The inaugural Kentucky Climate Symposium will bring together students and experts from higher education, government, industry, media, indigenous groups, and communities to share information and resources on climate change. The symposium will identify Kentucky’s climate challenges and build towards solutions that will improve climate resilience across the Commonwealth.  The event will feature panel discussions, poster presentations, networking opportunities, and a student art competition.  Attendees will form a new multisector, interdisciplinary, statewide community that emphasizes climate change solutions, and will produce multiple products, including a white paper that synthesizes lessons learned for translation and outreach to decision-makers and additional audiences, as well as oral history interviews documenting the symposium community building efforts.

Event Details

Date: September 26, 2024 (8:30 am to 4:00 pm)
Location: Harris Ballroom, Gatton Student Center
Lead Organizer: Kentucky Climate Consortium

Programming Preview

Speaker sessions will be moderator-led conversations with representatives of a variety of sectors, focused on topics including:

• Kentucky Signature Industries
• Human rights and public health
• Education
• Agriculture

Guided networking opportunities will include:

• Climate Conversations with new acquaintances using the conversational card deck developed by a local team of Lexingtonians and adopted nationally and internationally for activist, educational, and other uses
• “Meet an Expert” sessions, inviting attendees to meet and share ideas, resources, and asks with experts from academia, community organizing, and more, including geologists, housing access activists, and municipal policy-makers
• A casual happy hour at the end of the day

Attendees will have the opportunity to share their work, whether it’s community projects, academic research, policy efforts, or other kinds of initiatives, via a competitive poster submission process.