Climate Resilience Workshop: Bridging the gap between climate risk and environmental justice through community training & data literacy in NYC

Location: TBD (either the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory or on Morningside Campus. Participants will be notified by the closing of the abstract deadline). A virtual option will be available.

Registration: Register here

Contact: [email protected] and Marco Tedesco [email protected]

At the intersection of climate risk and environmental justice, there is a pivotal but poorly quantified relation between socially vulnerable people and their exposure to climate change hazards. We invite community leaders, climate advocates, policymakers, educators, and students to discuss how to bridge gaps and break down barriers that limit community empowerment and their access to scientific information. Strong emphasis will be given to the NYC area but everyone is welcome to join, virtually or in person. At the end of the workshop, participants will walk  away with an understanding of best practices and a roadmap to improve collaboration between stakeholders to properly tackle the unjust impacts of climate change hazards. 

A major theme will be Data Literacy and Democracy. Some of the questions the participants will aim at addressing are:

• How can we implement new tools and ways to increase data literacy in socially vulnerable communities especially when it comes to climate change and climate justice?
• What are the current barriers that are blocking the flow of knowledge from the scientific community to stakeholders and policy makers when it comes to climate justice?
• How can climate scientists and the scientific community actively contribute to empower socially-vulnerable communities at risk? 

During the first part of the Workshop, participants will be exposed to selected talks focusing on overarching themes from experts in the field and test cases from participants. After lunch, breakout sessions on topics identified during the morning will be discussed by participants, followed by a discussion to summarize the outcome of the workshop and future directions. Please see detailed schedule below:

Welcoming remarks: 9:30-945 am

Spotlight presentations: 9:45-10:30 am - Experts will present overarching themes in the field.

Break: 10:30-11:00 am

Test case presentations & discussion: 11:00-12:50 pm - Volunteering participants to present successful test cases that demonstrate successful cases where data has been used to achieve climate justice goals.

Lunch break: 12:50-2:00pm

Breakout sessions: 2:00-3:30pm - Participants will be broken into 3 smaller groups to discuss how data literacy can be improved within vulnerable communities and the necessary next steps that can help empower individuals to take action.

Break: 3:30-3:45 pm

Group Discussion: 4:15-4:45pm - Participants discuss outcome of breakout sessions, experiences, and next steps for continued engagement.

Organizing Committee: Marco Tedesco (LDEO/CU), Carson Witte (LDEO/CU), Holly Bunker (SUMA/CU), Azra Tanovic (New School), Christian Braneon (EJCJ, NASA), Anna-Kaye Barrett (CBS/CU), Brendan M. Buckley (LDEO/CU), Alexandra Bagnasco (SUMA/CU)