CROWDSOURCING SUSTAINABILITY

Devi Lockwood

The woman traveling the world for 1,001 climate stories

Devi Lockwood - climate stories

Devi is adventurous, inspiring, has an impressive track record, and is a pleasure to chat with!

Rather than the facts and figures we typically associate with climate change, Devi is working on something new, refreshing, and more powerful. She is on a mission to record 1,001 stories from people around the world on climate change and water. After 4 years and 16 countries (half of the time traveling by bicycle!) she has collected over 700 stories. Her stories capture the human element of climate change, an integral part of the story that’s often missing. After all, climate change is about people.

The idea came to her as she traveled down the Mississippi River wearing a cardboard sign that read “Open call for stories.” She recorded 50 hours of stories and was surprised by how many tied into water and climatic impacts. She felt that these stories needed to be heard and wanted to hear more. Devi decided to continue her work around the world to hear how others are being impacted and to share their stories.

People are often very grateful to share their stories with her, to be heard. Sometimes they even tell her things they’ve never talked about before. She is all ears. As she puts it, “Listening is a form of activism. Listening is an act of love.”

Up next for Devi is getting her masters in science writing at MIT and a Nat Geo sponsored expedition to the Canadian Arctic to experience the new realities of life for locals up there and to share their stories.

You can stay up to date with Devi and her stories (only a handful are available right now, but the whole archive will be up soon) by going to her site or following her on Twitter @devi_lockwood.

Read other content from the “Highlighting Someone Awesome” section or see all sections of the What on EARTH?! sustainability newsletter.

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“Strikes the perfect balance between smart, understandable, funny, and compelling.” – Jackie

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