Climate Education & Community Engagement

Online Course
September 8 – October 4, 2026

Duration: 4-week online course (Sept 8 – Oct 4, 2026).
Certificate: Cornell University certificate (PDF), documenting 25 professional development hours.
Audience: Educators, community leaders, NGO practitioners, students, volunteers, and others interested in climate education and community-based action.
Focus: Practical climate education that helps learners understand climate change, communicate it clearly, and connect it to local communities and action.
Approaches: Explore climate literacy, climate communication, local risk and asset mapping, community engagement, youth agency, and climate resilience.
Final project: Create a practical nature education lesson plan (or program activity plan) for your setting.

Why take this course?

Climate change is not only a scientific issue. It is also an educational, social, and community challenge. Educators and community practitioners are often asked to help learners understand climate change, respond to climate anxiety, and identify meaningful ways to act. This course supports you to connect climate knowledge with local experience, public communication, and practical community engagement.

This course helps you:

Build a clear and accurate foundation in climate literacy for educational and community settings.
Learn how to communicate climate change to youth, families, and community members in ways that are understandable, constructive, and action-oriented.
Explore how climate change connects to local risks, community assets, equity, adaptation, resilience, and public participation.
Compare case studies of climate education and community engagement from different contexts.
Design a practical climate education or engagement plan that can be adapted to your own setting.
Join a global learning community of educators, practitioners, students, and community leaders working on climate learning and action.

What you will do

Using your own program, school, organization, community, or project idea, you will:

Learn from research-informed materials, short videos, case studies, and peer discussions.
Identify a climate issue that matters in your local or professional context.
Practice explaining climate change to a specific audience, such as youth, parents, community members, or public stakeholders.
Map local climate risks, community assets, and potential partners.
Explore strategies for moving from climate awareness to meaningful learning, participation, and action.
Draft and refine a climate education or community engagement plan.
Submit a short final project outlining your plan and practical next steps.

Course experience

Format: Asynchronous weekly modules with videos, readings, case studies, discussion prompts, and practical activities.
Live component: Optional live webinar or discussion session, recorded for participants who cannot attend live.
Workload: About 4 to 5 hours per week for 4 weeks, including the final project, for approximately 25 professional development hours.
Technology: Course modules and discussions are hosted in EdX Edge. Live sessions use Zoom.
Learning approach: Social learning, reflection, and practical application. Participants learn by applying course ideas to their own context and exchanging examples, resources, and feedback with peers.

Is this course for me?

No prior background in climate science is required. The course is open globally and is designed for learners who want to connect climate education with real-world engagement and action.

This course is designed for:

School, informal, and community educators who want to teach climate change in clear and constructive ways.
NGO and nonprofit practitioners designing climate, sustainability, youth, or community programs.
Community leaders and volunteers working on local climate action, adaptation, resilience, or public participation.
University students and early-career professionals building a foundation in climate education and community engagement.
Parents, caregivers, and family educators who want practical ways to support youth climate learning and agency.
Environmental education professionals who want to update existing programs with a stronger climate focus.

Meet your course team

The course is offered by the Cornell Civic Ecology Lab, with support from researchers, graduate students, and teaching assistants who help facilitate discussions, workshops, and participant support.

Fish Yu (Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment). Fish received a Master of Science from Cornell University specializing in public participation and climate governance. Over the past two decades, Fish has worked with environmental educators and sustainability practitioners worldwide.

Professor Marianne Krasny (Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment). Marianne is a widely cited scholar in environmental education and civic ecology and the author of multiple books, including research articles that informed this course.

Alex Kudryavtsev (Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment). Alex is a sustainability education and urban environmental education researcher. One of his published articles describes a framework of nature education.

Hamid Nikzad (Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment). Hamid is a graduate student in our department. He conducts research on agriculture, human well-being, and climate change. He serves as the course administrator, and will be happy to answer your questions.

Tuition

We use tiered pricing to keep the course accessible to educators worldwide while covering course development and facilitation costs. A limited number of competitive, need-based scholarships will be available.

$90 – Standard fee – Participants residing in the United States, Canada, European countries, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mainland China, Taiwan, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand.
$20 – Reduced fee – Participants residing in all other countries.

Competitive scholarship – Apply by 11:59pm ET, September 1, 2026 (awards announced on September 4, 2026). Complete this Word document before registering for the course. You will save this file as PDF, and upload it as part of the online registration.

Credential

Participants who complete the course requirements (weekly work plus final project) will receive a Cornell University certificate in Climate Education & Community Engagement (PDF) documenting 25 professional development hours.

Questions?

Contact our course administrator at CivicEcology@cornell.edu and include “CECE” in the subject line.

We look forward to learning with you and to supporting your efforts to design environmental education programs that create meaningful outcomes for people, communities, and the environment.