Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
Every year, Climate Generation's Education, Public Engagement and Emerging Leaders programming deepen in impact, reaching on average 5,000 educators, 6,000 individuals and 3,500 students. Our Education program developed and promoted a new curriculum offering, Next Generation Climate, based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), in addition to hosting a Summer Institute for Climate Change Education geared towards NGSS and climate change. What's more, we led a delegation of 10 Education Ambassadors to the COP21 Climate Talks in Paris, where they experienced history in the making and translated the experience back to over 750 students. In the realm of Public Engagement, we wrapped up our Climate Minnesota: Local Stories, Community Solutions project, which connected over 1,100 people and 100 community organizations to local climate impacts and solutions through 12 community convenings. Our Emerging Leaders program held a successful Youth Lobby Day to push state leaders towards stronger clean energy policies, which included generating over 1,000 petition signatures and 5 Op Eds published in local media. Overall, we advanced our message of climate literacy and action through multiple channels to engage diverse audiences in climate change solutions.
Current Goals
Our organizational vision is a world of resilient communities with equitable solutions to climate change. To advance that vision, we support a policy goal of 100% clean energy and 80% greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2050 at the latest. Internally, we have a goal of building organizational health through strong governance, financial stability, proactive multi-year fundraising, a cohesive and empowered team, and Will Steger’s legacy. Our Education program goal is to share and implement a science-based, interdisciplinary model of climate change education and public engagement that engages all learners, and fosters climate literacy and action. Our Emerging Leaders program goal is to provide opportunities for high school students to engage as stakeholders in the just transition to a healthy and resilient climate future.
Community or Constituency Served
Climate Generation’s programming reaches youth, educators, decision-makers and the public. We engage youth through our Emerging Leaders program, which centers on a student-led model of youth engagement. At the core of this model is Youth Environmental Activists of MN (YEA! MN), which fosters a network of high school environmental club leaders while providing students with mentorship, leadership development, and action opportunities such as our annual Youth Climate Lobby Day. We support educators with science-based, interdisciplinary curricula resources and professional development opportunities to build their confidence and competence in integrating climate change into their classrooms. Our Education program has developed a suite of six curriculum for teachers to use, and organizes an annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education, among other professional development opportunities. We work with decision-makers across all of our programs to ensure they have the climate literacy, connection to constituents, and awareness of solutions in order to make climate-smart decisions in the public policy arena. Finally, our public engagement programming uses a place-based, story-centered model to connect individuals to both the issue of climate change and locally relevant solutions.
Geographic Area Served
We serve the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and the Midwest primarily. Increasingly, however, our programs and partnerships are building to national and international reach.
