About

Signatories to the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) have made a public commitment to the bold and ambitious goal of climate neutrality. Higher education leads the United States in this regard as the only sector in the country to have collectively set a goal around climate. To date, more than 400 signatories have published their Climate Action Plans on the publicly available ACUPCC Reporting System. These plans lay out the roadmap for how these institutions will meet the goal of climate neutrality, along with the timeline for doing so. Schools face many challenges as they work to develop and implement their Climate Action Plans, and one of the key goals of the ACUPCC initiative is to develop a learning community that fosters collaboration and the sharing of best practices so that all institutions can move toward achieving climate neutrality as quickly as possible.

ACUPCC Regional Symposiums are not typical conferences – they are working sessions to foster dialogue and collaboration among ACUPCC signatories who are facing similar challenges and opportunities in their geographic regions. Bring your Climate Action Plan and your sustainability teams and come prepared to make significant headway in overcoming the obstacles to fulfilling the Commitment. You will come away with tangible resources, contacts, and ideas to support your efforts on campus. Because factors like electricity rates, government policies, energy supply, and public opinion vary widely across the country, each regional symposium will focus on strategies and solutions for addressing the key issues schools in that region confront. Sessions will be tailored to allow participants to engage in conversations on barriers to the implementation of their Climate Action Plans and brainstorm solutions and creative approaches for overcoming those barriers. Representatives from ACUPCC institutions work closely with Second Nature staff to create the agenda, identify speakers and panelists, and plan the working sessions.

ACUPCC Regional Symposiums will include a special focus on supporting the needs of under-resourced institutions and minority-serving institutions. Financial support may be available for qualifying minority-serving institutions and institutions classified as Title III and Title V of the Higher Education Act. For more information, please contact Ashka Naik at anaik@secondnature.org.