Climate change will have tremendous impacts on every human community across the globe. However, because of the context of both how climate is changing and how communities are organized and function, it can be disastrous to apply the same solutions across the board. This course will teach you the basic principles needed to identify the dynamics and needs of each community, build on its strengths, and adopt best practices and practical frameworks for adapting climate change solutions to local contexts.
Community-Based Climate Change Solutions
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level
Recommended experience
2 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
Describe the circumstances and issues under which it makes sense to act at the community level to promote environmental and societal change.
Explain how communities work and what motivates them to come together to confront and find collective solutions to environmental and social problems.
Identify approaches and tools you can use to facilitate the process by which communities come together to work for change.Â
Details to know
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Recently updated!
February 2026
Assessments
4 assignments
Taught in English
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There are 4 modules in this course
In this module, you will explore the rationale for working at the community level for climate change solutions and the basic principles for building effective and equitable approaches for doing so. You will apply what you have learned by reflecting on your own experience of “community” and by responding to a series of questions about basic principles of community climate solutions and how they manifest in a case study.
What's included
6 videos10 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
In this module, you will explore various theories about how communities work, what motivates them to come together to confront and find collective solutions to environmental and social problems, and the barriers that can keep them from doing so. You will apply what you have learned by exploring a number of case studies that illustrate these theories through examples from communities around the world and completing a quiz at the end of the module to assess your comprehension.
What's included
5 videos5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
In this module you will explore the rationale for including the communities impacted by climate change in envisioning and enacting solutions and some of the methods you can employ for doing so. You will apply what you have learned by exploring a number of case studies that illustrate the power and potential pitfalls of these methods through examples from communities around the world and by completing a quiz at the end of the module to assess your comprehension.
What's included
4 videos5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
In this module, you will explore community organizing strategies for defining and motivating collective action and techniques for effectively communicating and changing behavior to enact your movement’s climate change solutions. You will apply what you have learned by reviewing concrete examples and planning how you might use these organizing and messaging techniques to advance climate action where you live.
What's included
4 videos5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Instructor
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