As part of Chautauqua Institution’s longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability, the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative builds on years of Chautauqua programs investigating timely and critical topics. The initiative elevates climate change as a key issue that the Institution is uniquely positioned to address through intergenerational and multidisciplinary experiences and programs. It also represents Chautauqua’s first major initiative that was conceived and created not only as a program that comes to life during its traditional nine-week Summer Assembly, but also that operates year-round and for multiple years.
The Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative launches with three primary areas of focus: education, stewardship and justice. These elements align the Institution’s existing values and competencies with national and international frameworks for advancing awareness, understanding and engagement in the climate change arena. The scope of the Climate Change Initiative will grow and evolve over time, including through partnerships and as a result of our learnings and patron response.
The Initiative seeks to inspire engagement in finding and acting on workable solutions to the threats posed by climate change The Initiative will:
1. Create and share knowledge on climate change, its impacts, and actions that can contribute to reversing negative trends;
2. Leverage existing and new partnerships to create programs and experiences to engage citizens in ways that both advance their understanding of relevant issues and information;
3. Serve as a resource for schools, communities, businesses and organizations that seek information and experiences to advance their plans to reduce their carbon footprint or enhance knowledge and understanding among their constituents;
4. Curate conversations leading to deeper understanding of the issues associated with climate change, build civil dialogue skills, abilities and dispositions among citizens and showcase opportunities to act to achieve solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change;
5. Leverage its commitment to a science-based solution to Chautauqua Lake conservation as a living- and grounds-based laboratory for citizen action and engagement