The Cornell Climate Stewards Program is a 12-week training program for adults who want to work with their communities on a local climate action project. Once completing the twelve weeks of training, volunteers agree to contribute 40 hours over 1-year to complete a local climate community project to help their municipality become a “Climate Smart Community” in New York State. The Cornell Climate Stewards Program provides New York residents with the tools and network to help increase adaptation at a local level and increase mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Goals of the new Climate Stewards Training program include:

·         Increasing access to the most up-to-date land-grant university research on the science of climate change, impacts, adaptation, and mitigation, through a Cornell Cooperative Extension course for the adults in New York;

·         Establishing a network of volunteers committed to local climate action, who are empowered to develop and implement climate change stewardship and education projects in their community;

·         Expanding the reach of Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension to facilitate climate action at the local level; and

·         Providing support to municipalities in New York and the State to achieve their GHG emissions reduction and adaptation goals set out under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).