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Dear colleagues, collaborators, friends & others, it’s been a long year with new opportunities, challenges, connections and moments of joy. In past Safer Climate events and meetings among collaborators, many difficult and fundamental topics have been discussed; climate change and death, loss, grief, security and conflicts, colonial structures of the research (and other) institutions, just to mention a few. We will continue working with such themes next year, as well; you can find some news & upcoming events below. There is a lot of talk about living with (poly)crisis, and yet we are simultaneously encouraged to find hope, which can often feel frustrating and difficult. Interestingly, as Rebecca Solnit for one has pointed out, studies have shown that people tend to be more altruistic in disaster situations than we commonly believe. In her book A Paradise Built in Hell, she writes that "The astonishing gap between common beliefs and actualities about disaster behavior limits the possibilities, and changing beliefs could fundamentally change much more. Horrible in itself, disaster is sometimes a door back into paradise at least in which we are who we hope to be, do the work we desire, and are our sister’s and brother’s keeper.” The role of arts in collaborations has increased lately and after the Climate Security Festival we received a lot of positive feedback for including arts and artists in the discussion on climate safety. We are looking forward to further exploring joint methodologies, possible futures and climate & sustainability action between research, art and civil society. Wishing everyone peaceful holidays & looking forward to seeing you next year, Rosa saferclimate.org / rosa.rantanen(at)helsinki.fi / +358503360785 Image on top: Enjoying the silent walk organized by artist Raisa Foster/ Climate Security Festival. Photo: Susanna Pesonen
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