Last week, Reveal Events Group, Vancouver’s leading event management company, hosted an event entitled ‘Realizing a Compassionate Planet.’ SyncWords was proud to caption this event. This was the first-ever conference where the sciences of compassion and climate came together. In a world that is in the throes of rapid climatic change, does compassion have a role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change? Participants from Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh sat down for a discussion on this very topic. This talk was a predecessor to the COP26 in Scotland, where world leaders gathered to discuss international efforts in combating climate change. We highlight some of the key takeaways from the event.
- It is essential to view climate change through the lens of compassion and listen to indigenous people and their collective wisdom in dealing with this crisis.
- Humanity is one of the solutions to helping our planet find and restore balance with nature.
- Our health and happiness depend very much on the health of the planet.
- Empathy for the condition of all living beings is crucial in helping devise plans to heal Earth.
This fully online event helped kickstart a conversation on a topic that SyncWords cares deeply about: the environment. Our global workforce works from home for the most part, and over the last year and a half, we have figured out a dynamic way to stay connected without impacting our business goals. Many companies have chosen to make working from home a global policy, allowing their workforce to choose to work from home for the rest of their tenure.
While policymakers and world leaders decide on suitable courses of action, SyncWords asks: Are we doing as much as we can to reduce our carbon footprint? How can we mitigate the effects that air travel, fuel usage, rampant consumerism, and toxic waste ending up in our oceans have on the planet? Technology has now made it possible to mimic the boardroom meeting from the coziness of our own homes. Even if this is the case primarily because of the pandemic, studies show that cities learned to breathe again as people stayed home, with Air Quality Indices improving even in the most polluted of cities over the last year or so.
The virtual meeting format has made it easy, not just possible, for companies to stay connected with their employees and customers. The workforce worldwide has learned to collaborate online via Zoom calls, Google Hangouts, WebEx meetings, and other platforms.
While there never will be a suitable alternative to the in-person handshake (big disclaimer here), we would like to think that technology has advanced enough to help us feel connected to others. Social distancing played a considerable role in helping flatten the curve of the Coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic. Given this, it wouldn’t be a big stretch to make a case for more virtual congregation, at least in the work arena. The internet is the world’s office.
And when collaboration and conversations are via virtual meetings, captioning can help capture the essence of each session. Not only this, downloadable transcripts of each meeting will make sure that no employee or collaborator will miss out on the crucial points of the meeting. And to speak of another topic close to our hearts, multilingual translations of captions also help each virtual or hybrid event be accessible to and inclusive of non-English speakers.
We urge you to read the full transcript of the conversation here. There’s something in it for everyone. And if you would like to find out how SyncWords can help bring your virtual meeting to wider audiences, Sync with us. We would love to talk with you.
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