Developing a curriculum for a summer school on climate change

The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites – North Carolina (CICS-NC) is developing a curriculum for a Summer School on Climate Change (S2C2), the first of which will be held in Asheville, North Carolina between June 20 and July 15, 2011. The paper will describe the development of the curriculum. The theme of the S2C2 2011 is Adaptation to Climate Change. From individual households and firms, to cities, states, and regions, the extent of climate change impacts varies upon different sectors such as agriculture, energy, engineering, forestry, public health, and water resources. The S2C2 2011 course is built around a combination of keynote lectures, team exercises and specialized workshops aimed at tackling several aspects of adaptation to climate change. These activities are designed to provide the necessary skills in the participants to generate policy relevant information. Activities are designed to close the gap between climate change science and decision making, looking into short, medium and long term cost-efficient and feasible adaptation actions. A better understanding of expected climate change impacts on key sectors, and their possible response to these changes, will help participants design more climate resilient projects and development plans.