Connecting Cities and Campuses through Climate Leadership Initiatives
Arizona State University, California State University, Northridge, Second Nature
Description
Climate change presents one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. Opportunities for inter-sectoral collaboration to drive climate solutions are beginning to emerge and mature with the higher education sector taking an active role in forging new partnerships. This article explores how climate resilience is a topic that can create innovative, bidirectional campus and community relationships and programs. The Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments, the Kresge-funded Climate Resilience in Urban Campuses and Communities (CRUX) project, and two campus case studies are cited as examples of how climate programs with a direct connection to surrounding communities—urban communities in particular—can open new pathways for engagement and accelerate climate solutions. A number of lessons drawn from these examples can help with new program design in the future. The lens of climate adaptation and resilience allows for the complementary strengths of higher education and surrounding communities to be utilized together, introduces new skill sets that are needed to drive climate action, and illustrates how alignment between the sectors could create more positive outcomes.