Training
The eleven-week curriculum includes interactive lectures, discussion, resources and readings, case studies, and group activities to master important concepts related to best practices for land and water stewardship as well as mitigating extreme weather events, flooding, temperature extremes, and more. The curriculum modules cover these important topics:
- Module 1: Orientation to the Program
- Module 2: Intro to Science Basics
- Module 3: Intro to Impacts of Changing Climatic Factors
- Module 4: Working with Local Governments & Communities
- Module 5: Intro to Mitigation
- Module 6: Local Community Mitigation Strategies
- Module 7: Intro to Adaptation
- Module 8: Local Community Adaptation Strategies
- Module 9: Effective Science Communication
- Module 10: Presenting Volunteer Project Plans
- Module 11: Evaluation & Recognition
Volunteer Component
After completing the training, volunteers need to fulfill 40+ hours of work on a project in their community in order to become a certified Cornell Climate Steward. Volunteers can work individually or in a group and can focus on an assessment or planning project, grant writing, CSC certification action, or an education program. During the eleven-week program, trainees will identify a local project that is needed in their community (this may be related to the Climate Smart Communities Program) and work with other local volunteers and municipal officials on their planning, mitigation, adaptation, or education project.
Examples of past projects include supporting a municipality to adopt the CSC pledge, working on a watershed management plan, conducting a riparian buffer project, or working with the local library system or school district on a local education program. All of these projects can also help a municipality earn points towards their CSC certification. A volunteer must continue to log 40+ hours on volunteer project related to the program to retain Cornell Climate Steward status in subsequent years. This program is modeled after other successful Extension Master Volunteer programs, including the Master Gardener and Master Naturalists program, through which hundreds of thousands of volunteers have been trained across the United States.