University of Minnesota, Duluth
IN-24: Innovation A

In March 2019, UMD hosted a 2-day summit focusing on climate change and where our region is headed. Central to the conference were conversations about future planning and how communities can adapt to climate change in Minnesota. Sixteen sessions and a keynote address were held over the course of the two days. Panelists included representatives from academia, government, businesses, and community. The keynote was delivered by a Harvard professor who studies climate migration and planning and drew a large crowd from both the local community, university faculty & staff, and students. This summit was the first of its kind for UMD, both in size and scope, as well as topic and audience. The summit and its content has certainly generated ripple effects throughout the community and pushed climate change planning to the forefront of conversations across Duluth. The event was an interdisciplinary collaboration between many groups at UMD, being hosted by the UMD Research Scholarship and Creative Activities Committee and Institute on the Environment at UMD, with financial support from the UMD Distinguished Visiting Speakers Series Endowment, University for Seniors, Natural Resources Research Institute, and Minnesota Sea Grant. The event garnered national press coverage with articles in publications like the New York Times (link to story below) and Newsweek.