Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Climate Education

  • 14 Sep 2023
  • 4:00 PM (PDT)
  • 15 Sep 2023
  • 4:30 PM (PDT)
  • Harvey Mudd College (with virtual option available for some sessions)
  • 132 registrants

Registration

  • For attendees (in-person or hybrid) for whom the registration fee represents a barrier to their participation, please email climateeducation-L@g.hmc.edu to request a code that waives the registration fee (a code is needed to use this registration option).

    The organizers wish for this conference to be accessible to all who would like to attend.
  • For all attendees who can join in-person or hybrid (part in-person and part virtually).
  • For all attendees who can only join virtually for the entire event.
Registration is closed

Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Climate Education

The world is on track for at least a 2℃ global average temperature increase by 2100 based on international agreements, pledges, and targets - and even optimistic scenarios of current pledges result in an estimated 1.8C of warming1, all despite the 2015 Paris agreement goal of keeping the global average temperature increase below 1.5℃ . The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released their 6th Assessment Report describing the impacts of warming beyond 1.5℃, which will touch every aspect of our lives. And yet K-12 education is only just beginning to adopt climate literacy into its standard curricula,2 and the inclusion of climate change in higher education, through core curricula, is lagging.3  

Despite these shortcomings, there is a growing effort to expand climate education in higher education and to incorporate climate beyond the earth sciences. Faculty understand that, regardless of field, our graduates will inherit a personal and professional landscape that is fundamentally changed from the world today. Their education should prepare them for this new world.

This one-day conference will convene climate experts, teacher-scholars from other disciplines, and community partners to discuss the future of climate education for undergraduates.  The goal of the conference is to expand the number of faculty involved in climate education and for those already involved to deepen their understanding of and appreciation for the strengths that multiple perspectives bring to addressing the challenges of climate.  A theme throughout the conference will be broadening participation in climate education on our campuses and in our communities.


Outcomes:

  1. Participants will learn how their disciplinary expertise can be integrated with other disciplines to improve and expand climate education for undergraduate audiences. 

  2. Those attending the conference will be empowered to engage/expand/improve climate education at their home institution and will have the opportunity to workshop ideas for lessons and modules that could be implemented in their own classrooms.

  3. Participants will critically reflect on which voices/types of knowledge are being included and excluded from the conversation about climate change at their campus.

  4. Participants will explore how working together with communities and practitioners can enhance climate education in mutually beneficial partnerships.

  5. Attendees will make connections and network with fellow educators from diverse backgrounds who are working on climate education

1. https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/

2. https://cdn.naaee.org/programs/coalition/resources/mapping-the-landscape

3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652617322187?via%3Dihub


At-a-glance schedule:

(times are in Pacific Time)


Thursday, Sept. 14

4–5 p.m. Check-in and welcome reception (Sprague Patio, adjacent to Auditorium)

5–6 p.m.‡ Keynote by V. Ramanathan, “Building Climate Resilience through Education” (Auditorium)

Friday, Sept. 15

8–9 a.m. Check-in, coffee and breakfast (Sprague Patio, adjacent to Auditorium)

9:15–10:15 a.m.‡ Keynote by Crystal Chissell, “Climate Solutions, Boundary Spanning and Courage” (Auditorium, Shanahan Center)

10:30 a.m.–Noon‡ Session A– Bridging Disciplines. Oral presentations and panel Q&A (Auditorium)

10:30 a.m.–Noon Session B– Climate Futures & Humanity's Great Transition, led by Krista K. Hiser (SkyCube, Shan 3460)

Noon–12:45 p.m. Lunch (catered, buffet style, Platt Campus Center, Green Room)

12:45–2:15 p.m. Poster presentations with coffee/dessert, two cohorts: Cohort A from 12:45–1:30 p.m. and Cohort B from 1:30–2:15 p.m. (Platt Campus Center, Living Room) 

1–2 p.m.✤Meet and Greet Session, led by Eliza Reilly and Davida Smyth (virtual)

2:30–4 p.m. Session C– “Climate in Any Course You Teach,” led by Mark Stemen (Shan 3481)

2:30–4 p.m.‡Session D– Institutional Change. Oral presentations and panel Q&A (Auditorium)

4–4:30 p.m. Closing reception (Sprague Patio, adjacent to Auditorium)


‡Virtual participation available

✤Only virtual (on Zoom)


Additional information:

For more information and most recent updates, please visit the conference web site


For questions, please email climateeducation-l@g.hmc.edu

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