Curriculum Events

The NECI Curriculum Committee organizes virtual events that bring together educators from across the country to discuss climate change topics and learn from each other.

Upcoming Events

We currently have no upcoming events scheduled. Stay tuned for future events.

Past Workshops

Educator Exchange on Climate Resources for Youth

Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 2pm ET

In this 1-hour interactive session led by Emily Picard of UConn, we workshopped participants’ youth education materials, exchanged valuable resources, and shared constructive feedback on projects in progress.

Past Webinars

In spring 2025, the NECI Curriculum Working Group hosted a webinar series on the third Wednesday of each month at 2:00 pm ET in collaboration with the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 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.

One Health & Climate

Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at 2pm ET

Watch the recording of Sharon Toth’s talk here
Watch the recording of Alistar Hayden’s talk here
Watch the recording of Scott Laursen’s talk here

In this webinar, the speakers discussed the framework of “One Health” with a special focus on climate. The topics covered were an introduction to the “One Health” framework from an Extension perspective, protecting the public from wildfire smoke, and collaboration across human and more-than-human worldviews.

Solar and Environmental Justice

Watch the recording here.

This webinar brought together speakers from NJIT’s Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities program, Rocky Mountain Institute, and NC Clean Energy Technology to discuss how to implement solar energy in the redevelopment of contaminated lands (brownfields) and in low-income communities. Audience members walked away with a better understanding of the economic and workforce development opportunities offered by revitalizing brownfields with solar energy (brightfields) and an example of North Carolina’s efforts to provide low-cost energy and workforce opportunities to low-income households via solar energy.

Carrie Martin discussed “Brownfields and their Economic and Energy Opportunities”. This presentation focused on describing brownfields, their impacts on low-income communities, and provided case studies on how they have been transformed to provide low-cost distributed energy to revitalize communities.

Tansy Massey-Green presented on “Brightfields opportunities and challenges.” Brightfields (or clean energy on brownfields) offer an exciting opportunity to revitalize contaminated sites, meet communities’ clean energy goals, develop a local clean energy workforce, and generate revenue for the community. They come with challenges unique to developing clean energy on contaminated lands, such as required clean up and special design considerations. This presentation gave an overview of the opportunities, discussed the challenges, and discussed what RMI is doing to support communities in developing brightfields.

Vincent Potter spoke on “Solar for All – Engagement plans for rural communities.” Solar for All aims to reduce energy burdens in lower income communities by providing more access to solar electricity. The programs include single-family homes, multifamily dwellings, and community solar facilities to find the best balance of economics and access to reduce consumer costs for electricity.

This webinar was presented by Carrie Martin (subject matter expert on climate resiliency and sustainability, NJIT‘s Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities), Tansy Massey-Green (Senior Associate on the Cities & Communities team at Rocky Mountain Institute), and Vincent Potter (Policy Project Manager, NC Clean Energy Technology Center).

State Climate Mitigation Policies and Incentives

Watch the recording here.

This webinar covered two different national search platforms to identify your state policies and incentives to address climate issues at home. The goal of this webinar was to connect local citizens with their local mandates, goals, and financial levers to empower local action.

First, Rebekah de la Mora presented an “Intro to NC Clean Energy Technology Center and Tutorial for DSIRE (Database of States Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency).” The North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center is an extension center out of North Carolina State University’s College of Engineering specializing in clean energy. Among other things, the Center is home to DSIRE, a public good that provides information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency across the country. The presentation included a live DSIRE how-to on database navigation, the different types of programs included, and additional resources available.

Next, Ruby Wincele gave an “Introduction to Climate XChange and the State Climate Policy Dashboard.” Climate XChange’s State Climate Policy Dashboard is an all-in-one tool that transforms how advocates and other climate actors research climate policy. The tool features information on over 60 climate policies for all 50 states, with in-depth state examples, model legislation, enacted policy text, and other resources to help craft the most effective policies, adopt best practices, and accelerate climate policy progress. We walked through of the Dashboard, focusing on how the tool can be used in practice by policymakers, advocates, and other state actors.

This webinar was presented by Rebeka de la Mora (Senior Policy Analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center) and Ruby Wincele (Policy & Research Manager, Climate XChange).

Civic Engagement for Climate Action

Watch the recording here.

We know that climate education can play a crucial role in raising awareness and building understanding of climate change, its causes, likely impacts, and potential solutions. However, we also know we need to go beyond learning about climate change to build individual and collective capacity for effective climate action and justice. We can do this through civic engagement. The question is how can we best design and implement effective civic engagement programs that truly empower action and justice?

This webinar introduced the new Educating for Climate Action and Justice: Guidelines for Excellence—the latest contribution to the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Excellence Series. The guidelines are designed to assist educators in developing and implementing effective programs that focus on climate change, address injustice, and prompt action. We discussed how these guidelines might support Extension programs or inspire new initiatives. We also introduced readily available resources that you can use in your climate action programs.

This webinar was presented by Martha Monroe (Professor Emerita, University of Florida) and Bora Simmons (Director, National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education).