Teach-in photos and videos

The Third Annual

A2 Climate Teach-in

May 4, 2025

Looking Back at a Celebration of Climate Action

Successes and Opportunities

Regardless of what's going on at the federal level regarding climate...

The Third Annual A2 Climate Teach-in was a grand demonstration of climate action successes and opportunities.

Inspiring personal stories of climate action success? Yep.

Impressive descriptions of commerical/congregational climate action achievements? Yes, indeed.

Direct contacts with local climate organizations and other resouces? Absolutely.

An opportunity to create one's own Personal Climate Action Plan? You betcha.

A big Thank You to all who attended the Third Annual A2 Climate Teach-in.

Nearly 200 attendees.
Lots of positive energy and enthusiasm.

And a big Thank You to everyone who contributed time, money, and expertise to make it happen.

Four Stories of Inspiration and Success

Julie Roth, Energy Manager, Office of Sustainability and Innovations, City of Ann Arbor

How did Julie go from being "a regular person with a lot of climate anxiety" to leading community-wide adoption of solar, building electrification, and energy efficiency; networked geothermal; commercial and residential building benchmarking; and greenhouse gas accounting?

Jan Culbertson, Operations Lead, Ann Arbor/Washtenaw 2030 District

Jan "knew I wanted to be an architect when I was in the ninth grade." She went on to a 37-year career as an architect, and now leads Operations for an organization which helps owner/manager/developers of over 1,500 buildings to make significant changes to their properties to transition to a low carbon economy.

Beth Gibbons, Director, Resiliency Office of Washtenaw County

"I had a realization as I was leaving high school that no matter what happened to my family, I would always be able to go home. There was a sense of network and support... that drove me to go as far as I could to foster that sense of community and support in all places." That led Beth on a career from international development to climate adaptation.

Dr. Denise Keele, Executive Director, Michigan Climate Action Network.

"You are the majority, the vast majority. Over 70% of Michiganders believe in and are concerned about climate change. But we don't act like that all the time... Local action has always led the way. We were doing climate action in Michigan all across the state before we had any federal policies and we're going to continue to do that again."

Breakout Sessions

Buildings Going Green (Session A)

Ed Lynn from the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor described how the congregation implemented a multi-year sustainability plan and how the concepts can be applied to other commercial buildings and homes. Rob Rafson of Solar Faithful presented financing options for congregations looking for economical ways to install solar.

Buildings Going Green (Session B)

Session B provided information from energy professionals. A first step in the path to decreasing a building’s carbon footprint is an energy audit. Nate Munson of EverGreen Energy Savers and Caleb Kline of Inclination Engineering provided information on audits, heat pumps and more. This breakout included a "Poster session" with local congregations and organizations displaying their carbon reduction stories.

Our Trash Tells a Story

Ann Arbor Public Schools' Freeman Environmental Youth Council organized and led a hands-on exercise to characterize our household trash and figure out what to do with it.

Climate Advocacy

Volunteers -- Like You -- Can Make a Real Difference in Climate Advocacy.

This session learned from a sampling of local climate advocacy organizations how they provide their volunteers with meaningful activities that have an impact and create a supportive community. Representatives provided descriptions of volunteer experiences at local climate action groups:

Citizens' Climate Lobby - Kris Olsson
Michigan Climate Action Network -- Denise Keele
Michigan League of Conservation Voters -- Arron McDonald
Third Act Michigan -- Jeff Jones

Resilience Hub: Defining and Visioning

Bryce Frohlich, Community Resilience Specialist for the City of Ann Arbor presented Giving Community Services a Longer Runway in the Climate Transition. Resilience Hubs are like snowflakes; each one is unique. Bryce explained how Resilience Hubs are designed and how the services provided out of Resilience Hubs give critical care providers a longer runway to serve their communities.

Personal Climate Action Plan. Find Your Passion; Find Your Niche

Many people want to engage in climate action but have a difficult time "finding their niche." This workshop helped participants assess their values, talents, and opportunities and leave the workshop with personal action steps and an understanding of a path forward.

What Did We Learn from the Trash -- and What Does It Mean for You?

Ann Arbor Public Schools' Freeman Environmental Youth Council

The Freeman Environmental Youth Council is a districtwide leadership group that brings students together from all five Ann Arbor Public Schools high schools to collaborate around critical environmental issues that affect young people today and in the future. Youth Council members work together to promote environmental literacy and carry out action projects that demonstrate and engage our school communities in stewardship and sustainability practices.

Student members of the Freeman Environmental Youth Council led a breakout session entitled "Our Trash Tells a Story." During this session they analyzed 35 pounds of household trash, and found that only 7 pounds actually needed to go to the landfill. The remainder went to recycling and composting.

When the Freeman Environmental Youth Council reported out at the closing session, they discussed the complex rules for recycling, and the need to bring less trash/packaging into the home to start with - plus engaging with the circular economy to lower the need for the production of new materials and keep larger items out of the trash stream.