At Case Western Reserve University most students and faculty alike understand the major impact climate change has on our world. Knowing this, many in the CWRU community have come together to try and help mitigate this issue and to bring awareness to it.

Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published a 2022 report outlining this issue, discussing how “human-induced climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme events, has caused widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people, beyond natural climate variability.” Further, these trends will continue to worsen absent “deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.”

The CWRU Climate Action Network (CWRU CAN) encourages students, faculty and staff to engage in climate change education and action on campus. CWRU CAN is an interdisciplinary network that provides a wide range of engagement opportunities for diverse stakeholders centered around sustainability and climate change. 

To further engage and educate our campus community, CWRU CAN is organizing the university’s second “Climate Action Week.” The week kicks off with the annual Farm Harvest Festival at the University Farm on Saturday, Sep. 24. Over the course of the next week, a variety of events have been organized to provide context, advocacy and hands-on workshops to educate the campus on the responses and impact of climate change. 

From local ramifications to global challenges, Climate Action Week will be sponsoring a film highlighting Lake Erie, our local Great Lake, a discussion about Supreme Court cases and more. CWRU CAN invites the whole campus community to register and attend these events, the details for which can be found on the new CWRU CAN website. Throughout the week, the campus is encouraged to engage in the climate action and education efforts of the day by taking the pledge to be more sustainable. At the end of the week, CWRU CAN hopes our campus community will become more informed and more empowered to create large-scale positive change. 

Fall 2022 Climate Action Week Events:

• Wednesday, Sept. 21: Warm up for Climate Action Week with BikeCleveland’s Bike to Work Day! 

Join us during Climate Action Week for:

• Saturday, Sept. 24
  • Farm Harvest Festival, 1-6 p.m.
• Monday, Sept. 26
  • Thinkbox FixIt Workshop: Clothing Repair and Fast Fashion, 3 -7 p.m.
  • Undergraduate Research Society September General Body Meeting – Sustainability Workshop,  5:30- 6:15 p.m.
  • “Getting involved locally! How communities acquire electricity and why it matters to the CWRU community” 6-8 p.m.
• Tuesday, Sept. 27
  • Healing Spaces: An Environmental Justice Initiative: 9-10 a.m.
  • Climate Goes To Court: How recent and upcoming supreme court decisions are shaping climate policy: 5-7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 28
  • CCEL Climate Action Week Service Event, 1-3 p.m.
  • Film: The Erie Situation, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 29
  • Climate and Health Panel with Partners in Health Engage, American Medical Student Association and Public Health Association, 6-8 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 30
  • Fall 2022 Community Service Fair, 12:30–2 p.m.