Penn will host its sixth annual Climate Week this week, featuring more than 50 scheduled events.
This year’s Climate Week, spanning Oct. 13-17, offers a diverse array of programming intended to both educate students on climate issues and encourage engagement in climate action. Many of the events — including panel discussions, hands-on workshops, research showcases, and more — are organized in partnership with various schools and organizations across Penn, mirroring the collaborative strategy outlined in the new Climate and Sustainability Action Plan.
The first Climate Week at Penn took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and consisted of roughly 40 virtual events.
The foundational premise was to create a “big tent” that would connect people working on climate-related issues across a myriad of disciplines. Now, Climate Week features a physical tent, where many of its events take place, open to anyone to participate.
“I think that has really helped increase the visibility and the welcoming nature of climate week,” Director of Environmental Innovations Initiative Katherine Baillie told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
This year’s theme is “Hot Spots,” which serves as a metaphor for both literal climate hotspots, such as melting polar glaciers, and figurative hotspots, like controversial political topics, according to Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies professor Simon Richter.
“Political hotspots are something we need to address,” Richter said in an interview with the DP. “This was a way of showing that during Climate Week, Penn is not shying away from topics that are of great concern regarding climate change.”
Climate Week gives event organizers broad agency over whether or not to incorporate the theme, but Richter said that faculty are “definitely addressing hotspots in both literal and metaphorical ways.”
One event echoing the theme is Wednesday’s Penn Climate Seminar with School of Social Policy & Practice assistant professor R. Jisung Park. Part of the new series started this fall, the seminar will explore the effects of extreme heat on health, learning, and labor.
This year, organizers sought to bring in more well-known speakers to increase turnout. Organizers recruited scientist and engineer Bill Nye, who will engage in a climate change conversation with Penn professor Michael Mann on Friday, and former Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeck, who will deliver both “1.5* Minute” climate lectures on Wednesday and a keynote lecture at Perry World House on Thursday.
“One thing we’ve been working on for a number of years was finding people who would have the kind of name recognition and appeal that would bring a whole lot of people into the room,” Richter said. “This year, we really nailed it.”
On Tuesday, Penn Sustainability will host a Green Fund pitch competition, a “‘Shark Tank’-style” event to hear several students’ ideas for projects that aim to improve campus sustainability.
The winner, selected by a panel of judges, will receive mentorship to apply for the Penn Green Fund from members of the judging panel and staff from the Environmental Innovations Initiative and Penn Sustainability.
“This is the idea of using Penn’s physical campus as a test bed for trying out new and innovative approaches to environmental sustainability, bringing in students and faculty and staff into that endeavor,” Baillie said.
Penn Vet will host a Bee the Change event on Thursday, allowing participants to help build bee hotels to support native populations and learn more about bees’ responses to climate change from researchers.
“Sometimes the climate emergency can feel so large and you have no space to find your voice in it,” Penn Sustainability Director Nina Morris told the DP. “This is a very tangible way to, in the middle or at the end of your day, do something that can help support a specific climate action.”
Other partners this year include Penn Dining, Wellness at Penn, Penn Career Services, the Kelly Writers House, Morris Arboretum, Penn Farm, and more.
