I've hosted an event for the "great shoreline cleanup" and helped clean up 5lbs of garbage off our local provincial park shoreline. I donate regularly to causes that focus on things like environmental justice (Eco Justice), endangered species protection (WWF Canada) and climate related disaster support (the Red Cross).
Activities like recycling, composting, being mindful of consumption, bundling errands, bicycling, gardening, eating more plant based products and all the other ideas that are circulating.
By doing simple actions, it not only improves the local environment but it also helps combat against climate anxiety as well.

How comfortable do you feel with the concept of Ecoliteracy and its relevance to your nursing practice?

I feel comfortable discussing climate change and the initiatives individuals and organizations need to take together as a whole to combat climate change. Ecoliteracy is relevant to nursing as our actions today will impact generations in the future. Though it can be frightening to consider the possibilities we may face if global temperature rises to three degrees, I'm comforted when I think of all the innovation, research and efforts countries, businesses and families are making. We are discussing climate change more than ever before. We learned this year that a vaccine can be created within a years time when enough funding and research is pooled into a common goal. That gives me hope for the future and I'm comforted hearing about all the possible future innovation we may experience in our lifetime like Hydrogen fuel, nuclear fission, carbon capturing (on mass scale), better agricultural practices, ensured conservation, better logging and industry practices, and improved urban planning with incorporation of green spaces.

How do you think a nursing professional association such as NNPBC can be most effective in representing nursing’s climate change concerns in the wider policy context?

It all begins with reaching out to nurses to listen and evaluate their climate concerns. How are the floods affecting the nurses and the care they provide? The fires? Understanding their experiences will be essential in bringing their concerns to wider policy.

Thank you so much for the great question, Michele! The GNLI programme cost was reduced this year due to the programme moving to a virtual format and no longer requiring housing scholars in Geneva. There is funding available to nurses from low income countries in the form of subsidies, which is an important part of ensuring equity of access to these kinds of opportunities globally. I'm immensely grateful to NNPBC for being my sponsoring organization and for enabling my participation. The Association has not only been a financial contributor to my participation but has also worked alongside me as the Canadian scholar to share the experience and learnings with nurses across BC, Canada, and the world. In addition, I was supported by my employer in liberating time intermittently over the past year to enable my participation, though with the time difference between Canada and Geneva many sessions took place at night or in the early morning. I've also been supported by my PhD program leaders at the University of Victoria, Dr. Susan Duncan and Dr. Lorelei Newton, and my GNLI programme mentor, Dr. Lynn Stevenson. Nurses' participation in policy and governance requires supportive infrastructure. For me, that infrastructure was an expansive community of support including NNPBC, a community for which I am immensely grateful.