“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
An overwhelming majority of San Diego County residents – 84% – believe climate change is happening, and almost as many expect the impacts to affect them, their families and future generations.
Without local leadership, collaboration and action, changes in temperature and rainfall patterns could have an even greater impact on our quality of life in San Diego.
To effectively prepare for the impacts of climate change, collaboration is essential.
Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change
In fact, cross-sector collaborations might be the linchpin to facilitating and strengthening our efforts to protect San Diego’s air, water, natural resources and coastline.
Since 2006, The San Diego Foundation Climate Initiative has built capacity planning for and reducing the impacts of climate change on our regional communities. Since its inception, the Climate Initiative has forged 50+ partnerships, including co-founding two influential collaboratives, to demonstrate how leadership with action can make a positive impact.
Climate Education Partners (CEP) and the San Diego Regional Collaborative, in particular, strive to advance solutions that address the impacts from a changing climate.
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Climate Education Partners
In 2012, The San Diego Foundation co-founded CEP, which is one of six recipients awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to implement a $5 million, five-year education initiative to increase understanding of climate change in our region among community leaders.
By partnering with representatives from the University of San Diego, California State University, San Marcos, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Francisco and The Steve Alexander Group, the collaborative brings together expertise in climate science, social psychology, law, policy and communications.
Over the years, CEP has used a variety of strategies to increase the knowledge and understanding of our region’s key influential leaders on climate change, including:
- Reports such as the landmark San Diego 2050 is Calling. How Will We Answer? and more
- Educational videos about the impacts of climate change on public health, coastal flooding, wildfire and nature’s benefits
- Polling of San Diego County residents to assess their views on issues related to climate change and public policies designed to address it
- Interviews with key influential leaders to increase and measure changes in their knowledge on the impacts of climate change
- Tours such as the February 2017 Climate and Health Tour at 2-1-1 San Diego and the March 2016 Coastal Resilience Tour at Marine Room and Scripps Institution of Oceanography
By working collaboratively, CEP helps educate San Diego leaders about the impacts of climate change and how we can be proactive in protecting our region.
Strengthen Your Understanding of Climate Change
San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative
In 2012, in partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric, The San Diego Foundation co-founded the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative – a network for public agencies that serve the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning.
Currently consisting of 24 members county-wide, the Climate Collaborative has addressed regional climate change impacts by:
- Supporting Climate Action Plans for 14 cities
- Supporting more than 500 participants at educational trainings, raising the capacity, expertise and leadership for public agency staff at no cost
- Pioneering a Sea-level Rise Committee coordinating seven cities, the Port, Airport, U.S. Navy and local science experts
- Contributing to the Georgetown Climate Center’s 2017 Lessons in Regional Resilience Report
Climate change could result in increased coastal flooding in San Diego.
Additionally, the Climate Collaborative has been rewarded for its influential work.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored the Climate Collaborative’s leading edge climate initiative work in 2015, recognizing it as one of only two organizations in the nation to receive the “Innovative Partnerships Certificate”.
And in 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded the Climate Collaborative with a $689,500 federal grant for coastal hazard protection and resilience.
The project is providing new data on flood mapping and shoreline bluff surveys, developing additional legal, economic and scientific expertise, and helping cities with outreach and communication.
Do Your Part in Climate Change Planning
Protect our Region
CEP and the Climate Collaborative are just two examples that demonstrate how collaborating with regional partners inspires education and action. But we can all contribute in making sure our world-renowned climate is preserved for our children and grandchildren.
How will you make a difference?
