Contact

Anna Nieminen (she/her)

My name is Anna Nieminen (she/her) and I am a climate-aware facilitator.

As a fitness/movement arts facilitator and the creator of the Embodied Climate Justice Fitness (ECJF) project, I offer activations, feature poetry, and blog about climate change and climate action. I have been on a role-modelling journey as a community-based educator and facilitator who has been sharing and applying my own continuous learning about climate change. Through my Embodied Climate Justice Fitness project, I have been offering workshops about decarbonizing cities, reducing and diverting waste, valuing trees, parks & ravines, exploring environmental identity, and more.

In the past year, I have become engaged in learning about the personal and psycho-social side of climate change, including experiential explorations of finding one’s place in the ecosystem of possibilities for climate action. I have taken trainings through the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and am a new member of the Climate Psychology Alliance in North America (CPA-NA).

I am canfitpro certified in Fitness Instructor Specialist (FIS) and Stress Resiliency. My group fitness instructor journey has included facilitating in-person, grant-funded classes prior to the pandemic, and offering live virtual, free and pay-what-you-can classes during the pandemic. I’m currently seeking grant-funded and honorarium-paid opportunities as a climate-aware movement arts/fusion fitness facilitator rather than pursuing fitness as a business.

With Embodied Climate Justice Fitness (ECJF) I am engaging in creative climate communication by interpreting fitness moves and choreography though a climate justice lens. I also offer themed poetry walks as a poetry curator and co-facilitator of the Scarborough Poetry Club. My hope is to grow the climate justice movement, with you, through movement and poetry.

I would love to hear from you with any questions or feedback!

climatejusticefitness@gmail.com

You can find me on Instagram @annanieminenecjf

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I am grateful to be living, working, walking, and blogging on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. I acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and in Scarborough, the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. One of the many sources of inspiration for my work on truth, justice and reconciliation has been reading Living in Indigenous Sovereignty by Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara with Gladys Rowe and other contributors; it has deepened my reflecting on my relationships and obligations as a second-generation settler on Indigenous lands. I share about some of my learning and work on my Walking and “Living in Indigenous Sovereignty” page as well as on my Blog page.

Anna

BIOGRAPHY

Anna Nieminen is a movement arts/fusion fitness facilitator, creative climate communicator & blogger, as well as a poetry curator. At Embodied Climate Justice Fitness (ECJF) she combines movement arts/fusion fitness activation with climate justice storytelling to engage participants in learning about climate justice and making intentions for climate action. She is also in the process of organizing a climate-aware walking group.

As a poetry curator, Anna has co-facilitated monthly Scarborough Poetry Club meetings since October 2015 and has organized National Poetry Month celebrations and other public reading events. She has lead poetry walks during the Jane’s Walk Festival, guest curated Ontario Culture Days 2015 poetry events for Scarborough Arts, and organized poetry workshops and a final showcase event at Agincourt Library for the City of Toronto’s Cultural Hotspot 2018.

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

Movement Arts/Fusion Fitness Facilitator – In-person and virtual, July 2018-Present

Embodied Climate Justice Fitness (ECJF) – Virtual and in-person, June 2021-Present

  • Creating ECJF website and writing and designing ECJF content (ongoing)
  • Creating and recording first ECJF climate-aware activation demo
  • Presenting first ECJF activation demo to members of the Scarborough Poetry Club, June 2021
  • Blogging about active living, local climate action and climate justice (ongoing)
  • Leading TransformTO Community Conversation and reporting to City of Toronto, July 2021
  • Launching ECJF Instagram account @annanieminenecjf
  • Participating in and amplifying ActionAid International’s EarthWalk 2021 as part of the first Embodied Climate Justice Fitness Challenge #ECJFChallenge
  • Participating virtually in COP26 in Glasgow along with hundreds for EarthWalk Live! a projection march of people and communities from all over the world demanding climate justice now!
  • Creating and recording “The Linden Tree” movement arts activation to the poem by Jeevan Bhagwat
  • Presenting “The Linden Tree” at Tree Songs 2 hosted by Don Heights Unitarian Congregation, Nov 2021
  • Creating the ECJF “Activate Your Learning Series” resource
  • ECJF declares a climate emergency #FitnessDeclares
  • Participating in and amplifying climate justice campaigns such as the 350Canada and Council of Canadians’ Just Transition campaign #JustTransition #JustTransitionNow #GreenNewDeal #ClimateCodeRed #FloodParliament
  • Launching the Walking and “Living in Indigenous Sovereignty” page on ECJF website
  • ECJF declares #NoFitnessOnASickPlanet for Earth Day 2022
  • Leading the “Living in Indigenous Sovereignty” Poetry Walking during the Jane’s Walk Festival Toronto, May 2022, hosted by the Scarborough Poetry Club
  • Presenting ECJF climate-aware activation demo to Don Heights Unitarian Congregation, July 2022
  • Participating in and amplifying the Grassy Narrows River Run 2022 for mercury justice and freedom
  • Co-presenting “The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever”: Literary and Movement Arts Event hosted by the Scarborough Poetry Club, July 2022
  • Participating in the Ecojustice “Climate Action Now!” Rally at Queen’s Park on Sept 11 and attending court hearing virtually Sept 12-14, 2022
  • Participating in the Fridays for Future Global Climate Strike Rally at Queen’s Park on Sept 23, 2022
  • Volunteering with Talk Climate to Me (TCTM) as of Feb 2023
  • Living With the Climate Crisis (LWTCC) facilitator training from the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) on Feb 11 and Apr 29, 2023
  • Climate Cafe facilitator training from the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) Apr 13, 2023
  • ECJF declares #NoFitnessOnASickPlanet for Earth Day 2023
  • Active Hope Foundations Training (ActiveHope.Training), Mar-Apr, 2023
  • Leading the “Living in Indigenous Sovereignty” Poetry Walking during the Jane’s Walk Festival Toronto, May 2023, hosted by the Scarborough Poetry Club

Branded Fusion Fitness for Women Classes – Facebook Live, Apr. 2020-Feb. 2021

  • Cardio, older adult, and yoga fusion formats

Movement Arts/Fusion Fitness Classes – Better Living Health and Community Services, July 2018-July 2019

  • Mindful Moments (movement and musical appreciation)
  • Yoga for Every Body (fusion yoga with chair options)
  • Branded Fusion Fitness for Women
  • Low-impact Functional Fitness

Scarborough Poetry Walks – Jane’s Walk Festival, 2015 and 2017

  • Walk planning, research, preparation, and facilitation
  • Coordinating with Toronto Public Library staff for event planning and promotion
  • Promoting poetry walks on Jane’s Walk Toronto website, event sites and social media
  • Blogging about poetry walks and Pan Am Path Art Relay on Jane’s Walk Toronto website

SELECTED CERTIFICATIONS

  • Fitness Instructor Specialist (FIS) and Stress Resiliency, canfitpro
  • Seniors’ Fitness Instructor Certification (SFIC), Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging (CCAA) – Western University from Nov 2017-Nov 2021
  • Life Skills Coach Training, George Brown College, 2010