Crossing Thresholds: Three Worlds of Resilience — Indigenous Cosmology from Sakha with Vera Solovyeva (Episode 1)

Welcome to Episode 1 of Crossing Thresholds: Religion, Resilience & Migration, a special mini-series of Walk Talk Listen produced by the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (JLI). This series brings to life new research on climate change, faith, and human mobility from JLI’s recently published Climate, Faith & Migration report, developed in collaboration with Christian Aid.

 

In this opening conversation, Maurice Bloem speaks with Vera Solovyeva, an Indigenous leader and researcher from the Sakha Republic in Siberia. Vera introduces the cosmology of the Three Worlds and the Three Souls, a worldview that shapes identity, responsibility, and resilience for her people.

She reflects on ecological imbalance, cultural pressure, spiritual loss, and the deep relationship between people and land. Vera explains how indigenous knowledge systems guide communities in responding to climate change, not only as practical adaptation strategies, but as living expressions of culture, faith, and belonging.

 

This episode sets the tone for the series by connecting lived experience with evidence, showing how global research findings are rooted in real stories from the frontlines.

 

Learn more: The full Climate, Faith & Migration report by JLI and Christian Aid is available here.

 

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• Learn more about Vera via her Instagram account
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