Episode Summary: In this episode of CarbonSessions, we dive deep into a conversation with Cedric Ringenbach, founder of Climate Fresk, a workshop tool designed to educate people about the science of climate change.

The discussion explores how this interactive workshop helps participants understand the causes and consequences of climate change and empowers them to take meaningful action. 

Highlights Include: 

Impact and Reach: Insights into the impressive numbers—1.5 million participants in 160+ countries, with 70,000 volunteers in 45 languages. 

What is the Climate Fresk? Cedric explains the workshop format and how it facilitates understanding of climate change through cause and effect mapping. 

Origins of Climate Fresk: The story behind its creation and how it evolved from an interactive lesson into a global movement. 

Interactive Learning: The importance of collective intelligence and how mistakes and discussions during the workshop enhance learning. 

Emotional Engagement: Addressing the emotional impact of learning about climate change and strategies for facilitators to support participants. 

Global Expansion: Cedric's vision for international growth and the steps needed to establish Climate Fresk organizations in more countries. 

Personal Stories and Advice: Cedric shares his personal journey into climate activism and offers advice for those interested in participating in or facilitating Climate Fresk workshops. 

Tune in to learn how this impactful initiative harnesses the power of community and interactive learning to spark significant environmental change. 

To find out more about The Climate Fresk, visit climatefresk.org .  

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Leekei Tang, Tania Marien, Brian Tormey, Olabanji Stephen and Jenn Swanson.  

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert, and podcaster from Paris, France.  

From Riverside, California, Tania is an independent environmental education professional and hosts and produces The Talaterra Podcast.  

Brian is a Real Estate Title Insurance Professional and Goat Farmer in the US.  

Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria. He’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work.  

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer, and community Connector, helping people help themselves. 

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For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac (one of Amazon best-selling books of the year!), visit thecarbonalmanac.org 

Want to join in the conversation? 

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives. 

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up! 

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater. 

Hi, I'm Christina.

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I'm from Prague.

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Hi, I'm Jen, and I'm from Canada.

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Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Oladunji,

and I'm from Nigeria.

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Speaker: Hello, I'm

6

Speaker 3: Liki, and I live in Paris.

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Speaker 4: Hi, I'm Brian,

and I'm from New York.

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Speaker 5: Welcome to Carbon Sessions.

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A podcast with carbon conversations

for every day with everyone

10

from everywhere in the world.

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In our conversations, we share ideas,

perspectives, questions, and things we

12

can actually do to make a difference.

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So don't be shy and join our carbon

sessions because it's not too late.

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Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Tanya.

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Speaker 4: Hi, I'm Brian.

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Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Jen.

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Hi, I'm Likki.

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And on this podcast and in the Common

Omni community, we really focus on

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the science behind climate change.

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We got over 150 entries in the book,

and it's all about science., but for

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people like me, um, that are very

visual um very hands on, um I need to

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draw a map that shows the event and the

causes, the consequences and how this.

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different articles, these different

entries in the book are interconnected.

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And this really helped me to

understand the big picture.

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And luckily I live in France and

some people, some amazing, incredible

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people have worked on this issue.

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They have developed a tool to

help us better understand the

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science of climate change.

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And today we are very, very, very

honored to have Cedric Kringenbach,

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the mastermind, the leader, the

founder of the Climate Presque.

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So welcome, Cedric.

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Speaker 6: Thank you.

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Hello, everybody.

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Speaker 3: So last month, Cédric, you

gave a keynote speech at Change Now,

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and it's basically the largest event

of solutions for the planet in Europe.

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And I found it very interesting because

when the moderator asked the audience,

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and it is an audience of a few hundred

people, the question was, who has

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taken the climate fresc training?

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I just find it amazing that

70% of people raise their hand

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and it it's very impressive.

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And that's true because in France when we

talk about climate change, uh, networking

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event or business meetings, there's almost

one that will mention the climate risk.

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And the numbers of the climate

risk are really, really impressive.

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It's 1.5 million participants

in 157 countries.

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With 70, 000 volunteers in 45 languages

and all of this in less than six

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years without any grants and any

external sponsorship, first question.

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What is the ClimateFresque?

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Speaker 6: Okay.

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The ClimateFresque, it's a, it's

a workshop that lasts three hours

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and people are around the table.

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You have like five, six, seven

people around the table and you

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give them cards that they have to

put in order of cause and effect.

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Each card represents a component.

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of climate change.

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So you have human activities,

fossil fuel, CO2 emissions,

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CO2 concentration, et cetera.

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So you have the causes of climate change.

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All the physics behind it and, and,

uh, and then you have the consequences

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of climate change consequences on the

biodiversity and on human infrastructures.

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So that's the first part of the workshop.

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People take the cards, try

to make a big map out of it

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with a cause and consequences,

connections between the cards.

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And the second half of the

workshop is to have a discussion

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about what can we do about it?

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Uh, now that we have understood that

it's a big issue, how can we solve

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it at the personal level, at, uh, the

company's level, maybe, and at the

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collective, uh, level, political level.

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And so the, the, the goal for

the facilitator that everybody

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leaves the workshop with the will

to act and, uh, and to have the

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hope that we can solve the issue.

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Speaker 7: Why did you

start ClimateFresque?

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Did the idea for it emerge gradually

or was it a reaction to an event?

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Speaker 6: It happened by chance one day.

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I used to give lessons on climate

change sometimes, like one full

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day with some colleagues, friends.

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I took one day with them on PowerPoint

to teach them about climate change.

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And one day I wanted to try

something more interactive.

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So I printed a few slides of my PowerPoint

and I gave them the slides and I told

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them to try to put them in order and find

some connections, relations between the

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different, uh, the different notions.

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And then I stepped back and I was

listening to their conversation

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and I, The conversation where, uh,

really, um, on easy, people were

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hesitating, making mistakes, et cetera.

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But in fact, they were making mistakes,

but then they were correcting themselves.

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They disagreed and they argued

and then they understood.

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And it's, in fact, it's a very, very

efficient way to learn by hesitating.

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It's, it's, it's what we call

Uh, collective intelligence for

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pedagogy very, very quickly.

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I understood that it was a very good

format and I used it from that moment on.

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I use it every time I was

teaching climate change.

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And so I, I, Gradually, I improved the

set of cards and it became something very

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self sustaining that I was able to give

to my friends so that they were able to

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Speaker 4: moderate themselves.

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Cedric, that's, that's great.

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This is Brian and I'm

really pleased to meet you.

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Thank you for doing

what you've been doing.

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Thanks.

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This is pretty exciting.

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And in my household, games.

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are a big part of what we do my kid

they're just really into all the different

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versions of board games and card games and

i'm curious if you you know almost sort of

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expand a little bit on some of what you've

just spoken about about maybe some of

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those moments or learnings or experiences

or kind of engagement that you've seen

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because you made it not simply a soapbox

kind of presentation lecture, but actually

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you've made it this interactive thing.

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Like, I think your process here is an

interesting thing to think about as

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we think about other ways of conveying

climate information and making it

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less, you know, one directional

and just, and just expounding on

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information and making it like, you

know, a very interactive kind of thing.

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Um, I was helping my kids are

actually in a climate, uh,

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Summits in their school today.

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They've got like three or 400 people

have come to this climate summit and

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I was helping them practice their, uh,

their, uh, presentations last night.

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And, and I'm curious, cause they're

still going to do another round of

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it tonight with community members.

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If you have any tips on like ways

to make the discussion around

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these things more engaging.

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I've said

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Speaker 6: is that

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Speaker 4: the, um,

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Speaker 6: It's a ground for the

moderators, how to moderate, um,

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first, uh, when you are, uh, a

climate, uh, kind of a trace moderator,

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we, we call them climate frescoes.

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I mean, no, frescoes, we call

ourselves great frescoes.

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Um, when you are a moderator, you

are not supposed to give your opinion

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about what should be, should be done.

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You are here to.

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to trigger the discussion.

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So you ask a question to the people.

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Uh, first, when we, when we start the

conversation, people just have, I've

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just put the cards on the table and

they have seen the last cards and the

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very, you know, the very bad news,

like, uh, there will be, uh, there

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will be consequences on, uh, on hers.

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There could be, uh, um, conflict that

could be, uh, climate refugees, et cetera.

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And, um, And it's very bad news.

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And then you have to express what

they have been feeling about it.

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So we, we first have a round table

about how do you feel now that we

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have understood all of these things.

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Sometimes even have a little discussion

by groups of two or three people

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choose pick, pick one word, uh, one

word and, and put it on a sticker.

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Uh, about your, your emotions

and then discuss with people

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about how you feel about it.

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So that's the first, first step.

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And then people have been

able to express things.

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And then we, we, we go on with a

discussion about what could we do?

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And people will say, we

should do this and that.

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We should ban that thing, which would,

uh, uh, force people to do this and that.

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And then.

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People react, no, you cannot say that, you

cannot ban, uh, you cannot oblige people

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not to eat meat, for instance, et cetera.

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So you have a discussion,

there is a discussion going on.

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Um, and, but we, we realize that it's

not easy to, to tackle this issue

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because, uh, um, Some people would

like to become dictators, uh, from,

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from one day to the next and, and

ban everything that is carbonized

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So, uh, and so, um, and some of the bureau

say, no, we'll never manage to do that

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because people will not agree, et cetera.

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So.

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You have this always

interesting discussion.

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Uh, the point is when you

are the moderator, um, you

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need to avoid one thing.

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There's, uh, people tend to say

that it's somebody else's fault.

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And, um, and that's the main point.

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So of course, it's everybody's

fault, but what can you, what

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can I do about climate change?

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At my personal level, what can I do?

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What can my company do

about climate change?

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Uh, what decision should we make?

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Uh, to go in the right direction

and, uh, and, uh, and eventually,

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uh, what should the state do?

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And, uh, how would I vote in the future?

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So you, you can always do something

at least at your personal level.

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So focus on this point,

uh, always focus on that.

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Okay.

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It's difficult, but what can you do?

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What can I do about what can I change?

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And we can all do something.

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That's great.

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Speaker 4: I love that.

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And that, and that asking questions and

sort of that neutrality lens as well.

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Yeah.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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Speaker 7: Thank you.

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Thank you, Cedric.

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Uh, this is Tanya.

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Uh, ClimateFresque is a tool designed to

create the conditions for conversation.

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And you just explained how

beautifully it, it does that.

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Um, and, uh, from what I've read,

the ClimateFresque team encourages

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dialogue, as you've explained,

and discourages lecturing that

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occurs longer than five minutes.

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Extent prolonged lecturing.

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And I get the impression

that the card workshop.

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Was designed for a controlled environment,

like a classroom or a conference room.

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And I was wondering how easy it would

be to transform it into a tabletop

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activity at a more public venue.

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So I was wondering, is anyone leading

a version of this workshop that's

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appropriate for visitor serving

organizations or other informal learning

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environments, say a version that

lasts minutes instead of three hours?

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So I was wondering,

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Speaker 6: We have a format for that.

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It's not, it's not exactly the same

product, in fact, it's still the same

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thing, but, uh, for events, we have,

um, a format where we, We have, uh,

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the climate fresco once it is finished.

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So we have the, not all of the cards,

not the 42 cards, but maybe, uh, 35.

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We just skip a few complicated

cards and they are here on a big

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sheet of paper, like two meters, two

meters, four, four square meters.

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And all the cards are hidden.

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And in the middle, there is one card

that you can see, uh, that is visible.

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For instance, we usually, we

chose a greenhouse effect.

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So, and then people will come and we ask

them, do you know which are the reasons

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for increasing the greenhouse effect?

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And then people will say, Oh, I heard

about something, it's, it's a CO2.

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Okay.

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So you unveil the carbon CO2 emissions.

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And then they say.

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Oh, I heard something about the, the

colors that are 14, something like that.

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And it's, yeah, exactly.

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You're talking about myth and

then you, you, you unveil the

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card about other renounced messes.

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And like this and you go on

and like, it's about cars.

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Yes.

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It's about cars.

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And that is a card about transportation.

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It's not a card about cars.

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It's kind of a transportation, but car is

a good answer and it goes on like that.

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And people say, yeah, I'm happy

because I'm able to, I'm able to find

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the right, uh, the right solutions.

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And after 10 cards, you stop

and you say, you want to go on.

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Now you need to do the climate

press and you need to subscribe to

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an event and it lasts three hours.

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But trust me, it's going to be nice.

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And so we have this, uh, this format that

is a kind of teaser for the people to,

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to get convinced to spend that later,

to spend three hours on the workshop.

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And sometimes on the same event, you

have a few meters away, you have a table

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and people can start a, a workshop.

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Speaker 7: Nice.

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Nice.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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And I was also wondering about your

in person and online experiences.

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How are they different?

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Speaker 6: Oh, the online experience.

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So at first I refused to have an

online version because I thought it

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would not be the same experience.

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People have to see each other eye to eye.

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face to face and to, to feel the

body language, the expressions,

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and it's very important.

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So I didn't want to have a, a real shorter

version of the, of the, of the workshop,

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but then COVID arrived and then we are,

we were obliged to find a solution.

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And within one week, we built a solution.

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Anyway, uh, one of the tools

that you can use online.

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And it works.

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So it's not as, uh, as interactive

is, uh, is a bit less efficient,

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but still it works and clean.

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And it allowed us to go on

frisking during the COVID.

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And it was an amazing moment because

everybody had a completely free agenda.

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So we had a lot of volunteers, a lot

of friskers who were completely free.

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to do whatever we wanted during

the holiday because their company

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did not manage to reorganize

in order to reorganize all the

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meetings online, et cetera.

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So everybody had a lot of time and then

there was a real peak of use of the game

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that, uh, during that moment, because

everybody was able to, to, to fresk

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and to be fresk and also to be trained.

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And, and also we, we launched a lot

of workshops about the association.

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It was, it was, uh, and then a few

weeks later, the companies organized

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themselves and back to business

and everybody was working on zoom.

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Uh, but still, uh, it was a real

improvement because even today,

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even if it's not ideal to work the

kind of trust online, at least you

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can play with people from, uh, you

know, You have a part of the world.

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Sometimes you have a, uh, one

workshop with people on the

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five continents, and it's great.

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And people who are very far away in

the countryside, and they would never

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have the occasion to have to find

a workshop organized close to them.

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So at least they can do it.

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And maybe later they

will train themselves.

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And then later they will moderate

online until they have the

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occasion to moderate in real life.

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So it's great.

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It was funny at the beginning because

we had fresh girls who had to be trained

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on how to use the game online and then a

few months later we had fresh girls who

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had never done it otherwise that online

and they have to, to learn how to do

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it in real life and it was really funny

because they don't have the same reflex.

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And um, and for me it was a complete

discovery to, to rest on a real table

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with real cards in, in their hands.

285

It was very funny.

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Speaker 7: Yes.

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Yeah.

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That was a big time of

learning during Covid.

289

Uh, that was, yes.

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For all involved for sure.

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Learning

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Speaker 6: and thinking.

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Yeah.

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That's right.

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Speaker 7: So the climate for us

during the workshop, the conversation

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ranges from, of course, the, the

causes of climate change, um, the

297

cause and effects, the consequences,

and the subject matter can be very,

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um, traumatic for some people.

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Um, how do you respond to any type of

situation that might, might come up?

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How do you address solutions

and adaptation and, and do you

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follow up with people after?

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a particularly stressful conversation.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, it's true.

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You can have stressful conversation.

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Sometimes you have some participants

who are really shocked by what they

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learn and, um, and you have to be very

attentive, you have to pay a lot of

307

attention to them because it's, um,

yeah, it can be, it can be very strong.

308

Um, can be very violent.

309

We, we are still, uh, You know trying

to find a way to, to teach moderators

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how to handle this kind of situation.

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We, we are seeking for professionals,

uh, psychologists who will help us

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to drive a first aid kit, uh, to be

able to, to deal with a very, uh,

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Uh, very, uh, stressed situation.

314

Um, at least all the first girls I've

learned during the training that this

315

workshop can be a very harsh experience

for some people and, uh, really

316

to, really to, to, or to, to react.

317

And it's also, it is also the reason why

we put a lot of emphasis on expressing

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our feelings during the workshop.

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Uh, we have a moment for people

to express how they feel about it.

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And, uh, and people will say, I'm,

uh, they could, sometimes they say,

321

I'm, uh, I'm angry about, angry,

uh, against myself, against society.

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I'm angry about, I'm worried for my kids.

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Uh, I, I'm upset.

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So it's very important for them

to have this moment of discussion.

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And, uh, Just that is already

a very good point to address

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these difficult situations.

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It's, uh, it's very important.

328

And now, it was not the

case at the beginning.

329

A few years ago, we didn't

pay that much attention.

330

And then, you know, we have a

very live, full, uh, community.

331

When one person has a good idea, he

shares the good idea with others,

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and then the good idea spreads.

333

And this idea about, I ask people to

put a word, one word on the, on the, on

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the sticker and share it with everybody.

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I remember one friend of mine, Told

me I, I tried that and it works well

336

and I promise you in a few weeks,

all the facilitators were doing that

337

because it wasn't today and it's spread

in the community very, very quickly.

338

So, yeah, we, we are not over with,

uh, thinking about how to handle that

339

difficult situation, but, uh, we have

already started to try to address that.

340

Speaker: Hi, Cedric.

341

This is Jen.

342

Um, so you've answered some of this

question already about how Climate

343

Fresc has spread with the help of

online, but I want to go back to the

344

very beginning and Seth Godin talks

about a concept that he calls First Ten.

345

And, and what he means by this is find

10 people that you trust and who trust

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you, who respect you, and who need you.

347

And our question here is,

who were your first 10?

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The

349

Speaker 6: first 10, what,

the first participants?

350

Your

351

Speaker: first people that were

participating, and then how did

352

they turn into participants?

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you know, how did you gain your moderator?

354

It

355

Speaker 6: was not even 10 people.

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It was five people and two teams,

one team of two and three people.

357

It was just five people.

358

And, um, yeah, they were here to

spend one day with me on PowerPoint.

359

When I told them, okay, now stand

up and take the cards and put the

360

cards on the, on the table, on a

sheet of paper, it was fun for them.

361

So, uh, it was, uh, it was great.

362

They didn't know what would happen later.

363

And then.

364

Yes, as I said, I, I stepped back, I

listened to the conversations and I,

365

and I realized that It was so powerful

for the pedagogical, uh, purpose.

366

Uh, and then, and then I tried again

and every time I was teaching language

367

change, I used that, uh, that workshop,

uh, during, uh, two or three hours, uh,

368

and then it, it improved all the time.

369

Then maybe there was a special event, uh,

a few years later because, so the moment

370

when I invented the workshop was 2015

371

and it works.

372

It took three years before

we had the opportunity to, to

373

pay it at a very large scale.

374

It was 900 students.

375

And, uh, I had for, for this year, I

have, I had to gather 30 facilitators.

376

So in two weeks, I managed

to train 50 people and among

377

them, 30 came to that event.

378

It was the first day they were

facilitating the workshop.

379

And not only that, but they are, they

had 30 participants in front of there.

380

So five tables of six people as a whole.

381

And, uh, and it went well.

382

So it's strong because the workshop

is really, uh, self sustaining

383

and then, and that's that day.

384

At the end of the day, there

were 150 sheet of paper on the

385

wall of, of the university,

and the kids were really happy.

386

Uh, the, the organizers, the, the

people from the university were very

387

happy to, and, and, and both, all the

fresh girls, the facilitators were,

388

they, they were so happy to have to,

to, to have his story in the hands

389

and say, I, I was trained in three s.

390

I'm able to deliver this,

this workshop, and it worked.

391

And, uh, and it was so

moving for the people.

392

And that was the beginning of, of

the, it was a real beginning of this

393

adventure because from that moment

on, we went on training people.

394

Very soon, uh, I recruited some

people to, to train other people.

395

So, uh, I was not the own trainer.

396

Very soon I had other people who were

trainers like me, and then later.

397

I told them, you need to recruit the next

trainers yourself and it spread like that.

398

Uh, and you know, people trust people

and then people trust you and et cetera.

399

So it's a, it became a viral, it, it, uh,

it's started to be a, an organic growth

400

and uh, the doubling time was five months.

401

We doubled, we doubled inside

each, uh, each five months.

402

It means that every year it was a

five fold increase at the beginning.

403

Speaker: That's amazing.

404

And so now fresking is a verb.

405

Yeah,

406

Speaker 6: now fresking is a verb.

407

To fresk, fresk yourself.

408

Speaker 3: Thank you.

409

As someone who has been through a

FRESC and has been trained recently,

410

because I've done other FRESC and we

can talk about it a bit later, but

411

I've done other FRESC, but I've done

the climate FRESC like just recently.

412

But even so, what I feel is

that it's always emotionally

413

charged very, very heavily.

414

And I think one very, um, smart angle

that you, you took to develop this

415

FRESC is to talk about feelings.

416

Because, you know, we hear a lot

of things about climate change.

417

We have stats, we have people's stories,

but with this FRESQ, with this workshop,

418

you really feel it, like in your bones.

419

So it's, it's really in your gut.

420

So I think that no one gets out of it.

421

, out of this unchanged because

it's really moving experience.

422

Speaker 6: Yeah, it's true.

423

And so it will move

everybody in a different way.

424

But for some people, yeah, we'd be moved,

but then the next day we'd be the same.

425

And I, I met a lot of people and, uh, A

few weeks after they did the workshop,

426

they completely changed their life.

427

They quit their job.

428

They become fresh girls.

429

They're, they're involved in

organizations, you know, NGOs.

430

They train themselves.

431

They watch a lot of videos,

read books, et cetera.

432

So for, yeah, for, for me, it

triggered a complete change of life.

433

And, uh, I didn't expect

that, uh, the service effect

434

Speaker 2: at the beginning,

it's, it's pretty amazing.

435

That's interesting.

436

My name is Olobanji.

437

It's good to meet you.

438

Thanks for the incredible

things that you are saying.

439

Um, I've got a, I've got a question.

440

So based off of your

experience, what would you say?

441

I mean, let me, maybe I

should ask this first.

442

What is the most common

reaction that you encounter?

443

when speaking to people about

climate change for the first time?

444

Um, the

445

Speaker 6: most frequent answer is,

uh, why didn't people tell me before?

446

This, this reaction.

447

And, um, and sometimes we also ask,

do the politicians know about it?

448

The, the, the bad news is that

they, they have no more knowledge

449

than the average guy in the street.

450

So, uh, and I can tell you because we,

we are so fresh politicians, so, and

451

it's normal in fact, they don't, they

cannot be experts in all the topics.

452

So it's like that.

453

That was my assessment when I did

the workshop, I, I for, for a long

454

time, I, when I read IPCC reports,

um, it was a slap in my face.

455

So.

456

I said, I need to tell

that story to everybody.

457

You know, remember, remember the movie

from Al Gore, uh, An Inconvenient Truth.

458

It touched millions of people and

it's people have to do the job.

459

By the way, Al Gore got the Nobel prize

460

of gathering the knowledge and Al Gore

Was part of the people who spread the

461

knowledge and spreading the knowledge

is as much important as gathering the

462

knowledge, because if you just write a

report and nobody reads it, it's useless.

463

And so the camera first in the

same, the same kind of project is

464

we need to spread this knowledge.

465

So when I read my PCC report, I, I,

right away, I started to bring my own

466

PowerPoint to make conferences, et cetera.

467

And I realized something is that,

When you, when you get to know a

468

topic very soon, you think that

everybody has the same level of

469

knowledge as you, they don't know it.

470

And it happened to one day, it was

one of the first occasion when I

471

gave a conference to friends of mine.

472

It was like a crash test, 10 people in

a, in a, in a room in front of a flat

473

screen in a, in a friend's apartment.

474

for my slides.

475

And I told them that the CO2

concentration is 390 ppm.

476

And, uh, and when I, when I was,

I was pronouncing this sentence, I

477

was thinking, why am I saying that?

478

Because they should all know about it.

479

Imagine I was able to think that

myself one year before I didn't

480

know anything about climate change.

481

And then I was thinking that

everybody should know that the

482

concentration of CO2 is 390 ppm.

483

has increased since.

484

And thinking back, back about

this event, I was really shocked.

485

How was I able to think that?

486

And, and I think that many people

who are aware of this climate

487

change topic, may think the same.

488

They think that everybody

should know that.

489

And then they don't take enough time to

spread knowledge because they are too

490

focused on, I want to find the solutions.

491

I want to think about the solutions

and implement the solutions.

492

The point is you arrive with

your solutions in front of

493

people who are not aware.

494

And they tell you, no,

I don't want to do that.

495

It's going to be a change in my life.

496

I don't want to change my life.

497

I have no reason why,

uh, bringing awareness.

498

And it's still, and it's going to be

for a long time, it's going to be the

499

first brick of the transition is still

the first brick of the transition is

500

going to remain the first brick of the

transition for, for a long time until

501

a very big percentage of the population

is aware enough to really make a change.

502

Speaker 2: That's incredible

because that was my next question.

503

My next question was about what is

the biggest reason why people do not

504

take action on climate change and you

just answer that which is awareness.

505

Um, but I'm also curious while you

were talking he said you like a

506

year ago you didn't know much about

climate change and now you know all

507

these things and you assume that

you know everybody should know.

508

Um, and my question is Why

did you take it that serious?

509

What happened to you or what experience

did you have that made you say,

510

um, well, even though this was not

me before, now this has to be me.

511

This, this has to be a

mission that I want to pursue.

512

Speaker 6: Uh, my first, uh, slap

in the face was a conference of a

513

guy called Jean Marc Jean Copsy.

514

He's a, he's French and he,

he developed the cardboard

515

footprint calculation methodology.

516

France for France State Agency.

517

And, uh, and then he, so he, he,

he understood, uh, climate change

518

issue in, uh, something like 20 oh.

519

And uh, and then he, on one side,

he built the methodology and on the

520

other side they start to build a

website and also to give conferences.

521

And so I started a very long time ago

and, um, and one day I saw one of his

522

conferences on the, on the internet

and it was really a slap in the face.

523

And then I, I wanted to know more.

524

I started to read things.

525

I, I watched more videos from him.

526

I went to see him live in

conferences, et cetera, to be friends.

527

And then, um, And then it took

a few months before I, I decided

528

that it should be my job.

529

And, uh, one day I say, okay,

so it's very interesting.

530

I'm an engineer, uh, and, uh,

and I was thinking it's great.

531

Climate change is a great opportunity

for engineers, basically, because there

532

will be a lot of technical issues.

533

So I'm sure I can find a job in this,

uh, And, and I made a decision that

534

one day it would be my full time job.

535

And one year later, I stopped

working on my previous job.

536

I was a consultant in IT and I gave up

looking for new missions in my field.

537

And I, I started to read IPCC reports,

uh, and I was thinking, okay, I'm

538

going to read the false assessment

reports, and then I will look for a job.

539

And, um, so it took nine months

instead of three, uh, for six, uh,

540

because I read a lot of things too.

541

I read the website of Jean Marc Jancovici,

and, uh, and then after nine months, I

542

applied for a job in the, in Jean Marc

Jancovici's, uh, consulting company.

543

And, uh, and he recruited me to be

not for his consulting company, but he

544

recruited me to be the narrator of a

think tank called the shift project.

545

Um, so I don't know if you are

aware, but it is very famous in

546

France, uh, maybe not as much abroad,

but it's very famous in France.

547

And, uh, and during six years I was

able to be, uh, paid full time, a full

548

time job to be paid on a, And working

on a think tank, it means you are paid

549

to get involved in interesting to it.

550

So what I did in the past for free,

uh, for myself, I was paid to do it.

551

It was great.

552

.

Speaker 4: This is Brian and I'll, I'll tag in and ask another one here.

553

So all of Bungie had sort of asked like.

554

What was it that caused you to, like,

take this seriously and, like, choose

555

to make this a pathway for yourself?

556

And my question for you is, um, do

you have any words of advice and, and

557

wisdom for our audience around why they

should take the time and try a fresk?

558

And, you know, and does it matter if

they're, if they, the audience members,

559

like, Already very engaged in the climate

activism movement or not, and do you

560

have any thoughts and can you sort of

give a little summary as to how a person,

561

like what, what is it to go get signed

up and do a fresk and what do they do?

562

What does that look like?

563

What is the sort of

action steps around that?

564

Um, and then related to that, because I

got excited about this when I was perusing

565

your website, so much for joining us.

566

I appreciate it.

567

There's the ability to do sort of like

have these fresks with a group of people.

568

Maybe that's your family, a social

group, some coworkers, et cetera.

569

Maybe include a little bit of

discussion of not just doing one

570

individually, but doing one as a group.

571

Yeah.

572

So that's four questions for you.

573

Uh, you have to, to, to remind

574

Speaker 6: me of the, the,

575

Speaker 4: the Christians,

576

Speaker 6: uh,

577

Speaker 4: when I, when

578

Speaker 6: I

579

Speaker 4: started.

580

We'll start with words of

wisdom and advice for, for why

581

people should give this a try.

582

What should they give it a

583

Speaker 6: try?

584

Yeah.

585

Because.

586

Um, well, climate change is a,

is a global issue and is going

587

to, to, to concern everybody.

588

And, uh, if you want to learn

about climate change, you

589

have, uh, several solutions.

590

You can spend a few days reading

IPCC reports, or you can spend only

591

three hours to do the workshop.

592

And it's, uh, it's about the same result.

593

So it's, uh, it's not a waste of time.

594

It's a gain of a few

days of, uh, of readings.

595

So it's, it's important.

596

And then the next point is

that climate change can be,

597

uh, a very challenging issue.

598

It can be, uh, it's a very harsh, uh,

Uh, topic, and it's better if you're not

599

by, if you're not alone when you learn

about it, because you will learn bad news.

600

And if you are in a group at that

moment, it's better because, uh, learning

601

things by yourself in front of your

laptop, reading IPC reports or watching

602

a video, it can be a hard moment.

603

So it's better to, to spend this

moment with other people around you and

604

share what are your feelings about it.

605

So it's not always,

606

Speaker 4: yeah, I mean, that's great.

607

And maybe next we turn a little bit

to, um, you know, a summary of how a

608

person goes and gets involved, like

the mechanics and logistics here of if

609

a person is listening to this podcast

and they say, This sounds great.

610

I want to try this.

611

What do I do?

612

Oh, it's very easy.

613

You go

614

Speaker 6: on climatefresh.

615

org and you look for, uh, for

a workshop close to your place.

616

And if you don't find it, you, you

subscribe to a workshop online.

617

And that's, that's very easy.

618

They are representatives of the

association in, uh, something

619

like 60 or 70 countries.

620

So maybe there are

somebody in your country.

621

So you, you can also write an email to.

622

The name of your country in

English at climatefrance.

623

org.

624

So us at climatefrance.

625

org, uh, germany at climatefrance.

626

org, et cetera.

627

Um, you have, uh, rather good chance

to have somebody answering you.

628

If you try that plus the website

and subscribe to an event.

629

Speaker 4: Wonderful.

630

And, and there's an interesting

availability to just sort of do a

631

Group, like, I think they were called

a pro session and go do like a group

632

led session for your own group.

633

Like I could bring in a group of

my coworkers and have a session

634

that's not already scheduled

635

Speaker 6: facilitated.

636

Yeah.

637

You have, there are several ways, as

you said, to, to work for a workshop.

638

You can, you can go on a website

and find an event that is for

639

general public and you can also

organize one for your company.

640

So yeah, you will look for a fresco,

a pro fresco, professional fresco.

641

And, um, this person will, uh, will make a

quote, uh, to give, uh, his or her affair.

642

And, uh, and then, uh, she will

come to your place and do the

643

workshop for your colleagues.

644

You can be between 10 and 20.

645

20 people.

646

And, um, and that's it.

647

And at the end of the workshop, you may

be interested in, uh, getting trained

648

yourself to become a facilitator.

649

And so when we roll out the climate

risk in a company, first we do

650

some workshops, then we do some

trainings and people get trained and

651

maybe we will coach the beginners.

652

The beginners are trained, uh,

653

Um, and, uh, and then

they become autonomous.

654

And, and then they don't need you

anymore except that you go on teaching.

655

Uh, you, you, you go on training new

facilitators and after a few months you

656

even try to recruit among the fresh girls,

the internal free girls in the company.

657

You try to hoot a green belt,

which means, uh, uh, a trainer.

658

And then once you have a trainer in

your company, you are almost completely

659

autonomous and, uh, and you can,

uh, do your own training, et cetera.

660

So you just need somebody to help you

find new, uh, trainers and, uh, and to

661

help them pass the, uh, the green light.

662

That's great.

663

Speaker 7: Yeah, that's great.

664

It's so, it's, it's

so, uh, well organized.

665

I've read that, you know, you mentioned

you have 1 million participants and

666

your next milestone was to get 1 million

facilitators and you just answered

667

any question that I had about that.

668

And that's just beautiful process.

669

Thank you, Cedric.

670

Thank you.

671

Thank you, Miki.

672

Speaker 3: Um, okay.

673

I have a very quick question.

674

So what's your plan now?

675

Because, um, I've read that you step

down of the, I can't remember exactly,

676

but step down from something to be, uh,

to be part of an organization because

677

you want to take the climate fresc.

678

To the next level, basically

take it internationally.

679

So what's the plan?

680

How, how are you doing that

and how we can help you?

681

Speaker 6: Yeah.

682

So I was, I was a chairman of the French

association and, uh, yeah, as we said,

683

I stepped down because I need to spend

more time now on two different things.

684

One is internationalization and the other

one is what comes after the climate risk.

685

Uh, and, and especially how to train,

uh, The frescoes have to train them to

686

be experts, not only in climate, but also

in a ecological transition in general.

687

Um, so about internationalization,

that's where you can help.

688

Maybe, um, we need to get global.

689

I mean, we are already global as

I said, there have been a climate

690

fresco played in a more than 120

countries, something like that.

691

And we have official representatives.

692

What we call country coordinators in

something like 60 or 70 countries.

693

Sorry if I don't remember the figures,

he said, because they increased

694

so quickly that I cannot, uh, cope

with the, uh, with the figures.

695

So, um, And, um, so we are already

global, but the next step is that each

696

country, each country where we have a

big enough community, we set up, uh, an

697

organization like one foundation plus a

company or one association and a company.

698

Most of the time they will

have two organizations, one for

699

non profit and one for profit.

700

And we need to help them to do that.

701

And it's, uh, it's a lot of work.

702

It's a completely different work

from, uh, just, uh, animating

703

a big community of rescuers.

704

It's a different, different job.

705

And, uh, how can we help these,

um, Uh, these country to, to set

706

up, uh, organization and to start,

uh, running out the climate risk.

707

First we need to give

them a financial means.

708

So one of my goal is to raise money

and to, to be able to give to these new

709

country the means to go quicker, to, to

go even faster than what we did in France.

710

In France, it took us five years

711

to 1, 000, 000 participants.

712

It's great.

713

It's impressive.

714

But still, we want to do that

even faster in other countries.

715

We want them to do the

same in two to three years.

716

Uh, so we need to give them the

means to go to start even quicker.

717

Then we want to give them contacts.

718

Like, uh, maybe institutional

contacts, maybe we go through

719

the French embassies as a start.

720

Maybe we can find a contact at the

ministries levels because today in

721

France, we have these kind of contacts

with French ministries and, um, and

722

it's okay that sometimes they take

the phone and they ring their, their

723

colleague in another country to put them

in contact with the French girls so it

724

can, um, it can give them the means.

725

To go even quicker to spread and also

the last thing that we need to give them

726

is autonomy and to let them adapt, uh,

not adapt the game because the game is

727

as it is and you don't, you don't, uh,

you don't have to change the cards, but,

728

uh, maybe adapt the way you want to roll

out the way you, you want to animate.

729

Maybe you don't choose the same arguments.

730

You don't have the same, you don't ask

the same questions in every country.

731

Uh, if you are in a developing country,

it's not the same, uh, issues as

732

when you are in a developed country.

733

Uh, so you have to adapt the

way you use a workshop, the

734

way, uh, you you word it out.

735

Depending on the context, sometimes

it will be only not for profit.

736

Sometimes it's going

to be only for profit.

737

You have all the situations.

738

So that's that.

739

And how can you help?

740

Uh, just by, uh, maybe in, in your

country, you'll try to contact

741

the local coordinators, country

coordinators, as I said, the name

742

of your country at climate rest.

743

org, contact them.

744

And.

745

Ask them, how can you, how can you

help, uh, if you didn't play the

746

workshop, first play the workshop,

then maybe become a moderator because

747

it's, it really helps for, to, to,

to be active in the, in the system.

748

And then.

749

Put us in touch with as many people as

possible with, uh, you know, networks,

750

uh, like big associations, places

where we can, uh, where we can, uh,

751

do the fresco at a very large scale

and all of these things will help.

752

Speaker 4: That's great.

753

Cedric, I have a question for you.

754

You know, you, you mentioned

reading the, the IPCC reports

755

and doing research and being, you

know, heavily involved in looking.

756

We're in the face, you know, eye to eye,

all these issues and the data and the

757

science that is coming out regarding

these things and, and you've sort of

758

mentioned that sometimes that moment

for your frescoes when they're first

759

doing a press, is itself emotional and

challenging to like, look this squarely

760

in the eyes and really, really look

at the, at The challenge is facing us.

761

So I'm curious as someone who's

chosen to spend so much time and

762

focus your, your professional time

and your volunteer time towards this.

763

How do you keep hope?

764

Like, how, how do you keep this

sort of resiliency and happiness

765

and hope alive in, in you?

766

Speaker 6: Yeah.

767

To, to start with, I, I went through

difficult moments myself, of course,

768

when I, uh, when I realized how

important the topic is, um, And, um,

769

and then you had the first slap in

your face in ways you realize that

770

climate change is such a big subject.

771

The next is when you realize that nobody

knows about it and nobody cares about it.

772

So that's, and that's very, very,

uh, very, very difficult moment too.

773

Uh, and today I tend to think that, uh,

The best ideas to solve climate change

774

will come from the people who today

still don't know anything about it.

775

And, um, you may wonder why,

because I, I, I know about

776

climate change for a long time.

777

I run a think tank and I spent

six years of my time full time

778

thinking about the transition.

779

So I should be thinking I have

the solutions and still I don't

780

think I have the solution.

781

And I still think that.

782

Those relations will come from

people who still don't know about it.

783

And do you know why?

784

It's just that these people are

so much more numerous than us.

785

And so once they get to be aware, once

they know, Um, about, about it, there will

786

be millions, tens of millions, hundreds of

millions to think about how to solve it.

787

And um, and it will be much

easier when we be more people

788

thinking about, about the topic.

789

So that's why I keep up.

790

And the point is, uh, uh, bringing

awareness is still the first

791

brick of the transition and we

need to go and get these people.

792

Speaker 4: Yeah.

793

I think, I think that's, that's

beautifully said and, and that,

794

that helped it keeps you alive.

795

Yeah.

796

I believe.

797

We've just in my company, um, we're

all, um, I've got a few hundred

798

colleagues and we're all going to be

watching the beyond zero documentary,

799

which is the Ray Anderson story about,

uh, interface flooring and the sort

800

of this very inspirational story.

801

And, and I just, uh, talks today at work

on our town hall to my colleagues about

802

how we've got this vision that everyone

in the company should act like an owner.

803

And as we look at.

804

Problems and challenges

in front of us very much.

805

Exactly what you just

said, Cedric, which is.

806

the greatest likelihood of the solutions

aren't necessarily going to come from

807

like, the one person who's just trying

to think of the strategy, it's going

808

to come from all the people who have

so many varied, different experiences

809

and the solutions to our challenges.

810

This is me speaking, you know, as I was

to my colleagues today within a company.

811

The solutions are going to come

from all the people and just

812

helping them be aware of what

challenges we're trying to overcome.

813

And I love that that's sort of

your vision for the planet, right?

814

That like, if we all treat the

planet, like we're owners and like

815

it's our business to be responsible

for figuring out solutions.

816

And we just go share what those

challenges are and those pathways

817

that we need to navigate.

818

Someone amongst us will

figure out how to do it.

819

So I love that.

820

It's going to be a great road.

821

We're going to have a lot of fun.

822

I'm excited to go do my first frest

now that I know much more about this.

823

Right.

824

Yeah, you're right.

825

It's a great, it's going

to be a great adventure.

826

Well, thank you for joining us today.

827

We really appreciate it.

828

I know Tanya and Alibanji, Leaky, Jen,

all of us have greatly appreciated this.

829

Thank you.

830

Speaker 5: Thank you so much.

831

You've been listening to Carbon

Sessions, a podcast with carbon

832

conversations for every day with

everyone from everywhere in the world.

833

We'd love you to join the Carbon

Sessions so you too can share your

834

perspectives from wherever you are.

835

This is a great way for our community

to learn from your ideas and

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experiences, connect, and take action.

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If you want to add your voice to the

conversation, go to thecarbonalmanac.

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org slash podcasts and sign up

to be part of a future episode.

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This podcast is also part of

the Carbon Almanac Network.

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For more information, to sign up

for the emails, To join the movement

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and to order your copy of The Carbon

Almanac, go to thecarbonalmanac.

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Be sure to subscribe and join

us here again, as together

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we can change the world.