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Maria Vamvalis, PhD

@mariavamvalis.bsky.social

7.4K followers 3.1K following 140 posts

Founder of Anayennisi. https://www.anayennisi.org/. Climate justice education for well-being. Working in service of collective transformative systems change through education, facilitation, research, strategy & writing. she/her

www.anayennisi.org

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Aug 6

I am grateful to the youth climate activists who contributed to this research. “We’re fighting for our lives”: Centering affective, collective and systemic approaches to climate justice education as a youth mental health imperative"

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00345237231160090

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · 19h

Take what broke you and teach from the gold in the fracture.

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · 1d

Just circling back to let you know it is now available if you would like to read it: utoronto.scholaris.ca/items/f386f4...

Climate Justice Pedagogies for Youth and Planetary Well-Being: Perspectives from Canada*

Climate justice education connects global ecological precarity with community and planetary well-being, challenging hegemonic Western epistemologies, settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and other ...

utoronto.scholaris.ca

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · 1d

Happy to share that my doctoral thesis on climate justice pedagogies is now available online. My deepest hope is that it contributes to educational renewal, regeneration and relationality in these dark times.

utoronto.scholaris.ca/items/f386f4...

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utoronto.scholaris.ca

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · 1d

Deep transformation is always possible where truth and tenderness meet.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Jun 30

Survey: Only four per cent of Canadians give schools an ‘A’ on climate education – students deserve better
theconversation.com/survey-only-...

Survey: Only four per cent of Canadians give schools an ‘A’ on climate education – students deserve better

A strong majority of Canadians believe climate change should be a priority in education, but teachers and students lack the necessary tools and support to effectively incorporate it into classrooms.

theconversation.com

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Jun 30

Witnessing and being witnessed in love across time is a form of justice.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Jun 29

This is how we come together.

Transforming their divisiveness into our cohesion.

open.substack.com/pub/satyadoy...

This Is How We Come Together

Transforming their divisiveness into our cohesion

open.substack.com

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 18

I am not an expert in these areas but am a former public school teacher who pursued doctoral research to study how to teach in ways that support youth mental health in the context of the climate crises. This is a paper on an aspect of my qual study: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 17

In these times of great unravelling, where we name our losses, we must also remember that we can still receive guidance from what what was never colonized.

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 15

Where this culture mistakes the depth of relationality for weakness is where it has sown the most potent seeds of its unravelling.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 14

Having experienced their Little Amal performance art to highlight the plight of refugees, the Herds project promises to offer a powerful opportunity for a profound shift in consciousness - one that the arts are uniquely capable of bringing forth.

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Lifesize herd of puppet animals begins climate action journey from Africa to Arctic Circle

The Herds project from the team behind Little Amal will travel 20,000km taking its message on environmental crisis across the world

www.theguardian.com

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 10

This world is not designed to value what cannot be curated for consumption. It is wearying...a slow bleed of the imagination until the collective soul flatlines from the lack of nourishment, expression, and reverence.

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 10

“There is fatigue, but the momentum is still there, it’s just not as visible.”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Australia’s student strikers for climate believed they could change their future. Where are they now?

Young people rode a wave of hope and power when hundreds of thousands protested with them in 2019. Then, momentum was lost

www.theguardian.com

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 7

Academic freedom is vital to climate justice. We can’t tackle urgent crises if educators are silenced for questioning systems or naming injustice. Protecting critical thought is protecting our future. #AcademicFreedom #ClimateJustice #Education
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Stephen Bede Scharper: Attacks on academic freedom prompted U.S. scholars to flee the U.S. and come to Toronto

This was not the usual academic move, done for higher pay, enhanced research funding, or greater prestige. For all three professors, the move was done for academic and personal freedom.

www.thestar.com

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 6

The 2024 Lancet Countdown warns: delayed climate action is driving record-breaking health threats worldwide. From heatwaves to food insecurity, human lives are on the line. #ClimateHealth

Paul Macdonald @paulmac.bsky.social · Jan 24

Anthropogenic Global Warming, Climate Extremes, Habitat Loss, Zoonotic Diseases, Fossil Fuel Pollution, & Health 🧵

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: facing record-breaking threats from delayed action

Despite the initial hope inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is now dangerously close to breaching its target of limiting global multiyear mean heating to 1·5°C. Annual mean surface temper...

www.thelancet.com

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 4

I was fortunate enough to catch her read from this at a book talk at an independent bookstore in my community. It was a beautiful evening because the writing is so illuminating.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 1

Empire has always been deeply invested in inducing the forgetting of the deep aliveness and connection to this Earth that is our birthright. World-shaping revolutions commence from this remembering.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · May 1

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/c...

National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed by Trump Administration (Gift Article)

The Trump administration told researchers it was “releasing” them from their roles. It puts the future of the assessment, which is required by Congress, in doubt.

www.nytimes.com

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Apr 29

I couldn't agree more, Avi.

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Apr 29

It is painful to live in a world that continues to mistake self-destruction for freedom.

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Reposted by Maria Vamvalis, PhD

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · Apr 26

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - At a town hall hosted by Shelby County Health Dept. on Fri. night, designed to help ease concerns about the xAI supercomputer’s impact on Memphis’ air, electricity and water www.actionnews5.com/2025/04/26/e... xAI’s representative Brent Mayo…

Emotions run high at SCHD town hall on xAI environmental concerns

A town hall by the Shelby County Health Department on Friday addressed concerns about xAI’s effects on Memphis’ air, electricity, and water, but did not meet the expectations of environmental activist...

www.actionnews5.com

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Apr 15

"End times fascism is a darkly festive fatalism – a final refuge for those who find it easier to celebrate destruction than imagine living without supremacy."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The rise of end times fascism | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Maria Vamvalis, PhD

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · Apr 13

"The stereotype of a scientist is a dispassionate, objective and neutral seeker of nature’s truths, and many think that this makes a career in science incompatible with political activism. Canadian climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe thinks that this is a mistake." www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...

Prominent climate scientist argues it's time to ditch the 'myth of neutrality' | CBC Radio

Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe talks to Bob McDonald about the polarization of science and why she thinks scientists should stop pretending to be neutral when it's our planet at risk.

www.cbc.ca

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Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Apr 11

theconversation.com/how-to-teach...

How to teach hope when democracy is retreating

We can model hope by exemplifying how engaging in the work of justice means participating in a legacy that stretches across generations.

theconversation.com

Maria Vamvalis, PhD @mariavamvalis.bsky.social · Apr 3

“We are fast approaching temperature levels – 1.5C, 2C, 3C – where insurers will no longer be able to offer coverage for many of these risks...the premiums required exceed what people or companies can pay...Entire regions are becoming uninsurable.”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer

Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure

www.theguardian.com

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