Videos & Events
Conference: Building Public and Political Will for Climate Action
October 15 – 17, 2015
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Our fall 2015 conference focused on the art and science of building public and political will for climate action. It included the themes of strategies and tactics to build public will, how to use public will to influence political will (the decisions of elected officials), recent advances in microtargeting, messaging, mobilization, and deep organizing; paid, earned, and social media engagement strategies; case studies of current field campaigns; how to expand the tent (e.g., engaging Republicans, the faith community, minorities, youth, etc.), and strategies to better coordinate the diverse climate community. We hosted an exceptional group of leading scholars, campaign organizations, and funders from across the US.
Program Overview:
Thursday, October 15
Opening Keynote Address including short films by Louie Schwartzberg, Blacklight Films: “What’s Possible” and “People’s Climate March NYC 2014”
Friday, October 16
Session 1: Using Public Will to Influence Political Will
Case Study: Lessons from the Health Care Campaign
Session 2: The Current State of Public & Political Will
Session 3: Mass Strategies
Session 4: Deep Organizing
Keynote Address by Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org: Where We Are, How We Got Here, and Where the Hell Are We Going?
Saturday, October 17
Session 5: Field Campaigns to Build Public & Political Will
Session 6: Engaging Republicans
Session 7: Organizing Climate Communities
Concluding Keynote Address by Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus: Building a Transformative Movement for Climate Justice – Or What Winning at Climate Looks Like.