Combatting climate change depends not just on major national and global policy, but also on action within our local community.
Promoting citizen-driven, community-level action is the goal of the Climate Change Leadership Academy (2CLA), which is accepting applications from January 11 through February 14 for its 2021 session. The program from March to June.
2CLA is a program of the Upper Valley Adaptation Workgroup (UVAW), a group of leaders and partner organizations striving to make the region more resilient to climate change, coordinated by Vital Communities.
The organizers seek a diverse class of 25 participants from across different social groupings (age, town, socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, gender identity, etc.), with each participant bringing a unique perspective to the cohort. UVAW believes that a learning environment rich in diversity and full of opportunities to engage with unfamiliar ideas, perspectives, cultures, and people will prepare participants to become change agents in their communities. Prior knowledge of climate change is not required. Tuition is $30, and scholarships are available.
Those 25 participants will attend six sessions that will include expert presentations, group discussion, and collaborative work sessions on climate change, including what is happening globally and locally, and what can be done about it. The 2CLA curriculum will teach participants how to use a design-thinking approach to develop solutions to climate change problems. The program is based on the belief that climate solutions must be accessible to individuals who are most directly affected by climate change, so participants will learn how to seek and incorporate input from climate-vulnerable populations into project design. By the end of this program, participants will be expected to apply their learning and develop a community service project that promotes climate resiliency.
“The impacts of climate change have never been so clear and concerning; record-high wildfires, hurricanes, and temperatures, another summer drought here in New England, and rising sea levels,” said Erich Osterberg, UVAW vice chair and associate professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth. We need to empower citizen leaders to help our local communities reduce greenhouse gases while also becoming more resilient to the climate changes that are already happening.”
Sessions will take place every other Wednesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, starting March 24, 2021, with the graduation taking place June 16, 2021. The sessions will be held virtually via zoom until it is safe to meet in person. Any in-person meetings will follow COVID-19 safety precautions and participants can opt for remote participation. Attendance is expected at every meeting and a light dinner will be provided for any in-person session.
Session topics are as follows:
- Wednesday, March 24 – Session 1: Understanding Climate Change
- Wednesday, April 2 – Session 2: Mitigation
- Wednesday, April 21 – Session 3: Adaptation
- Wednesday, May 5 – Session 4: Opportunities for local action
- Wednesday, May 19 – Session 5: Project Development
- Wednesday, June 2 – Session 6: How to be a leader
- Wednesday, June 16 – Graduation
Questions? Contact Caroline Wren, Vital Communities Climate Change Leadership Academy Coordinator, at 2cla@vitalcommunities.org or 802-291-9100 x114
The 2CLA program was previously offered from October 2019 through May 2019. This year’s Climate Change Leadership Academy is made possible in part by support from the New England Grassroots Fund, Vermont Communities Foundation, and The Cotyledon Fund.