How Do You Build a Personal Climate Strategy in Crazy Times?
I'm here to help. My next Ruggedize Your Life: The Basics class will be on May 15th.
My next live Ruggedize Your Life: The Basics class (an concentrated introductory course for planning a personal climate strategy) will be held on Thursday, May 15th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Pacific Time. If you already know you want to take my class, here is the link to save your spot:
This is the uncomfortable truth: if you don’t have a strategy for managing the impacts of climate chaos in your own life, you probably haven’t really got a plan for the future at all.
Humanity’s failure to act on climate means that each of us now has the responsibility of finding our own paths through a vast crisis. Because we failed to come together as a society and face these realities together, we’re now all forced to face them alone. No one wants this to be true, but it is.
The planetary crisis is here, now, and much fiercer than we hoped. Our assumptions about climate politics, action and response must now all be re-thought. (All this is made even more urgent for Americans by Donald Trump’s attack on climate science, clean energy, and disaster prevention and recovery.) There are tough times ahead.
That crisis is the context in which every major life decision you make will play out, for the rest of your life.
We still need to do everything we can to limit global heating and ecological collapse. Yet even as we limit the extent of further destruction, we now know we’ll be living through an unprecedented upheaval in every natural system around us, and that those upheavals will impact every aspect of our daily lives.
The crisis is here, our society is still almost completely unready, and no one else will protect your future for you.
But you can learn to take sensible steps to reduce the risks you face, grow resilient against impacts, and build the future you want in a more secure way.
You can ruggedize your life. I can help you.
I have decades of experience writing and advising on climate foresight and strategy. My approach to building a personal climate strategy — to readying ourselves for a discontinuous future — centers on what I call personal ruggedization. I’ve researched and written extensively in the field, have consulted with leading scientists and experts, and have had hundreds of conversations with people who are developing their plans to navigate through the climate crisis. I’ve learned some things.
Twice a year, I teach what I’ve learned in an intensive seminar, A Crash Course in Personal Ruggedization. (The next one will start in June.)
The Crash Course delivers a set of comprehensive classes, includes readings and discussion sessions, and aims to give participants a strong foundation for making smart choices in discontinuous times. It’s been very well-received. It offers a lot of value, and is priced accordingly. (It will be offered next in February.)
The Crash Course, though, is a serious commitment. A bunch of you have asked if I could offer an introductory class that delivers a quick overview of the most important considerations in personal climate strategies, but requires less of a commitment of time and money.
That’s what lead me to create this one-session, two-hour class.
Ruggedize Your Life: the Basics walks you through the top-level concerns and strategies for choosing a solid place to build a new life, ready for hard futures.
I’ve done five Basics classes so far, with over 400 great participants, and the response has been extraordinary.
Given how many more people have since said they’re interested, I’m offering another class, on Thursday, May 15th, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Pacific time.
The class will be held on Zoom, with a recording sent out the week after for those who cannot attend live.
It quickly covers:
Making good long-term decisions for an unstable future. Why every personal climate strategy will be unique — there’s no one formula for everyone. Why there are also no sure-fire solutions, but we can make better choices that improve our odds.
How bad might the planetary crisis get? Why is location so critical to good outcomes in the coming decades — and why have recent political evenrs made it even more critical? Why does timing matter so much?
Brief explanations of key concepts: Discontinuity. Brittleness. Relative safety. Ruggedization. The coming climate-housing crisis.
The three general criteria that best measure the strengths and weaknesses of places you might move. An example of how to use these tools. An overview of U.S. regions’ pros and cons.
A few useful tips for pursuing personal ruggedization on a budget, and planning for a chaotic future with kids.
Afterwards, all participants receive a follow-up email with the class recording.
Ruggedize Your Life: The Basics
Thursday, May 15th, 2025.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Pacific Time
Class size is limited.
PS: I’m offering 20 sliding-scale places at $149 (a savings of $100), for those with currently limited resources. Use the code RYLSAVE100 at check out.
- The Guardian covered my work, in a piece published this morning, titled “‘All of his guns will do nothing for him’: lefty preppers are taking a different approach to doomsday”
- I have a new podcast, When We Are, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and other podcast platforms around the world. Please check it out, rate, review, follow and share these episodes. Thank you!
- I’ll be teaching a special Crash Course on Personal Ruggedization in June, details to come.
- Stay connected on Bluesky