Belinda Ramírez
they/them • Assistant Professor of Sociology and Global Public Health at Binghamton University • Binghamton, New York
2023 Climate Wayfinding @ Omega alum
“Educators like me need the tools of Climate Wayfinding to navigate the feelings side of climate work, for ourselves and for our students. So many students are flailing in the midst of the knowledge that we are in a climate emergency and yet many in power are not doing anything about it. How can we feel our way through those feelings together and keep going? Because the world needs us.”
After teaching the All We Can Save anthology in their environmental sustainability class at Stanford, Belinda Ramírez got curious about how fellow educators were navigating the practical and emotional realities of teaching in a changing climate. In pursuit of a like-minded climate community, they applied to the spring 2023 Climate Wayfinding workshop at the Omega Institute. “I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the retreat. I think I was initially just hoping for tangible tools I could use in my teaching. It was much bigger and more personal than that. We created a wonderful community together with a lot of opportunities to be vulnerable. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. I didn’t realize how much I needed to see and to feel that community is core to this work. I left feeling supported and inspired.”
Belinda found a new model of possibility through Climate Wayfinding — one that makes space for people simply to spend time connecting, even in activist spaces where the work is urgent and challenges abound. “Following the workshop at Omega, I have become intentional about cultivating personal connections in the classroom and within my coalitions on campus. I create space for people to just be people together, and not to only reach out when we need to get work done. It’s hard for a bunch of busy-bee type folk to do, but really nurtures us as people and it enriches the work.”
Belinda’s circles are ever-widening, and the kindred community they found at Climate Wayfinding endures. They already have climate collaborations in the works with other alums across the country. “My cohort helps me feel rooted within a larger system, a larger web of people who care about the climate and care about bringing this way of approaching the work into higher education spaces.”
