Climate summit scheduled for March 21
An upcoming campus summit will have discussions on community initiatives and solutions to climate change.
The Central Michigan Climate Solutions Summit will take place from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 21 at the Engineering and Technology Building. The event will feature tabling events, panels, and a speech, according to the event’s Facebook page. The event is free and open to the public.
The event is a joint effort between Central Michigan University students and the Mount Pleasant chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Education, said freshman Chloe Majeske, from Farmington, Missouri.
It’s also meant to educate students on solutions to the issue of climate change, said Marie Knoper, group leader of the Mount Pleasant chapter. Both Knoper and Majeske are on the planning committee for the summit.
“Learning about climate solutions to students who were well aware of the problem and the urgency, but not so well acquainted with various solutions and their effectiveness,” Knoper said.
The idea for the summit came from the global climate strike back in September, said Majeske. The strike brought students and the climate education lobby together and they have been planning this summit since last semester.
The summit will open with tables set up to display posters of community efforts to combat climate change, according to the event’s Facebook page. They are currently recruiting groups like RSOs, faculty and student research, businesses, and organizations that are addressing climate change.
There will also be two panels with discussions about different solutions entities are involved in. The first panel at 10 a.m. will feature CMU students, staff and faculty members.
Majeske said they are hoping to get CMU president Bob Davies and the director of Facilities Managment to get involved with the panel. The second panel at 11 a.m. will feature Mount Pleasant business leaders, government officials and citizens.
The event will feature a keynote speech from Dr. Andy Hoffman, who is a Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. He will talk about solutions to climate change in the current culture and the market. This will include how CMU can play a role with these solutions, she said.
Knoper also said that they plan on having a follow-up session next month after the summit and hope to make it an annual event.
“A couple hundred students attended that (September strike) from all over the school,“ Majeske said. “If that doesn’t show you that students, faculty and community are concerned, I don’t know what does.”
