Earth Optimism × Folklife

Inspiring Conservation Communities

A woman holds up a plastic container holding small fish, as two other examine it in awe. Meadow and pine trees in the background. — Researchers monitor recently hatched salmon in the headwaters of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.

Photo courtesy of Coowe Walker

A team from Healthy Reefs for Healthy People establishes the Caribbean King Crab mariculture site on Tobacco Caye, Belize. 

Photo by M. Mcfield

Several antelopes with long, sharp horns are freed from wooden holding pens as a crowd of people watch them run away. — Although scimitar-horned oryx are considered extinct in the wild, conservation breeding and reintroduction efforts have helped this species recover.

Photo courtesy of Environmental Agency — Abu Dhabi

A crowd of young school children and a few adult chaperones surround one side of a work table, each raising one hand. A woman in an apron stands on the other side of the table smiling. On the table are several baskets and objects made of woven plant mater — Local children are eager to learn about Indigenous practices at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

Through strong, international partnerships, conservationists in Kenya can monitor the movement of threatened giraffe species and ensure the protection of critical wildlife corridors.

Photo by Jared Stabach

Several circular notes thumb-tacked to a surface that appears to be made of cardboard paper towel tubes. Notes read: “Make science sexy,” “Help people to help the land,” “Preserve natural wetland ecology” with a picture of the Earth and a heart, “Make my — What is your hope for the future? Participants of the 2017 Earth Optimism Summit shared their own ideas.

Photo by Ronda Gregorio

Earth Optimism × Folklife: Inspiring Conservation Communities

June 22–27 and June 30–July 4, 2022

“Earth Optimism shows us how to find hope in the face of odds that might seem overwhelming. It reminds us that change happens when we focus on what works—when we collaborate to find solutions and celebrate our successes.”

—Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch

Earth Optimism × Folklife: Inspiring Conservation Communities invites visitors to explore the possibilities and solutions that address some of our planet’s most significant challenges through new ways of living, learning, and working toward a shared sustainable future.

Earth Optimism is a Smithsonian movement that focuses on changing the narrative from doom-and-gloom to hope, inspiring action and mobilizing a global community. The Folklife Festival brought this celebration of conservation action and planetary possibilities to the National Mall in the summer of 2022.

We invited visitors to discover solutions and positive change presented by storytellers, community leaders, innovators, scientists, and artists working to create a sustainable planet. We learned how to make an impact on a local-to-global scale through workshops, performances, interactive art installations, film screenings, hands-on educational activities, cooking and gardening demonstrations, sustainable food concessions, and more.

The program aimed to inform, inspire, delight, and most importantly, leave visitors with hope for our planet and ideas of how to get involved with projects around the world and within their own communities.