Overview: Climate change poses threats to environments, communities, and economies, yet no single “one-size-fits-all” solution can be implemented across different countries and contexts. The Cornell Climate Online Fellows will work together over a period of 14 weeks to identify, discuss, implement, and assess greenhouse gas mitigation actions they take locally and within their social networks.
Participants: Environmental and education professionals, volunteers, and university students from any country. Discussions will be in English. Students lacking a basic knowledge of climate science will need to complete parts of online course, Climate Science, Communication, and Action, prior to the fellowship.
Cost & Commitment: Free. This is a serious commitment,from 4 -10 hours of work per week. All fellows will be expected to actively participate in weekly Zoom conference calls Tuesdays from 8-10am New York time, to engage in weekly online discussions, and to implement a climate mitigation action in their networks.
Educational approach: Fellows will access existing online resources (asynchronous), post discussion question responses (asynchronous), participate in weekly small group and full fellowship discussions (synchronous, Tuesdays 8-10am, EST), and conduct individual action projects (asynchronous).
Technology: Zoom for weekly discussions and Edge-edX for readings and discussion questions. We will also use Facebook and WhatsApp for optional informal discussions and sharing.
Activities: Fellows will become familiar with Drawdown’s prioritized list of 100 actions to reduce reduce greenhouse gases and identify two actions to investigate further using online sources and local experts. (Example actions include educating girls, reducing food waste, plant-rich diet, wind energy, and silvopasture.) During weekly Tuesday meetings, fellows and Cornell faculty will discuss the potential for implementation of climate solutions in the different countries they represent. Fellows will then implement one Drawdown action with their social network (e.g., office, school, Instagram group), and evaluate the implementation process and outcomes. Each fellow will complete a final report or presentation that includes a description of their action and its outcomes, and their reflections on the process. Fellows will also be part of a research project assessing the fellowship process and its outcomes.
Application & Selection Process: Applicants complete an online application about their environmental and education work or volunteer activities, motivation for participating in the fellowship, ideas about climate action projects, and ability to commit the time to be an active participant in the fellowship over the 14-week period. Civic Ecology Lab staff will select the final fellows based on their applications and on our commitment to creating a group of fellows who bring diverse ideas and experiences and represent a wide group of countries.
Benefits: Participants who complete the fellowship will be awarded a Cornell University certificate. However, the main benefit of the fellowship is the opportunity to work with a diverse group of climate-concerned citizens globally who will provide support and provide feedback on your local climate actions.
Fellow outcomes. Fellows will:
Describe the feasibility and effectiveness of actions to mitigate greenhouse gases across different countries and contexts.
Implement and evaluate an action to reduce greenhouse gases among their social networks.
Make adjustments in their action plans based on new information, including research, feedback from fellows, and outcomes of the action.
Demonstrate critical thinking skills related to gathering and assessing sources of information and adapting their views and actions based on new information.
Participate actively in an ongoing global online community of climate-concerned citizens.
Fellowship Leaders: Marianne Krasny, Anne Armstrong, Alex Kudryavtsev, Yue Li, Kim Snyder (Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab)
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