Several states have already held workshops, convenings, and working group meetings focused on launching a climate corps program or network in their states. Examples are provided below from Washington and Maine.
Example from Washington
In 2023, Serve Washington convened existing service programs in the state to discuss climate corps network legislation and to solicit feedback on the design and implementation if the bill were to pass. A summary memo on the outcomes of the meeting is available.
Washington Climate Service Corps
Program Conversation
Two hours virtual
Overview
Project intent
- The Governor is working with legislators to advance a bill (1176 in house, 5247 in senate) and supportive funding to empower service programs to play a more central role in state climate action. ServeWA, supported by Farallon Strategies, has been working with the Governor’s Office on the scope of this bill and the funding scale. We are inviting existing service programs to join a conversation designed to identify the best ways to work together to respond to the state’s climate crisis and support the governor’s climate action goals.
Conversation purpose
- Bring service programs together to gather input on implementation of the Climate Service Corps
Intent for outcomes
- Identify important opportunities, challenges, and coordination approaches.
- Share feedback with the Governor’s office for further refinement of this initiative.
Agenda
Welcome & Introductions (15 minutes)
Please be prepared to share your name, your role, and what (if anything) your program is doing in the larger climate field.
Overview (15 minutes)
We will provide a brief summary of the proposed climate service corps structure and funding and review our goals for today.
Benefits and Challenges (40 minutes)
As this is a new approach with a variety of elements, we want to be sure we talk as a community about how this will work. For this part of the conversation, we want to digest the proposal in order to lift up both benefits and potential challenges. For potential challenges, we will work to flag solutions that can be applied during implementation.
Break (5-minutes)
Programmatic and Outcome Coordination (40 minutes)
Critical to the success of this initiative is delivering a robust statewide climate action response in alignment with state priorities. Success will thus require an unprecedented level of coordination among programs functionally (e.g., for recruitment and training) and on outcomes (e.g., reporting, tracking). For this part of the conversation, we want to identify core elements of program and outcome coordination and identify what will be needed to deliver on this coordination.
Next Steps (10 minutes)
To close, we’ll talk briefly about next steps for the initiative and service programs’ involvement.
Example from Maine
In 2022, VolunteerMaine conducted a series of activities to help identify and define potential energy-focused service needs and opportunities. Below is the brief agenda from this meeting. An agenda and outcome report from this meeting are also available.
Maine Climate Corps Program Design Workshop
Fundamental Concepts and Elements
Four hours virtual
This is a work session to explore energy education and outreach-based projects for a Maine Climate Corps. All attendees will participate in whole and small group design activities in a virtual meeting format.
Objective: Solicit feedback from experts in Maine to inform the development of an energy education and outreach program. This feedback will be used to shape a new climate corps program as designated by the legislature in the 130th session. Additionally, there may be other pathways to an Energy Education and Outreach Climate Corps program, including the Maine Service Fellows and/or the AmeriCorps program.