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Gikinoo’wizhiwe Onji Waaban (Guiding for Tomorrow)
or “G-WOW”Changing Climate, Changing Culture InitiativeA New Model for Climate Change Literacy & Action
Cathy Techtmann- Environmental Outreach State SpecialistUniversity of Wisconsin-Extension
NOAA Climate Stewardon behalf of G-WOW Team
Boozhoo (Hello)
Funding Provided by:
G-WOW Project Partners
Additional technical support and resources
Wisconsin climate science research, climate maps, interactive climate mapping tools
Assessments of climate change for northern Wisconsin forests and habitats
Multi-cultural examples of climate change impacts
Project Location:
Located in the heart of the Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indian Country. This area includes 11 Ojibwe Tribes living within the “Ceded Territory”
Based at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Ashland, WI
Applicable to other locations & cultures
G-WOW Roots
• Increasing evidence that climate change is affecting the sustainability of Lake Superior coastal resources, communities, and cultures
• Concern about climate change impacts to Ojibwe treaty rights and traditional cultural practices within the Ceded Territory
• “Traditional” climate literacy models were not resonating with audiences
Diverse project partners came together as the G-WOW Team to develop a new climate
change educational outreach strategy
“…local, place-based evidence of climate change gained through experiential learning is as, or more effective than, simply studying
analytical climate change data to increasing climate change literacy.”
“The Psychology of Climate Change Communication”, Columbia University 2009
Research basis for the G-WOW Model
The Lake Superior Ojibwe have relied on the sustainability of key plant and animal species for generations to support subsistence, cultural, and
spiritual practices or “lifeways”
Tribes have traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of natural systems that provides place-based
indicators of climate change impacts for people of all cultures
Unprecedented cancellations of tribal wild rice harvests and poor harvest years (2007-2012)
Place-based Evidence
Lake Superior ice cover at Bayfield, Wisconsin has decreased approximately 3 days/decade or 45 days over the past 150 years
Lake Superior reached near record lows by 2013
From 1950-2006:
• +1ºF over all temperature increase
• +2 - 2.5ºF increase in NW Wisconsin.
Scientific evidence of a Changing Climate
WI has gotten warmer & wetter over the past
60 years
Historic (1950-2006)
Projected (1980-2055)
A1B ScenarioOVERALL WARMING
Change in Average Annual Temps +4-9ºF
Average +12 days growing seasonDrought
WARMER WINTERSDecrease in Frequency of Cold Nights
(70% decrease in northern WI)Less ice cover on lakes, more
evaporationMore precip as rain, not snow
EXTREME WEATHERUp to 4.5 inch annual mean
increase in precip, but a projected 25% increase in the frequency
of 2-inch or greater rainfall events
2014Record or near-record cold for the Midwest
Alaska warmest since records began in 1918 (National Weather Service)
Globally the hottest year on record (NOAA)
You had to ask… what about 2014?
2015 ??
and
2015Record cold & snowfall for eastern cities
Alaska: 40-degrees above average, record high temps for February
Second hottest January on record (NOAA). Oceans at 3rd warmest
Warmest March on record. Highest CO2 level ever at 400 parts per million
9 out of the past 10 years have been the warmest on record
Our Goal through G-WOW
- Place-based evidence of climate change
- Climate change scientific research.
Increase awareness of climate change impacts on the sustainability of resources, cultures, and communities by integrating:
Create an e-z to understand climate literacy model , transferable to other cultures & locations
Fight climate change with change through service learning
G-WOW Key Principles
• Climate change is real
• Humans contribute to climate change
• Weather and climate are different
• Climate affects culture
• We can make a difference! Projected change in
Wisconsin’s annual average temperatures
in ºF, 1980-2055
Harvesting birch bark- a boreal species that relies on a cool climate
Why Is the G-WOW Model Unique?
It based on understanding how climate change affects
habitat conditions needed for the sustainability of plant or animal species that supports a cultural
practice.
• Creates a culturally relevant climate change perspective
• Links cultural, place-based evidence with scientific climate research
• Makes the model transferrable across different cultures
• Promotes action through service learningG-WOW uses impacts on Ojibwe cultural practices as
an indicator of a changing climate for all cultures
The Ojibwe lifeway of wild rice harvesting depends on the sustainability of manoomin.
The sustainability of manoomin depends on habitats with:
• shallow water• moderate water level fluctuations• cool growing season temperatures
Appling G-WOW model: Wild Ricing
Manoomin (wild rice) is an important species to the Ojibwe for subsistence, spiritual, and ceremonial purposes.
Place-based evidence of climate change affecting the sustainability of manoomin?
Annual average temperatures in ºF,
Do Culture and Science Agree?
Frequency of 90-degree days Change in frequency of 2” + precip
Scientific evidence of climate change affecting the sustainability of manoomin?
HEAT DROUGHT GUSHE
RS
2007 - 2012: Significant changes observed in wild rice harvests and yields based on TEK due to drought, fungal disease, storms
Cultural Practice
Key Species Place-based & Scientific Evidence
Requires cool moist forest habitats, cold winters for
sugar production
What does this mean for sustainability of sugar maple,
the businesses the rely on sugar maple?
Projected frequency of days over 90-degrees
F, 1980-2055
Example: G-WOW application
Cultural Practice
Key Species Place-based and Scientific Evidence
Requires cold water habitats with high oxygen
levels
Climate models predict up to 95% of Wisconsin’s brook trout habitat across could be lost if the average annual summer air temperature increased just over 5 º F.
Projected change in Wisconsin’s annual average summer temperatures in ºF,
1980-2055
Example: G-WOW application
Example: G-WOW application, South Milwaukee HS, WI
Cultural Practice
Requires cool water. Warmer
water also favors invasives that compete with Yellow Perch
How could the G-WOW model engage students in the issue
of climate change?
Credit: GLERL.
Perch fish fry
Cultural Practice
Invasive Burmese python:
requires very warm, moist “tropical”
habitats
Example: G-WOW application, Southern Florida
Increase in 95+-degree day/year,
2041-2070.What does a changing climate mean for the sustainability of this invasive species? How could this affect recreation, nature-based tourism economies?
Hiking in the Everglades
Large circles = 50 or more pythons captured
Cultural Practice
Key “condition”
Place-based and Scientific Evidence
Projected change in Wisconsin’s winter average temperatures in ºF, 1980-
2055
What do these changes mean for species and cultural practices that
depend on cold and snow?
Example: applying the G-WOW model to a “non-species” dependent cultural practice
Cultural Practice
What habitat conditions does the
species need to survive and thrive?
Your Turn--Create Your Own G-WOW model
Do culture and science agree? What implications does this have for your
community?
What cultural practice do you enjoy?
What species is needed to support this
practice?
What changes are you seeing in the key species or in the habitats it needs? What changes in
environmental variables critical to supporting these habitat conditions are projected by climate science? Variables may include: temperature, precipitation, drought, intense rain/ storms, humidity, etc.
Ojibwe LifewaysPlace-based evidence of climate impacts on 4-seasonal Ojibwe cultural practices
Investigate the ScienceClimate science from federal, state, and tribal sources
Culture informing Science The G-WOW MODEL COMPONENTS
What Can We Do?Taking action through
climate service learning projects
Talking Circle
Sharing service learning
projects via an interactive blog
Do culture and science agree… is climate change affecting the sustainability of the key species that supports an Ojibwe lifeway?
What is the future for this cultural practice based on place-based evidence and scientific climate change projections?
What do these changes mean for the cultural practices you enjoy, the environment, community, economy?
… then engages learners to act through service learning
What can we do to mitigate or adapt to climate change impacts?
The G-WOW model guides investigation…
G-WOW Curriculum Outreach Tools
Experiential learning
Ojibwe language, TEK, and cultural elements infused
Multi-cultural perspectives
Web Curriculumwww.g-wow.org
Educator Training
Institutes
Climate Change
Discovery Center
TARGET AUDIENCES
Learners (middle school & above)
Teachers-Educators
General Public
G-WOW Website and Curriculum
www.g-wow.org
On-line climate change service learning curriculum
Ojibwe Lifeways
WinterOjibwe Lifeway:
Respecting Our Culture
Key species: American marten
SpringOjibwe Lifeway:
Maple sugaring and Birch bark harvestingKey species:
Sugar maple and paper birch trees
SummerOjibwe Lifeway:
FishingKey species: Cold and
coolwater fishFall
Ojibwe Lifeway: Wild RicingKey species: Manoomin
Learning objectives
Cultural connection: importance of the key species to culture
Baseline ecological information: habitat conditions needed for sustainability of the key species(s) depends on
Place-based evidence of how climate change impacts key species
Each Ojibwe Lifeway unit includes:
Students investigate place-based evidence within their culture.
Activity Guides guide student investigations.
Linked to an Ojibwe Lifeway unit, customized for that unit.
A toolbox to investigate and evaluate scientific climate change research via interactive maps and soon NASA climate.
Students research climate trends and projections & evaluate impacts on the sustainability of key species.
Investigate the Science
“Test It” : students test their own climate change hypothesis through self-designed investigations.
Activity Guides focus student investigations.
• Students act on knowledge gained to develop a service learning project to address climate change impacts in their community
• Provides service learning project templates and ideas
What Can We Do?
Ready-made project templates such as Project Budburst, climate phenology wheels, climate collages provide fun, service learning options
• Students share results of their service learning project through this web blog
• Projects are segmented by location and type
Talking Circle
Online tools allow students to evaluate their project impacts
Other G-WOW Website Resources Teacher Resources
G-WOW Curriculum GuideTeacher Training vignettesNews & opportunities
Games Interactive climate change games
Climate Change Climate literacy basics
About Project background Partner acknowledgements
ContactFor more information
4-day experiential professional development based on the G-WOW model Location: Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center-Ashland, WI; Apostle Island National Lakeshore; tribal communities of Red Cliff and Bad River.
Stockton Island Climate Walk
Kakagon Sloughs Tribal Manoomin Tour
G-WOW Changing Climate, Changing Culture Institute
"When I saw that we would be teaching about climate change…, I thought Ugghhh!!!. Now I see that the cultural impact of climate change is how to approach middle school kids with this topic.“ - G-WOW Institute Teacher
Major exhibit and interactive kiosk located at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland,
WI
100,000 visitors, students, community members annually
G-WOW Changing Climate, Changing Culture Discovery CenterNorthern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland WI
Ripples…
• Partnering with the Fond du Lac Tribal College (Duluth, MN) to expand the G-WOW model throughout Ojibwe Ceded Territory via a $1.09 million NASA Innovations in Climate Education-Tribal (NICE-T) grant.
• Partnering with Chicago Botanical Garden’s EPA climate initiative integrating G-WOW model into regional climate change outreach.
• Sharing the G-WOW model to increase climate change literacy to people of all cultures.
The G-WOW Initiative & Team received 2013 Honor Award
from the Eastern Region of the US Forest Service
for “Courageous Conservation”
We invite you to use and expand the G-WOW model
to increase climate change literacy based on the
unique lifeways of your culture
www.g-wow.org
Miigwech ! (Thank
you)For more information, please contactCathy Techtmann-Environmental Outreach
State SpecialistUniversity of Wisconsin-Extension
715.561.2695
[email protected]://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/