🗓️ 22 SEPTEMBER - CLIMATE WEEK NYC -📍Home Studios Inc. - 873 Broadway 301 401, 410, New York, NY 10003, USA
Hosted by Tenure Facility, Woodwell Climate Research Center, and Health In Harmony, with partners and speakers from Planet Indonesia, If Not Us Then Who?, Atmos, Mongabay, the Pawanka Fund, GATC, and WECAN, the day brought together frontline land defenders, funders, movement partners, and global stakeholders for a full day of insight-sharing, strategy-building, and joy-centered connection.
Through breakfast talks, one-to-one conversations, and closed-door strategy sessions, we reflected on the strategic road ahead, celebrated impact, and aligned on shared movement objectives. The day then shifted into an evening of celebration, with rainforest community stories, relaxed networking, and a dance party bringing sounds from the Amazon to NYC.
"Will we be the people who open our hands and our hearts to seek solutions that benefit all people or will we opt for inward scarcity and fight rather than share with our neighbors? And so this is a big challenging question for us. One response is rooted in reciprocity and requires courage and the other is rooted in fear.
We hope that you'll be challenged today and throughout climate week to respond with reciprocity." Ashley Emerson, Co-CEO of Business & Scale, HIH
Reciprocity is also about connection. It is a mutual exchange of ideas between activists, funders, rainforest community members, and governments. It is the work of building relationships that nourish everyone involved.
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Explore the full day through our photo archive, from the morning talks to the evening celebration.
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Throughout the day, we invited speakers to answer one more question. What fills your basket?
The basket is an image of exchange. It holds what we receive and what we carry back. It is never filled by one person alone. The answers we collected show that reciprocity is not a single idea. It is a relationship with land, with knowledge, with community, and with each other.
"For me, filling the basket reminds me of the work we Embera women do in our community, of how to weave that basket, which is connected to our forest, to our traditional knowledge. But at the same time, weaving this basket also means that we have many challenges that we must keep building from our identity, from the recognition of our rights as women, as rights holders, and also being able to keep collaborating and contributing from the collective, from our community, from our territories.” Sara Omi Casamá, **President of Coordinator of Women Territorial Leaders of Mesoamerica of AMPB
“The power of women. When we come together, no matter where we're from, we just came from an event of a panel of women and then a powerful woman leader defender of the Amazon, Juma Xipaia, and the power of women when we support each other, when we work together, when we listen to each other, I mean, it's unstoppable.“
Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch and Board Member, Rainforest Action Network
The day opened with breakfast and a zine giveaway, followed by short show-and-tell talks. Speakers from Health In Harmony, Tenure Facility, Woodwell Climate Research Center, Atmos, If Not Us Then Who?, and Mongabay each answered one question: What's the reciprocity story you want to tell?
Indigenous women leaders and global advocates shared frameworks rooted in reciprocity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, broadening the meaning of health beyond the individual to the wellbeing of communities, territories, and the Earth. The panel featured Lucía Ixchíu (Maya K'iche'), Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Luana Kaingang (Kaingang), and Osprey Orielle Lake, moderated by Paula Alvarado of If Not Us Then Who?
The evening offered a space to slow down and connect outside formal panels. Shared with Planet Indonesia, Woodwell Climate Research Center, and If Not Us Then Who?, it centered authentic relationships, joyful moments of openness and trust, and the groundwork for collective action toward COP31 and beyond.
| Posting Date | Title | Final Link | Caption |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29.09 | What does it mean to tell a reciprocity story? | ||
| Reels | Download Video // Repost link | What does it mean to tell a reciprocity story? |
To recognize that forests are more than carbon, that Indigenous communities hold generations of knowledge, and that each of us has resources, relationships and influence we can put at the service of those protecting the territories that sustain us all.
At Reciprocity House during Climate Week NYC 2026, we heard powerful reflections from Alexia LeClerq (@alexia.leclercq), Dr. Raymond Achu-Samndong (@tenurefacility), and Theresa Perez (@atmos).
In collaboration between @healthinharmony, @woodwellclimateresearchcenter, @tenurefacility alongside our partners @pawankafund, @rightsresources, @globalalliancet, @atmos, @mongabay, @PlanetIndonesia, @wecan_intl and @ifnotusthenwho and everyone who brought their stories into the room. Thank you for the conversations that continue long after Climate Week.
As we return home, one question stays with us: Are we really listening?
And you, what is your reciprocity story? 🌿
#ReciprocityHouse #ClimateWeekNYC #HealthinHarmony | | 01.10 | What does reciprocity look like? Reels | Coming Soon - Download Video // Repost link | At Reciprocity House during Climate Week NYC, we spent time thinking about climate solutions beyond policies, technologies, funding and institutions. Some of the most important shifts are also about how we relate to one another, and whose knowledge we value in shaping the future. For generations, Indigenous Peoples have built knowledge through living with, observing and caring for their territories. When that knowledge is respected alongside science and technology, rather than displaced by them, we open different possibilities for responding to the climate crisis. Reciprocity becomes tangible when different forms of knowledge, responsibility and care can exist alongside one another, and when there is space to learn from each. These are some of the reflections we’re carrying forward from Reciprocity House. Explore more of our work with Health In Harmony and the Tenure Facility through the link in our bio. #ReciprocityHouse #ClimateWeekNYC #HealthinHarmony | | | What Fills Your Basket Reels | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | | | Unwind For the Earth Highlights Carousel | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | | | Reciprocity House Event Highlights Video | Coming Soon | Coming Soon |