Taking Bold Climate Action Together

Over the last couple of years, the Community Environmental Council (CEC) has dramatically increased its efforts to combat climate change on the Central Coast. The 50-plus-year-old nonprofit has developed a bold and aggressive strategic plan to do “twice as much, twice as fast.” This includes doubling its programming and geographic service area to include San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties, and growing the staff to vastly expand its proven formula for developing and scaling innovative, rapid, and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. 

Mid-2023 saw the opening of CEC’s first-of-its-kind Environmental Hub in downtown Santa Barbara – a collaborative epicenter for community activism, education, entrepreneurship, media, and art – amping up its interactive approach.

“Reverse, protect, and repair are the central focus of everything we do,” says CEO Sigrid Wright. “But we can’t do it alone. To solve these issues, we need all corners of the community involved at a hands-on level.”

As part of its initiative to increase on-the-ground momentum to address and alleviate climate impacts, CEC has partnered with the University of California to launch the Central Coast’s only Climate Stewards certification program, open to anyone wanting to take an active role in creating and implementing climate solutions in their homes, workplaces, and communities. 

Addressing the doom-and-gloom scenario, participants learn about the psychology and science behind climate change and how to create connections and take action on a boots-on-the-ground level. 

“The cold hard facts of climate change can be overwhelming, but the program flips the script entirely,” says Wright. “People evaluate where their points of influence are, build a cohort, and learn the tools to act effectively in those areas.”

Each participant completes a capstone project in one of six areas that make a direct impact in communities throughout our region in a number of ways, large and small – from public education and nonprofit spaces to neighborhoods and community gardens. 

Among the 120+ Climate Steward graduates are a retired fashion expert from Ojai looking to do something to make an impact on the unsustainable “fast fashion” and manufacturing industry who created a website that includes information about the issue and how to shop second hand. A Ventura resident focused on helping her homeowners association get FIREWISE certified, while another alum designed a way to start a green team for her church in Lompoc. 

“The kind of breadth and depth of impact that Climate Stewards make is something we never could have done alone,” Wright says. “I can’t even begin to predict what these folks are going to come up with, but the beauty of the program is that everyday people are able to get the skills and tools needed to effect change where they live. They’re not just learning and going back to their daily lives – they are rippling out their knowledge and passion in really powerful ways.”

Looking ahead, CEC plans to adapt the Climate Stewards program for high school students. 

“They watch TikToks and Reels full of doomsday information, despondent and cynical about the future,” Wright says. “We want to disrupt that, reach them with a similar program so they head off to college or the workforce more motivated and excited to make a positive impact on climate change. That’s how we make a dramatic difference both today and long into the future.”