Antioch University New England and U.S. EPA Regions I – IV co-present Eastern Regional Climate Preparedness Conference April 4-6 in Baltimore
Keene, NH and Baltimore–Educators and students will explore how to build community resilience through education on April 6, the last day of Local Solutions 2016: Eastern Regional Climate Preparedness Conference. The Education Summit’s keynote speaker is Bill McKibben, a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org and the recipient of the Right Livelihood Prize, known as the “alternative Nobel” in some circles.
“We want attendees to have the resources they need to take action on climate change in the face of uncertainty,” said Julia Feder, LEED Green Associate, and Director, Education of U.S. Green Building Council and a member of the Local Solutions 2016 Education Summit Advisory Committee.
The Education Summit agenda includes information sessions and professional training workshops designed to empower formal and non-formal educators at all levels along with middle school, high school, college and graduate students to build resilience in their communities. Information sessions follow two tracks: How can your school contribute to community resilience? and How can we educate in our local communities to build resilience? Individual sessions are focused on a variety of topics, including student identity and agency relative to climate change, a case study with sixth-grade learners; an oyster restoration project that involves collaboration between a high school and other community partners; a place-based video game for high school students; and a review of community climate change education programs across the East Coast. Following several professional training workshops, the summit will close with a collaborative forum for all attendees.
New this year, the agenda also leverages the expertise of the local area and offers guided activities at Towson University’s Center for STEM Excellence at the Columbus Center.
The three-day Local Solutions 2016 Conference, which builds off of the success of the initial convening in 2014, is tailored for any community that has, or will, address the multiple potential impacts associated with a changing climate. These approaches apply to any community, not only throughout the East Coast and coastal regions, but also across the U.S.
Local Solutions 2016: Eastern Regional Climate Preparedness Conference is Monday, April 4, to Wednesday, April 6 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, 300 S. Charles Street, in Baltimore, MD. Visit communityresilience-center.org for registration information, lodging discount rates, and the full agenda. Stay up to date with conference news at facebook.com/climatechangepreparedness or on twitter @ClimatePrepCtr.
For more information, contact Susan Jane Gentile, Department of Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England, at [email protected].
About Antioch University New England’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience
The mission of AUNE’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience is to prepare, respond and recover in the face of climate impacts and other disruptions through collaborative, innovative solutions. The center delivers applied research, consulting, and education and training. Through a solutions-oriented, pragmatic, participatory, and inclusive approach based on change leadership best practices and systems thinking, its focus is on stakeholder capacity building at the local scale (watershed, municipal, county, and region) of preparedness and resilience nationally and internationally, with an explicit awareness of social and climate justice.
