Gonzaga offers new Certificate in Climate Action Planning

Gonzaga University is offering a new certificate program designed to teach students how to achieve their community’s climate goals.

Certificate in Climate Action Planning will be offered this fall, according to a university news release.

Brian Henning, director of the Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment, and Kara Odegard, former Spokane City Council manager of Sustainability Initiatives and founder of the social impact consulting company Measure Meant, will co-teach the 18-week online class.

Henning said the program is perhaps the first of its kind in the nation. It will consist of one 90-minute class a week, with other work throughout the week. The program has received a great deal of interest from students, Henning said.

The course will cover working with politically diverse stakeholders, strategies for accounting for and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, how to conduct climate impact assessments, community engagement and more, according to the release. No prior knowledge or experience is required.

Henning said the program is meant to be practical and help people who might work in public works, emergency management and other fields in which they are being asked to do work related to climate action planning.

“Helping communities create concrete plans to confront the climate crisis is urgent work,” Henning said in the release. “The center launched this new professional certificate as part of its mission to provide resources and opportunities to meet the unprecedented challenges facing humanity and the wider natural environment in the 21st century.”