Micro-credentials

The Climate Justice Leadership Alliance empowers students, staff, and faculty with the knowledge and skills to advance both environmental and social justice efforts by understanding its interdependence. The purpose of this alliance is to illuminate the direct correlation of environmental and social justice work which, in turn, creates an opportunity for student leadership and action surrounding this work on CU campus and beyond. This group builds a community of change agents, explores questions of identity and place, heritage and inheritance, root causes of the global oppression and disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis, recognizes existing leadership and efforts, and creates community- based solutions. We examine individual actions and identities as well as global institutions, world views, and different approaches to ecological systems and design. We will also meet with and learn from practitioners in the field.

The alliance aims to facilitate deep discussion, meaningful reflection, and solutions-focused thinking to activate voices and actualize potential. Participants will benefit from a dynamic co-curricular experience and gain knowledge and skill sets with widespread application and value. These learnings will be put into practice through collaboration with the campus and community Climate Justice planning efforts which will have real world impact.

Featured Events

Spring 2024 Events:

Fixing Food: Films and Discussion | Feb. 13 5:15-7:00 p.m.
Climate Justice Workshop: Ally and Accomplice Training | March 2 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Latino/a Advocacy Day | March 17 and 18
Farm and Feast | April 27 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Focus

Develop and implement Campus and Community Actions for Climate justice.
Attain experience and tools to make an impact with collaborative community projects.
Build contemporary DEI-based leadership skills.

Participants will gain

Pride in their tangible community impacts.
Resume-building experience.
Peer networking.
Earn Climate Justice Leadership Alliance micro-credential badge.

Who should participate?

This program is geared to all students, faculty, and staff. This will be a safe and inclusive space for all to participate regardless of level and identity.
There is no participation fee.

Students participating in the Climate Justice Leadership Alliance will have the opportunity to receive a Micro-credential from the Environmental Center for participation if a minimum number of requirements are accomplished throughout the semester. However, participation in the monthly meeting, training and events is still available to anyone interested despite their desire to earn the Micro-credential.

Micro-credential Criteria

Attend 2 out of 4 monthly gatherings offered each semester.
Attend 1 half day training offered each semester with a 1-pg reflection paper.
Attend at least 1 event centering climate justice outside of CJLA with a 1-pg reflection summary.
Submit a final reflection at the end of the program with plans to integrate lessons learned.

Sustainability Innovation

Enroll here

The Sustainability Innovation micro-credential provides students with a foundational understanding of sustainability and an overview of projects and initiatives implemented at CU. Students will participate in workshops that will teach them creative problem-solving techniques, proposal development and how to engage stakeholders. They will receive a one-on-one mentoring session to get feedback and finish with a capstone implementing the newly learned skills in a project proposal or presentation.

To earn the Sustainability Innovation micro-credential in Spring 2024, students will need to:

Take the CU: Sustainability Skillsoft course
Attend the Design Thinking for Sustainability Workshop on Feb. 22, 2024. Participants will learn how to use the design thinking process to explore problems, work in a team to come up with solutions and practice presenting them. Students will also learn circular design strategies and work together to use those strategies to re-design an everyday product to make them more sustainable. Dinner will be provided to participants!
Attend a project development workshop in March (Exact date TBD). This workshop covers idea testing, proposal development, pitch formulation, stakeholder engagement and systems thinking. Students will gain feedback and tools to build out and identify support for project proposals.
Complete a one-on-one mentoring session to test and validate project ideas.
Capstone presentation. Participants will share their project in one or more of the following formats:
- Applied-learning class project proposal/presentation
- President’s Sustainable Solutions Challenge presentation
- Climate Action Expo presentation

Foundations in Sustainable Leadership

Apply here

The Foundations in Sustainable Leadership Program will be offered in Fall 2023 by the CU Environmental Center. This six-week program will introduce students to the foundational sustainability concepts needed to understand the challenges society faces while exploring the skills that leaders working in sustainability need to tackle the challenges. The program is designed as a collaborative learning experience with interactive discussions, activities, and reflections to enrich knowledge, cultivate leadership skills, and connect with other students who want to make an impact. It uses the Social Model of Leadership development to introduce students to leadership as a process to create social change. Students who complete the program requirements will earn a micro-credential. Join us to explore, engage, and empower yourself to be part of the change you would like to see in the world.

Program Details

Important Dates

Dates: October 10 - November 14
Weekly meetings: Tuesdays from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Priority deadline for applications: Friday, September 22
Deadline to apply: Wednesday, October 4th

Criteria

To earn the micro-credential students will need to:

Attend at least 4 of 6 meetings
Take an assessment at the end of the program
Submit a one-page reflection on what you have learned and gotten out of the program

Main menu

Search

Other ways to search:

Breadcrumb