Development of a National Climate Adaptation Forum: Action Today for a Better Tomorrow

A team of Switzer fellows led by Lara Hansen and I are interested in developing the first national conference and professional development event around climate change adaptation and are seeking the input of other Switzer fellows.  Because climate change adaptation is an emerging field with practitioners from varied disciplines many practitioners often work in isolation as they push forward to integrate climate change adaptation into their respective organizations. While many professional societies are expanding to include climate adaptation as part of their dialogue we recognize that this does not achieve a critical mass for networking and professional development. The kind of meeting that we are proposing is unique in its focus on bringing together practitioners from a wide array of federal, state, and local government with NGO, industry, private and academic institutions that don’t always have opportunities for cross pollination of ideas and experiences.  This is truly a cross sector collaborative endeavor that brings a wide range of practitioners into a forum to support information exchange, professional development, and opportunities to create new and innovative partnerships that are essential to addressing the myriad of challenges associated with climate change.

 We have already done extensive “market research” by contact federal, state and local government agencies, NGOs, and academics to gauge interest in such an event. Everyone has recognized the need an indicated interest. To date we have a list of over 40 people interested in helping to make the meeting happen and want to expand this to our fellow Switzer family for input and participation. 

We look forward to your ideas!

Best, Amber and Lara