Getting Campuses involved in Climate
Twenty campus ambassadors across the country are getting out in their communities to advocate for climate solutions. Although they are all part of the same program, the unique characteristics, circumstances and opportunities of their campuses mean every campus ambassador approaches climate advocacy a little bit differently.
We spent some time chatting with a few campus ambassadors to learn what they are most looking forward to this school year.
Engaging Communities in Iowa
It is Anne Gregory and Lauren Litterer’s second year as campus ambassadors at Central College in Iowa. They felt last year was a lot of learning, so they are most excited to drive real impacts this school year.
“I am excited to put more time into a really good and meaningful event where you can get a good group of people who are excited about climate policy and climate change and what they can do for their part,” – Lauren Litterer, Junior
“For Iowa, climate change is becoming more and more real like with major events and natural disasters. And especially from a farming, rural standpoint, crops are more at risk. So I think people are taking climate change more seriously because it is affecting them more.” – Anne Gregory, Senior
Building Partnerships in Florida
The University of Central Florida team is looking to prioritize local partnerships and events this year. They’ve already begun working on an event with the CLEO Institute and the VoLo Foundation and a tree planting event during Florida’s Climate Action Week!
“We are more focused this year on getting volunteers and people out there to all these big Florida Climate Action Week events because we haven’t celebrated that in the past and are excited to combine our efforts to get more students to show up so we can teach them specifically about climate action in Florida.”
“We are also watching whether there will be any Florida legislation following the [Sackett v. EPA] decision on wetlands. I want to set up meetings with students to hear their voices because this is a big deal in Central Florida since we are basically built around one big wetland,” – Nicole Boisson, Senior
The more you know
The ability of our campus ambassadors to know their communities is invaluable. Climate impacts are unique based on where you live, and Defend Our Future recognizes the importance of emphasizing the lived experiences and personal knowledge young people bring to climate advocacy. Be sure you’re connected to Defend Our Future on social media to follow all the incredible campus engagement over the next nine months.
