Watch the Summer Institute 2009 Recap Video

University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul, MN

The Will Steger Foundation was proud to launch the 4th Annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education at the University of Minnesota Continuing Education & Conference Center, August 19th, 2009. A total of 85 participants joined us in person and via webinar for a day of dynamic programming on climate change education and solutions.

2009 Program in Review

Building on a successful history of educational programming, the 4th Annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education featured a cadre of climate experts, including keynote speaker Bill McKibben, author, environmentalist, and founder of 350.org. Not only did Bill join us for a morning presentation at the Institute, he also spoke alongside Will Steger to an audience of 500 at a community forum in Edina, MN the previous evening.

We made a few significant changes to the Summer Institute this year, running a one-day program instead of our tradition three-day format, holding the event at the University of Minnesota's Center for Continuing Education in St Paul, and offering a full day of programming via webinar for a remote audience.

Our new Citizen Climate Curriculum, investigating global climate solutions for grades 9-12, framed the themes and program for the day. Each Summer Institute participant received a free copy of the curriculum and participated in a hands-on activity featured as one of the lesson plans. The curriculum was designed to directly compliment the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, and provide educators with the necessary knowledge and tools to follow the Will Steger Foundation's Expedition Copenhagen online though the Will Steger Foundation website.

The Institute also featured six noteworthy climate experts on global climate solutions presenting on cap and trade, carbon cycle, equity in negotiations and climate technologies throughout the afternoon:

• Barbara Freese, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • Presentation Download (1.12MB ZIP file )
• John Farrell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
• Peter Reich, University of Minnesota
  • Presentation Download (43.63MB ZIP file )
• Shalini Gupta, Bush Fellow, Institute for Agriculture Trade and Policy
• Rolf Nordstrom, Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development
  • Presentation Download (2.89MB ZIP file )

The Institute closed with a presentation on Expedition Copenhagen, featuring two of the ten Midwest youth delegates joining Will Steger for the international climate negotiations in Denmark this December. Classrooms are invited to follow the expedition online to this critical international summit.

As we continue to grow and expand our education program and materials, we strive to find new and exciting ways to engage our audience on tradition and non-traditional educators. We are pleased with the changes we made to our Summer Institute program this year and hope to increase participation in the future, in particular growing our online audience via webinar. We will continue to bring the best and brightest minds on climate change education and solutions to engage with our audience, and look forward to recruiting exciting and dynamic speakers for next year's program. We are committed to equipping and empowering educators with the knowledge and tools necessary to bring climate change education into the mainstream classroom and in doing so, engage a new generation of leadership on this critical issue.

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