Events

NECI holds a variety of virtual events to connect Extension professionals across the country. Together, we learn, share experiences, and strategize how to advance climate action at the local, state, and federal levels.

Professional Development Webinars

This one-hour meeting has the following framework: brief updates and an introduction from one of our NECI Executive Committee members (5 minutes), a featured speaker sharing about climate change science, research, and/or communication for Extension educators (40 minutes), and a question/answer and discussion session (15 minutes). Learn more and see recordings of previous webinars.

Upcoming Webinar

The Forefront of Climate Mitigation Policy: Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement & Democratic Participation in Regenerative Agriculture
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 1:00pm ET

On June 24, 2024, Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement was enacted following negotiations between the Danish government and major agricultural, environmental, industrial, and labor organizations. It is widely referenced as the global forerunner in agricultural climate mitigation policy. Among other aggressive targets, the country is aiming to establish 250,000 hectares (617,763 acres) – or, 17% of Denmark’s total landmass – of new forest by 2045. In partnership with Aarhus University’s Centre for Environmental Humanities, and Denmark’s Centre for Sustainable Agrifood Systems, Dr. Roslynn Brain engaged in an afforestation project in a year-long sabbatical to explore whether food forests can be designed in a way to both increase CO₂ uptake and biodiversity based on natural science research, while simultaneously promoting democratic participation based on social science research. This presentation will overview Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement, our group’s two trial afforestation sites, and our community engagement design. As the weight of the climate crisis combined with stagnant U.S. Federal Action weighs on us, this presentation will hopefully provide relief by example of aggressive climate mitigation policy moving forward in other countries.

Speaker: Roslynn Brain, Ph.D., is a Sustainable Communities Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University (USU) in Moab, Utah. She applies conservation theory, communication techniques, and social marketing tools to foster environmental action.

Climate and Communities Webinars

In spring 2025, the NECI Curriculum Working Group hosted a webinar series on the third Wednesday of each month. These Climate and Communities Webinars featured speakers from across the country who work on topics such as civic engagement, state-level climate policy, environmental justice, and more. Learn more and see recordings of the webinars.

Member Engagement Meetings

This one-hour meeting is intended to serve as a safe space to share ideas, obstacles, and solutions to advance climate change outreach in Extension through casual, facilitated discussion. We also use this space to share updates and discuss progress on our Extension Climate Change Action Items and work from the Working Groups. These meetings are NOT recorded. We begin with a reflection on the last Professional Development meeting and member ideas for how to incorporate content into our Extension programming, followed by member sharing of ideas, obstacles, and solutions to advance climate change outreach in Extension.

This meeting is on the first Tuesday of every month at 2:30 pm ET via Microsoft Teams. If you are on our listserv, you should have received a calendar invitation for spring 2026 at the end of February. Contact Paul Lachapelle with any questions.

Executive Committee Meetings

The NECI Executive Committee is tasked with oversight of the Initiative, and its meetings are open to any participant of the NECI network.

The Executive Committee meets for 1.5 hours every month on the second Wednesday at 3:00 PM ET. If you are interested in attending an Executive Committee meeting, email nat.ext.climate.initiative@gmail.com.

Advancing Climate Action Across the Extension System

Alongside the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy’s Climate Priority Action Team and the Extension Foundation, we held three online events in summer 2025 as a climate action convening for Extension professionals across the country. The intent was to further actions put forth in the 2024 National Extension Climate Change White Paper. This free series was made possible with support from the New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) program.