shared online document with a pre-generated table they can fill in. Give them at least half an hour for
this discussion. Let them know that they can focus on the positive elements of their example too.
Step 8: Ask each group to show their flipchart/online doc and briefly explain it to the other groups.

Facilitator notes
In Step 4 when participants are choosing an example of solidarity action or initiative, you
could also pre-prepare examples of solidarity for participants to work on. These may be best
chosen according to your knowledge of the group, or you could find examples of international
solidarity related to the experiences of environmental justice that the groups worked on in Activities 2.2
and 2.3.
If participants don’t have enough time or find it challenging to answer all of the questions in the table,
encourage them to focus on the questions that best apply to their example, or that make most sense
for them. The main objective is to reflect analytically and critically on solidarity extended by dominant
groups toward marginalised groups.

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -36-
 Whose idea of development/ Whose template for knowledge
HEADS UP education/the way forward? production?

Hegemonic practices What assumptions and imaginaries Whose knowledge is perceived

(reinforcing and justifying the inform the ideal of development to have universal value? How
status quo) and education in this initiative? come? How can this imbalance be
addressed?

Ethnocentric projections What is being projected as ideal, How is dissent addressed? How
(presenting one view as universal normal, good, moral, natural are dissenting groups framed and
and superior) or desirable? Where do these engaged with?
assumptions come from?

Ahistorical thinking (forgetting How is history, and its ongoing How is the historical connection
the role of historical legacies and effects on social/political/economic between dispensers and receivers
complicities in shaping current relations, addressed (or not) in of knowledge framed and
problems) the formulation of problems and addressed?
solutions in this initiative?

Depoliticized orientations What analysis of power relations Do educators and students

(disregarding the impacts of power has been performed? Are power recognize themselves as culturally
inequalities and delegitimizing imbalances recognized, and if situated, ideologically motivated
dissent) so, how are they either critiqued and potentially incapable of
or rationalized? How are they grasping important alternative
addressed? views?

Self-serving motivations How are marginalized peoples Is the violence of certain groups
(invested in self-congratulatory represented? How are those being deemed dispensers of
heroism) students who intervene education, rights and help
represented? How is the acknowledged as part of the
relationship between these groups problem?
two represented?

Un-complicated solutions Has the urge to ‘make a difference’ Are simplistic analyses offered and
(offering ‘feel-good’ quick fixes weighted more in decisions answered in ways that do not invite
that do not address root causes of than critical systemic thinking people to engage with complexity
problems) about origins and implications of or recognize complicity in systemic
‘solutions’? harm?

Paternalistic investments How are those at the receiving end Does this initiative promote the
of efforts to ‘make a difference’ symmetry of less powerful groups
(seeking a ‘thank you’ from those expected to respond to the ‘help’ and recognize these groups’
who have been ‘helped’) they receive? legitimate right to disagree with
the formulation of problems and
solutions proposed?

* Table from Decolonial Futures

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Activity 4.3 – Understanding Justice

Summary
This activity uses another learning tool which outlines four different
understandings of global and social justice and applies them to climate
and environmental justice. It includes individual reflection on participants’
personal understanding of justice, and a group exercise on broader activist or societal 60 - 75
understandings of justice. The purpose is to build on the previous activity on solidarity by
considering what we are struggling for.
minutes

Inputs
Table on Understanding Justice by Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry on page 14 of the PDF
available for download on this webpage, also available on pages 40-41 of this handbook.

Exercise
Step 1: Share printouts or an online copy of the table. Explain to participants that it
represents elements of different understandings of global and social justice, and we’re
going to apply it to environmental and climate justice. Give them a few minutes to read the table.
Step 2: Ask participants to reflect individually on the following questions in relation to climate and
environmental injustice. Share them on a flipchart sheet or an online document. Ask them to jot down
their initial thoughts and feelings on each question as quickly as possible. Let them know that these
reflections are for them to keep private, we won’t be sharing them in the full group.

Climate? Justice?
What do you think is the understanding of justice from each perspective in the table? If we take
climate justice as the main example, what would be the understandings of climate justice from these
different perspectives?
How would you define the problem, the nature of the problem, what to do about it, what for and
your own role in relation to it? How do these assumptions affect your choices (of content/approach) as
an activist and/or organiser?
Broadly within which perspective do you understand environmental and climate justice?
How certain/clear are you about what you think in relation to this topic?
How was your perspective constructed? How often has it changed in recent years?
To what extent are you open to share your perspective with others and to have your assumptions
questioned/challenged?

Climate Change, Extractivism and Colonialism Facilitators and Learners’ Handbook -38-
 Step 3: Let participants know they’re going to be working in small groups with broader questions that
apply to collective or structural issues of justice, and they can discuss the questions terms of environmental
and/or climate justice.
Step 4: Share the list of below questions on a flipchart sheet or an online document and give participants
a few minutes to read them. Let them know that in their groups, they’ll be selecting two ‘priority’ questions
for discussion.

Climate? Justice?
How do you define fairness and justice? What is the greatest threat to justice? Can you think of
different responses to this question?
What binds us to people who we have never met? How do we affect/are affected by them?
Is violence ever justified in the struggle for justice (group/individual or military/terrorist)?
Is there a universal concept of justice? Whose concept is it? What assumptions about reality
influence the dominant understanding of justice in your context? How do people understand justice in
other contexts?
Should we do to others what we expect to be done to us? Do we all want the same thing? In which
circumstances, can we make assumptions about other people’s wants without asking them?
What is the purpose of civil society in the struggle for justice? Will civil society disappear when
justice is achieved? What is the purpose of education for justice? How can this concept be defined
according to diverse principles?

Step 5: Organise participants into groups of two or three. Ask them to agree on a facilitator and a notetaker
within their groups and give them flipchart paper or a shared online document. Ask them to first decide
the two ‘priority’ questions for discussion in their group. If they’re taking a long time to decide, help them
along. Give them around half an hour for the discussion. If they have time, they can discuss additional
questions.
Step 6: Bring participants back to the full group. Ask the facilitator in each group to summarise the main
points of the group’s discussions.
Credit: This activity is an adapted version of the activity ‘Enquiry: Social and Global Justice’ in Open Spaces for Dialogue
and Enquiry’s Resource Pack in Critical Literacy in Global Citizenship Education.

Facilitator notes
You and the participants might notice that the final row of the table labelled “What is Justice?”
is blank – one part of the activity could focus on filling in this row according to the different
understandings of justice, however focusing on the reflective questions might be more useful
for generating a constructive and thoughtful discussion.

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In Step 2, when participants write down their own individual reflections on the meaning of justice, the
purpose of asking participants to write things down quickly is to help them to not get too wrapped up in
the enormity of the questions or end up focusing on too many details.
This activity is perhaps more philosophical than others in the handbook. If participants find it challenging
engage in this discussion, as with other activities which deal with complex issues, you can remind them
that these are huge and difficult questions which don’t have clearcut answers. Encourage them to focus
on the questions that make most sense for them.

Perspective A Perspective B Perspective C Perspective D

The problem There is no If people are poor, Unequal benefits Groups in power
problem [or] I only that is mainly and losses, who oppress
have time to think their fault - they therefore injustice. and exploit
about the survival lack education Injustice is the others (elites,
of my family [or] and culture, but problem. corporations,
The trou blemakers certain individuals capitalists, the
are the problem. in power need to ‘West’, etc).
change.

The nature of Problems are The attitudes and The whole network People who are in
the problem? caused by evil - evil abilities of certain of structures, power dictate the
people, evil power, individuals. assumptions and rules so that they
plotting revolution, attitudes which we always win. They
plotting world inherit and learn will not give up
domination. from the past. power of their own
free will.

What to do? Evil should at Make the present Change ourselves Sabotage from
least be resisted system work well and the structures the inside or
and contained. in order to create towards greater disengage from it
Preferably, harmony, tolerance equality of work, altogether!
it should be and equality of wealth, power,
eliminated. opportunity (so esteem.
that rewards are
shared according
to merit).

What for? Security and order To reach an end For a never It is a waste of
- an absence of to insecurity and ending self-critical time to speculate
threat, anxiety and anxieties. development about utopia. We
conflict. towards new need to destroy
power relations, the oppressive
new identities, system first.
new ways of living
together, new
and unimagined
futures.

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 What about If there is a I am not part of the If I support and I am not part of
me? problem, the problem. I am part benefit from unjust the problem. I
State or the of the solution. and exploitative am part of the
police should do I’ll support the systems, I am part solution. I have
something. This State, I’ll support of the problem… the answers and
has nothing to do education for all, and can be part I’m at the forefront
with me. The most I’ll give to charity, of the solution. of the revolution.
I can do is give a I’ll do my bit. I don’t want to
bit of money, or conform, to reform,
what I don’t need to sabotage or
anymore, to charity. to disengage. I
want to transform
structures and
relations so that we
are able to decide
with others what is
best for all.

What is ??? ??? ??? ???

justice?

* Table from Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry’s Resource Pack in Critical Literacy in Global Citizenship Education, in
turn adapted from “Perspectives amongst the Powerful” - Robin Richardson (1990) Daring to be a Teacher. Trentham Books.

This marks the end of the fourth and final theme in the handbook. For suggestions of closing activities,
you can refer to the suggestions on page 13. An overall debrief of participants’ reflections on all four
themes would fit well here. However, depending on the group, you might like to organise a group
discussion on taking action, for example, how they will take this work forward in their group, actions or
ideas they’d like to commit to, other learning they’d like to explore, or different groups or struggles that
they could support or get involved with.

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