Open Climate Community Call 3/11/25 Recording-2025-03-06T17:28:37.897Z

Open Climate Community Meetings Overview

Focus

• Focus on the intersection of open data and climate change.

• Goal is to establish a community space for sharing ideas and work at the intersection of open practices and climate action.

• Inclusivity is critical, with considerations for various time zones to engage participants from around the world, enhancing collaboration across diverse backgrounds.

• Strong emphasis on leveraging open data as a necessary tool to tackle climate issues, advocating for its role in mobilizing knowledge, innovation, and technology toward effective climate action.

Objectives of the Community

• Create a platform for community members to share their work, research, and experiences related to open climate data.

• Address the prevalent lack of focus on open data within climate discussions, emphasizing its role in promoting access to knowledge and driving climate action initiatives.

• Aim to raise awareness about the critical importance of openness in combating climate change, encouraging transparency and community engagement.

• Seek to develop a framework for understanding how open data can help in policy-making and fostering community-led climate initiatives.

Meeting Structure

• Meetings follow a structured agenda to ensure effectiveness:

  • Welcoming remarks and reminders of the meeting's purpose to set the tone.

  • Networking opportunities for participants to meet and engage with others working in similar areas, facilitating collaboration.

  • Breakout sessions designed for specific problem workshops, allowing participants to discuss challenges and share innovative ideas:

    • Participants are encouraged to volunteer in tackling problems in smaller groups, fostering more intimate and productive conversations.

    • Sharing insights from breakout discussions to disseminate learning outcomes that could benefit the wider community.

  • Discussion of current events related to climate change, examining its implications on both global and local scales.

  • Closing remarks summarizing the meeting and planning for future gatherings to maintain momentum.

Community Engagement Activities

• Icebreaker activities are organized to foster connections among participants, encouraging rich discussions about personal backgrounds, motivations, and current projects.

• Workshops that focus on specific problems or questions to allow for collaborative brainstorming, fostering innovation in approach and solutions.

• Opportunities to explore diversity in climate data and access challenges:

  • Highlighting the importance of training on how to effectively interpret and utilize climate data to its fullest potential.

  • Encouraging impactful storytelling that resonates emotionally with the public to drive advocacy and support for climate initiatives.

The Role of Open Data in Climate Solutions

• Importance of unrestricted access to data for informed and effective climate action:

  • Open data acts as a catalyst for learning, innovation, and informed decision-making on a global scale.

• The crucial role of journalists and storytellers in effectively communicating complex data to the public, transforming raw data into compelling narratives.

• Highlighting the need for improved access to data from federal sources (such as census data) while discussing barriers that currently inhibit data collection and transparency efforts in climate action.

Current Projects and Initiatives

• An ongoing project spearheaded by the Open Environmental Data Project (OEDP) to archive federal datasets that are at risk of being lost:

  • Includes tailored initiatives aimed at environmental data preservation, crucial for maintaining historical records and supporting future research.

• A call for volunteers to support data preservation efforts and to keep the community informed about the evolving landscape of open data relevant to climate action.

Next Steps

• Upcoming meetings will consider rotating times to accommodate participants in different time zones, maximizing global participation and inclusivity.

• Communication of future meeting details will be conducted via email, fostering sustained engagement and continuing to expand the community's reach.