U-M Climate Week 2026 View Other Sessions

This is event 2. Climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a public health issue that requires informed action and civic engagement. This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the role of advocacy in shaping climate and public health policy while highlighting current issues affecting Michigan communities. Attendees will learn how to effectively communicate with elected officials, gain an understanding of the legislative process, and participate in a guided letter-writing campaign focused on climate and public health initiatives. Hosted in collaboration with advocacy organizations, this workshop will empower students with the knowledge, resources, and confidence to use their voices to advance healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable communities.

Issues related to climate change often feel too big and too complicated to address meaningfully. Effective and equitable solutions require organizations to work together across sectors, fields, and disciplines. Researchers, educators, practitioners, advocates, and investors working in public and private sectors, in non-profit and for-profit spaces, need to work together to tackle these multifaceted issues. This session presents a power shifting framework to see how your organization fits into the greater systems at work and how your piece connects to the work of others. This is an interactive session that will give you the chance to think about what you’re doing on climate and envision what collaboration looks like with those working on other pieces. You’ll learn about a specific mapping exercise that will help you collaborate across sectors and connect the dots on how we work collectively to make change to protect our climate and the communities impacted by Climate Change.

Registration

Join us for “A Breath of Fresh Air” and learn practices to refresh energy and reduce stress through mindful nature engagement. Registration encouraged.

Explore the many water-related research opportunities at the University of Michigan! Water is an essential resource for Michigan, providing sustenance to people and crops; transportation of goods; and income from recreation and tourism. As such, there are many opportunities at U of M related to water conservation, quality, and management. This event will feature a lightning-panel of five people involved in Michigan water issues research so that students can get a better idea of the research opportunities available to them and how to get involved. Each person will give a five minute presentation on their research, after which there will be thirty minutes of questions from the moderator and the audience. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided. This event is free and open to the public.

Come learn about efforts to amplify and accelerate Campus as Lab activities, linking research and academic activities of the institution to our own land, buildings and infrastructure. This coffee and networking event will include some informal tabling, lightning presentations highlighting examples of CAL projects underway, and an opportunity to tour Nancy Love’s lab for urine-to-fertilizer technology and research. Registration will help us plan for the coffee and snacks.

As the climate crisis accelerates, frontline communities face a polycrisis: skyrocketing utility bills, health burdens of environmental pollution, and water consumption and contamination due to an increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, many frontline communities are being left behind in the energy transition. Energy justice, the principle that all people should have access to affordable, clean energy and a say in their energy future, is fundamentally a social justice issue. Yet, the systemic intersection between energy systems and human well-being is rarely taught in traditional social work curricula. This panel brings together environmental advocates based in Oregon and Michigan to bridge this gap. Panelists will introduce what energy justice and energy democracy are, how they are impacting communities they work with, and how these issues connect to varied social justice issues.

How can international education remain transformative and accessible while becoming more environmentally responsible? 

Join students, faculty, staff, and international partners for a conversation about reducing the carbon emissions of education abroad, incorporating sustainability into program design, and fostering meaningful global learning that goes beyond tourism.

Panelists:

CJ Tremblay

Managing Director 

Alethea Global Cooperative

Eden Driscoll

International Programs Advisor

College of Engineering

Emilia Askari

Faculty

Program in the Environment

Julia Wheeler Ludden

Director of Partner Engagement

DIS Abroad

Talia Fedewa

Student

DRAFT: Spanning Ann Arbor and Detroit, panelists include:

FACILITATOR:
Jen Guarino, Industrial Sewing & Innovation Center (ISAIC) will facilitate.

PANELISTS:
Norihiko Taniguchi, CEO, ASICS Institute of Sports Science America LLC
Gretchen Valade, Director of Sustainability, Carhartt/Wylie Welling
Josh York, Founder, Soft Goods Detroit


September 28, 29, or 30 - 1 hour virtual panel


DISCUSSION FLOW:
Overview of the environmental impacts of the soft goods industry and why this conversation matters in the age of fast fashion
Setting a new vision for the future of fashion, apparel, and other areas within the soft goods industry: what can industry do differently and how are the panelists setting the tone for a new future?
How Detroit has emerged as a global center for a sustainable fashion movement: What are the ingredients that make Detroit uniquely suited as a home for this effort and how did they happen to converge here? (Norihko - why did ASICS choose Ann Arbor and how does Detroit’s fashion and sports scene support your efforts?)
What is your vision for the future of industry?
What can those listening today do to reduce their own climate footprints when it comes to the things they wear

Calling all students, faculty, and staff interested in sustainability on-campus! Select Flint students actively engaged in sustainability work on- and off-campus will present what they’ve learned in their recent sustainability experiences during lightning talks.

After the presentations, meet sustainability organizations and programs that provide sustainability opportunities that you can get involved in, including the upcoming Michigan Climate Action Fellowship.

Food will be provided!

Join the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), College of Engineering, Office of Campus Sustainability, and 50 States of Sustainability for an evening exploring innovative, locally grounded approaches to sustainability. The program will feature a screening of Episode #101 of 50 States of Sustainability, a PBS series highlighting people and communities across the country developing practical solutions to environmental challenges. Episode #101 brings together three compelling stories: a solar farm that produces both renewable energy and food through agrivoltaics; the founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute reflecting on the critical role of energy efficiency; and an 11-year-old beekeeper making the case for protecting bees and pollinators.

Following the screening, a diverse panel of University of Michigan faculty, sustainability practitioners, local leaders, and 50 States of Sustainability representatives will explore the connections among clean energy, agriculture, land use, energy efficiency, and biodiversity.

In this keynote address for the School of Social Work, Rebecca Weston will speak about the field of Climate Psychology and the vital role social workers can play in addressing the profound and intersecting challenges of our time. Recognizing that the word “climate” itself is coded and freighted with emotion and risk, Rebecca will address the challenge of naming. Framing our role as “witnesses,” and placing the climate crisis in the context of an overlapping array of existential threats, Rebecca will also speak on the very specific mental health impacts of extreme weather and the complex ways in which individuals, groups, communities and societies manage exceptionally hard feelings about climate change. She will then explore the spiral of silence and what it means to turn “anxiety into action.” Referencing both the dangerous rise of authoritarianism and the hopeful emergence of a collective, democratic response, Rebecca will conclude with a perspective on finding meaning, the power of our voice and an approach to activism that is both sustainable and hopeful.