Uptown Climate Conversations
Toronto, Ontario, Quebec
Tiohtià:ke in Kanien'kéha (Mohawk)Treaty 13 Territory, the traditional territories of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat
Uptown Climate Futures: Workshops and Anthology
Recognizing the challenges of finding community for climate-concerned BIPOC youth outside of the downtown core, Uptown Climate Conversations was founded to provide space for racialized youth to gather, dream, and advocate for the climate-just futures that they wish to see in their own neighbourhoods. Stewarded by a grassroots collective, and in collaboration with The Climateverse, this friendship-forward community ran a series of generative workshops throughout North York. Here, racialized youth discussed the personal dimensions of their experiences with climate change and used art as a tool for reflecting and re-imagining—all while sharing the hearth of a warm meal. The project culminated in an anthology of creative works inspired by the workshops as both a physical record of participants’ experience and a tool for further climate justice advocacy.
Group photo of Workshop 3: (Re)indigenization, which took place at a park outdoors to encourage connection with nature
“We advanced environmental justice by offering a safe and accessible space for people who experience exclusion from mainstream climate conversations to share their personal stories with climate change. Since most climate discourse happens downtown at events that lack diverse participants, marginalized individuals living uptown have historically faced both geographical barriers and identity-based alienation. By focusing our services on uptown Toronto, where many immigrant communities happen to reside, we remedied both barriers.”
Impact
6 workshops hosted in 2025, the themes being Climate Emotions, Diaspora & (Im)migration, (Re)indigenization, Climate Crisis Response, Governance & Democracy, and Climate Change-Making.
1 pop-up event on processing climate emotions through stand-up comedy, in collaboration with Toronto Climate Comedy.
1 pop-up workshop on harnessing emotions for sustainable fashion at Threading Change’s 2025 Fair Fashion Festival in York Region.
83 unique participants with diverse representation—88.2% identified as racialized, 34% as 2SLGBTQIA+, and 19.1% as disabled.
Anthology to be published in Spring 2026, featuring writing and artwork primarily from racialized youth about their inner tensions around land relations and the climate futures they envision for the communities of Uptown Toronto.
How to support
We are on track to publish our anthology by summertime, and we would love to see you at our launch parties. Stay tuned to our Instagram, LinkedIn, or email list for their upcoming release!
If you know of any individuals, organizations, or businesses who might be interested in supporting our launch parties or the wider distribution of our anthology, please send us their way. In any case, we would be so grateful to you for sharing our work far and wide!
If you’re interested in volunteering with us, please reach out at uptownclimateconvos@gmail.com. We’re looking for events-based volunteers, but we’re especially interested in having volunteers to support the development of our organization.
Group photo of Workshop 1: Climate Emotions