The CSU Climate Hub has formally been launched. The launch event at CSU Spur on Tuesday, October 14, brought together nearly 200 participants from across the state for engaging conversations and networking.
The day opened with a public event, “Colorado Climate Futures”, which featured some of CSU’s most innovative researchers and invited the audience to flip the script and see climate change as an opportunity for improvement and innovation. For more details, see the event description and agenda below.
Later in the evening, Colorado’s climate leaders from academia, industry, government and civil society, joined the Climate Hub team for an invitation-only reception that featured remarks from CSU President Amy Parsons, the Associate Vice President of CSU Spur and Special Projects Jocelyn Hittle, as well as the CSU Climate Hub Director Veera Mitzner.
The reception demonstrated Colorado’s unique quality as a dynamic and collaborative space to advance cross-sectoral and evidence-informed climate work.
We look forward to working with everyone who attended – as well as other future partners – to pursue climate solutions in Colorado and beyond.
Climate Change is the opportunity of our lifetime: According to Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans say climate change currently affects their local community either a great deal or some.1 While those impacts cause hardship, affect livelihoods and claim lives, they also open a window to a different future that can be either radically better or worse, depending on the course of action we take. They also have the potential of rallying communities around a common cause and of helping us rethink our direction as a society.
At the same time, public discussion about climate futures remains centered on often narrow solutions and quick technological fixes. While every innovation that helps us reduce greenhouse gas emissions or respond to the challenges of changing climate is important, what we also need is a broader vision of a positive climate future. We need shared dreams and direction.
This event invites a bold conversation about climate change that not only includes an update on future climate scenarios by Colorado’s leading scientists but also encourages the participants to imagine alternative futures. Climate change isn’t a problem we cannot solve, but it is a problem that needs to be addressed collectively across partisan and ideological divisions. And above all, it brings opportunities that can benefit us all.
This event marks the launch of the CSU Climate Hub at Spur. The Climate Hub provides climate services that connect science and innovation to real-world climate solutions. By helping partners access the knowledge, tools and expertise they need to make informed decisions and take action, the Climate Hub accelerates positive change across Colorado and beyond.
Climate change has global impacts, but what are the specific implications for Colorado? In this session, participants will be invited to share their expectations for how Colorado’s climate will change over the next century. They will then hear a presentation from the Colorado Climate Center and learn by the numbers just how much Colorado’s climate and hydrology have shifted so far. The Climate Center team will then discuss the changes that are expected to be in store for the state’s climate in the coming decades, including which projections they are most confident in and where questions remain.
Speakers:
Join us for an engaging session where we’ll help you envision positive climate futures in Colorado. We’ll start by exploring concepts of radical futures, why we need them, and the importance of understanding diverse perspectives and histories. Then, through an imaginative exercise, we will invite you to think creatively about how we might address and live with climate change, weaving in stories and viewpoints from different dimensions of culture, technology, community, and environmental conditions. We’ll wrap up by brainstorming actionable steps that can emerge from these collective visions, exploring how these ideas can inform real-world change.
Colorado State University produces innovative solutions to some of the greatest climate-related challenges. This session showcases some of the work that the CSU faculty is doing to not only understand climate change and its implications but also pave the way towards a more resilient and sustainable future.
Speakers:
The CSU Climate Hub at Spur connects research with real-world impact. It helps partners across Colorado access data, tools and expertise to make informed decisions and take meaningful action.
The Hub delivers climate services, supports collaborative programs and convenes events that advance innovation and resilience.
Explore Climate Services and Climate Programs to learn more about how the Hub works with communities and organizations.
Attendance is free but registration is required.
Register for Colorado Climate Futures
For additional information, contact csuclimatehub@colostate.edu.
October 14
3:00–5:00 p.m.
CSU Spur, Denver, Colorado
Free public event
