Due to COVID-19, our campuses are still in mostly remote operation for the second consecutive Earth Day, which is celebrated annually on April 22. This trying time has formed new partnerships and collaborations in so many ways, Earth Day advocates are no different. Here are a list of many events being held and sponsored by a myriad of different organizations. We thank them all for their contributions in the past, present, and future.
Tuesday April 6
- Who: Students, faculty, and stafff
- When: Tuesday April 6th, 9am-5pm
- What: For more than a decade the GoGreen Conference has been an action driving sustainability learning experience for community leaders, business and public sector decision-makers in the Pacific Northwest. Featuring regionally focused content and recognized leaders from our communities, GoGreen works across industry silos to foster peer-to-peer learning and collaborative solutions.
- How: $75 registration. Register here.
Wednesday April 14
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: Wednesday April 14th, 8am
- What:
- A people first Town Hall and Panel Discussion event focused on national issues of climate energy and agriculture. Join in for a candid conversation between frontline leaders and the Biden Administration.
- The panel and moderated town will amplify the top stories, impacts, and solutions communities are building to respond to climate environmental issues across the nation with a focus on climate, energy, and transportation.
- Communities leaders from across the movement will bring attention to the challenges they face and demand action that matches the power of the climate agenda of the new administration from all levels of government in this moderated town hall. #peoplestownhall #100days
- How: Free. Find more information and register here
Thanks to Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, Green 2.0 US CAN, Climate Nexus, NBEJN for organizing this event
Throughout Month (starts April 6)
1. Solve Climate By 2030 presents #MakeClimateAClass
- Who: Students & faculty
- When: Live webinar April 14th, 6-7:30pm, but recording can be watched anytime
- What:
- Solve Climate By 2030 is helping overworked teachers, from every subject, bring climate change into the classroom.
- Webinar: Live webinar focused on Washington State April 14th, 6-7:30pm.
- Panelists include Saba Rahman with Amina Kedir (King County) and Kellen Lynch (New Story Studio)
- Moderators Janelle Vu and Lindsey Wielick (Western Washington U.)
- More than 100 universities 45 countries around the world, and almost all 50 US states, are hosting interactive webinars with top regional experts on climate solutions and climate justice. The webinar discussions will focus on big, ambitious things that we can do in our communities over the next year to help solve climate change, while also creating much-needed jobs and responding to societal injustices as we recover from COVID.
- Climate Class: Teachers can use the webinar to #MakeClimateAClass by assigning it as homework. This opportunity is not just for environmental science classes. Climate change touches every discipline: psychology, political science, engineering, literature, natural science, art, communication, music, economics, philosophy and more.
- Teacher Guides: One-page Teachers Guides available to lead a one-class period discussion about climate change from the perspective of your subject area. The Guides, for over two dozen different disciplines, have been developed by the global climate education project based at Bard College in New York.
- How: Free. Register for Washington State webinar and recording here.
2. Campus EcoChallenge 2021
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: April 19-30 (join anytime)
- What: Campus EcoChallenge provides tools and inspiration to turn intention into action, and gives participants a fun and social way to think about and act on proven solutions that make a difference for you, your community, and the planet. Over 100 actions within nine Challenge categories provide participants with diverse options to take action.
- How: Free.
- Go here
- Sign up
- Go to “People” —> “Teams” in top bar
- Search for:
- North Seattle Pacific Tree Frogs
- Seattle Central Tigers
- South Seattle Tigers
- Seattle Colleges Siegalites
- Play the game and earn points for your team!
April 20-22
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: April 20-22
- What: From April 20-22, Earth Day Live will convene world leaders for Earth Day 2021. Together, we can prevent the coming disasters of climate change and environmental destruction. Together, we can Restore Our Earth™.
- April 20
- Youth Speaks 2021 Summit, 11:30am-3:30pm: Earth Day 2021 begins with a global youth climate summit led by Earth Uprising, in collaboration with My Future My Voice, OneMillionOfUs and hundreds of youth climate activists. The global youth summit will consist of panels, speeches, discussions, and special messages with today’s youth climate activists including Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor, and Licypriya Kangujam.
- We Shall Breathe Summit, 4-6:30pm: Hosted by the Hip Hop Caucus, this summit will examine climate and environmental justice and its connections to pollution, poverty, police brutality and COVID19.
- April 21
- Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit, 10am-1pm: Education International will lead the “Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit.” The multilingual virtual summit will span several time zones and feature prominent activists from every continent, focused on the crucial role that educators play in combating climate change and why we need transformative climate education now.
- April 22
- EARTHDAY.ORG’s 2nd Annual Global Digital Mobilization, 9am-2pm: . Tune in to see panel discussions and workshops on our Restore Our Earth pillars or climate literacy, reforestation, regenerative agriculture, cleanups and citizen science. Also check in to see special performances from some amazing surprise guests!
- President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate will occur on April 22nd and 23rd. The event will include participation from 40 world leaders to discuss the critical strategies our world needs to embrace to combat the climate crisis. Visit State.gov for more information on the summit schedule and the live stream link.
- April 20
- How: Earth Day Live is free. Find out more and follow along to all the activities here.
Thursday April 22
1. COSI Talk: Divesting Washington’s Publicly Funded Universities and Colleges
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: EARTH DAY! Thursday April 22nd, noon-1pm
- What: Our own Seattle Central Library hosts Conversations on Social Issues (COSI) every Thursday. On Earth Day, the UW student led climate justice divestment coalition, Institutional Climate Action (ICA), will discuss their journey organizing for fossil fuel divestment of Washington State’s higher education institutions.
- How: Tune in here. Passcode “climate”
2. Earth Talks
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: EARTH DAY! Thursday April 22nd, 11am-12:30pm and 2-3:30pm
- What: EARTH TALKS showcases short, five-minute presentations by Seattle University (SU) students, faculty, and community partners. Theme this year is UNIFYING FOR CLIMATE—CLIMATE SOLUTIONS FOR A JUST WORLD. Presentations will include climate action-focused research, service and community projects. Keynotes include Jamie Margolin and Donna Moodie.
- How: Find more information here. Register here.
Special thanks to Seattle University for hosting Earth Talks and for opening it up to the community
Monday April 26
“To Know the World: A New Vision for Environmental Learning” with Mitchell Thomashow
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: Monday April 26, 4-5pm
- What: Join us for a seminar with Dr. Mitchell Thomashow who will provide rationales, narratives, and approaches for environmental learning from his new book “To Know the World” (The MIT Press, 2020). Thomashow will describe that the major challenges of our time—migration, race, inequity, climate justice, and democracy—connect to the biosphere, and our relationship to the biosphere should be front and center in all aspects of our daily lives.
- How: Register here
Thanks to the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS) at Seattle University for hosting this public event
Wednesday May 12
WAHESC Virtual “Conference”
- Who: Students, faculty, and staff
- When: Wednesday May 12, 11am-1:30pm
- What: Join WAHESC (Washington Higher Education Sustainability Coalition) for a fun and interactive event as we discuss ‘Sustainability at home’, share our personal sustainability actions, and how the pandemic has impacted them. Hear from various schools across the state and learn about what you can do to continue being sustainable at home.
- How: more details soon. Email adam.maurer@seattlecolleges.edu if you’re interested in offering a short presentation yourself or if you’re interested in attending.