Second Nature Implementer | December 2020
No images? Click here
Accelerate Your Climate Awareness.
The Implementer | December 2020
NOTABLE NEWS
**APPLICATION DEADLINE IS TOMORROW**
Solutions Center: Pro Bono Consulting
Accelerate Your Climate Action with the Help of Pro Bono Technical Assistance
Exclusive Opportunity for Climate Leadership Network signatories and/or University Climate Change Coalition (UC3) members
Network signatories and/or UC3 members have the opportunity to apply for pro bono technical assistance to help speed up implementation of climate solutions on your campus.
This effort is being sponsored by Brailsford & Dunlavey and CustomerFirst Renewables, and up to six campuses will be awarded strategic advisory services worth up to $10,000 to help you accelerate your climate action.
Timeline:
Now-December 18, 2020: Application Period is Open
December 1, 2020: Application Review Begins
December 18, 2020: Final Application Deadline
Mid-Late January 2021: Awards will be Announced
February 1, 2021 (most likely): Award Implementation Begins
For additional information - including how to apply - please visit the Pro Bono Consulting webpage.
5 Ways to Participate in the 2021 Climate Action Pursuit Right Now
The Climate Action Pursuit is a brand new concept - a series of check-in points with flexible programming that supports your work to act, and lead on equity and climate on our campuses, in our communities, and across our society and economy! The virtual program will be designed to fit our networks’ busy schedules and competing priorities. Throughout 2021, Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) will lead this ambitious pursuit of climate action, justice and resilience.
1. Submit a Pursuit Session Proposal.
Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network are currently accepting session proposals for the 2021 Climate Action Pursuit. This is an opportunity to contribute your expertise and to help shape the Pursuit content! Visit the Pursuit Request for Proposals webpage for all of the information you'll need to know to be able to submit a proposal.
The proposal submission deadline is: end of the day, Monday, January 4, 2021.
2. Mark Your Calendar to Save the Dates of the Pursuit.
The Pursuit Milestone events will take place at four points during 2021. Although registration for the Pursuit is not open yet (very soon!), in the meantime, be sure to hold the following dates for the events!
- February 24-26, 2021
- June 10-11, 2021
- October 7-8, 2021
- December 9-10, 2021
3. Sign-Up to Receive Updates and Always Be in the Know.
Again, registration for the Pursuit will be open soon. In the meantime, you can sign-up to get "first dibs" on registering once it is available, and to get on the list to receive updates.
4. Visit the Pursuit Webpage to Learn More.
There is a lot of information on the Climate Action Pursuit webpage, and more information will be continually added as it becomes available, so be sure to visit the webpage repeatedly. For example, information about how to register for the Pursuit (when available), the agenda for the Milestones, and much more.
Photo by David Pisnoy on Unsplash
5. Become a Pursuit Sponsor.
Partnerships with sponsors are an essential component for the success of the Climate Action Pursuit. We are expecting hundreds of Pursuit participants from 100+ campuses to discuss the urgent and unprecedented actions we can take to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.
Taking climate action takes all of us. Here's an opportunity to be part of a brand new and unique effort in 2021.
For more information, please check-out our Partner and Sponsor Brochure, and if you have any questions, please contact Eric Howard.
Photo by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash
BONUS BULLETIN
Our Statement re: the Appointment of Former Secretary of State John Kerry
Last week, we issued a statement in regard to President-elect Biden's announcement that he was appointing former Secretary of State John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
We are both thrilled with this appointment, and that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration are placing such emphasis on climate.
Introducing the Climate Leadership Network's Logo!
We recently went through a branding exercise with a graphic designer to clearly define the value proposition of Second Nature and our key programs.
During these conversations, we realized that while we describe the Climate Leadership Network as institutions that have signed one of the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments, the Network itself doesn’t have brand recognition, or a logo that represents the collection of institutions that have made these bold commitments. Until now.
We are excited to introduce you to the new Climate Leadership Network logo.
In the new logo, you will notice there are variously sized nodes, depicting a diversity in the Network’s signatory institutions. There are also solid and dashed lines representing different types of connections between signatories in the network. We want to demonstrate a flexible, engaged and interconnected Network, not a rigid hub and spoke organization that forces its signatories into a one-size-fits-all, top-down structure.
New Logo
Derivative
Questions? Contact Us at communications@secondnature.org
We Are Still In (WASI) Statement
More Than 1,500 Make Their Voice Heard, Including Many of You
This past Saturday, December 12th, marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. In conjunction with this anniversary, We Are Still In (WASI), which like many of you, we are a part of, issued a cross-sectoral statement on climate and recovery headed into 2021 and beyond.
Thank you to all of you who signed onto the initial release of the statement. In doing so, you helped to ensure that the voice of the higher education sector was heard. If you have not yet signed onto the statement, however are interested in still doing so, you still can! Note that you do not need to have previously signed onto WASI to be part of this statement.
Image Credit: We Are Still In (WASI)
MONTHLY MERIT
UC Merced Achieves Scope 1 & 2 Carbon Neutrality
At the beginning of December, Climate Leadership Network signatory University of California Merced announced that they have achieved Scope 1 and 2 carbon neutrality.
Achieving carbon neutrality in any form is no easy feat, and we are ecstatic to congratulate the University on reaching this milestone. We look forward to continuing to work with UC Merced to further accelerate their climate action efforts.
Albion College & Houghton College Rejoin the Climate Leadership Network
Albion College (Albion, Michigan), a liberal arts institution, has rejoined the Climate Leadership Network by signing the Climate Commitment of the Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments.
Congratulations to Albion College for making climate action a priority, and welcome back to the Network!
Houghton College (Caneadea, New York), a Christian liberal arts college, has also rejoined the Climate Leadership Network by signing the Carbon Commitment of the Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments.
Congratulations to Houghton College on making a formal commitment to climate action, and welcome back!
RAPID RECOGNITIONS
UD Carbon Neutrality Research Paper Wins Award
The University of Dayton recently announced that they won an award - the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2020 Sustainability Research Award - for a paper focused on carbon neutrality.
Congratulations to both the University of Dayton and the research paper's authors!
Three Climate Leadership Network Signatories Accelerating Their Climate Action
Researchers from Cornell University, Clarkson University, and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, will be working in partnership with the New York Power Authority's (NYPA) new climate science training program.
Congratulations to all three higher ed institutions and NYPA on this great climate and community-focused partnership!
Loyola University Chicago Opens New SES
Last week, Loyola University Chicago announced that they would be opening a new School of Environmental Sustainability on their campus.
On Monday (December 14th), they hosted a grand opening of the SES.
Congratulations to Loyola in accelerating their climate action in this way!
UW-Madison & Wisconsin DNR in Partnership Provide Data to Governor's Task Force on Climate Change
This past summer, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts or WICCI), provided scientific climate change data to the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change.
This contribution to the task force was through a report, and also focused on equity issues.
Last week it was publicly announced that the Governor's Task Force provided a 120-page report of climate change-related policy recommendations to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers last month.
Congratulations to UW-Madison for being able to make an important contribution to the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change!
UIC Joins in a Research Partnership with Braskem
Earlier this week, Braskem - the biggest polyolefins maker in the Americas (North and South America) - announced a research partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), focused on developing a new way to manufacture sustainable plastics.
Congratulations to UIC on what sounds like a great partnership!
RELEVANT RESOURCES
Recent Webinars - Watch for Free
December Policy Update Available!
The December issue of our Monthly Policy Updates - the last Policy Update for 2020 - is available to read!
Don't miss any of the 2021 Updates; subscribe here to get on the list.
Climate Change & the Right to Education
UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), recently released Working Paper 12: the Impact of Climate Displacement on the Right to Education. The Working Paper is focused on how people's right to education is affected when they are displaced due to climate change.
To learn more about climate displacement, UNESCO's Impact of Climate Displacement on the Right to
Education, and to access the Working Paper, click here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Free e-Books Available Until 12/31
Island Press currently has numerous e-books focused on climate change and sustainability available for free.
According to an Island Press email, 12 e-books will be available for free until December 31, 2020.
EV Collaborative: You Can Still Join!
Earlier this Fall, we announced that we had become an official partner with the Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative in support of the Collaborative's expansion of their cohort of colleges and universities making the transition to Electric Vehicle (EV) fleets.
If your college/university is considering making the switch to EV, this Collaborative can help you accelerate that transition.
For more information on the Collaborative and how to join, please see our recent webinar with representatives from UCLA Fleet Procurement, Climate Mayors, and the Electrification Coalition and/or contact Sarah Reed (sreed@electrificationcoalition.org).
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Join the Race Today, Because Tomorrow is Too Late
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and as noted in a blog post by The Climate Reality Project, if the global average temperature increases 1.5°C, it will most likely be a "point of no return", causing life threatening conditions across the planet.
Second Nature is a partner in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC), Race to Zero (R2Z) Campaign*. As a partner, we are helping to build higher education’s support for multi-sector, global climate action leading up to COP26.
Take climate action on the global level, and join the race to zero.
Questions? RacetoZero@secondnature.org
*Race To Zero is a global campaign to mobilize leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors, and higher education institutions for a Healthy, Resilient and Fair, Zero Carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.
Image Credit: Race to Zero Campaign
Courtesy Post re: A Job Opportunity
The University of Arizona Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor position with anticipated start date in August 2021. The desired candidate is an interdisciplinary scholar who can develop a vibrant research program focused on atmospheric sciences.
Second Nature will be closed for the holidays, Thursday,
December 24, 2020 - Friday, January 1, 2021. We will reopen (remotely) on Monday, January 4, 2021.
Even in the unprecedented year that 2020 became, your commitment to accelerating climate action was more evident than ever before.
Thank you.
Please have a safe and healthy holiday season, however you may be celebrating, and we look forward to continuing our climate work with you in the New Year!
Happy Holidays
- Your Second Nature Team
Photo by Adam Chang on Unsplash
Accelerate Your Climate Awareness.
Subscribe to our Implementer list to get this e-newsletter automatically every month if you aren't already, and you can also subscribe for some of our other lists as well.
 |  |  |  |  |  |
18 Tremont Street, Suite 608
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
