Climate Strong! Leadership


Climate Strong! builds the capacity of teachers, informal educators, and youth to take action for building community climate resiliency within the Ojibwe Ceded Territory (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan). Climate Strong! integrates Ojibwe traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), culture, language, and leadership teachings with scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) to promote climate action. The Maawanji’iding gekinoo’amaagejig (Gathering of Teachers) Climate Change Teach-In is part of the Climate Strong! initiative.

Maawanji’iding gekinoo’amaagejig (Gathering of Teachers) Climate Change Teach-In- Climate Strong! Initiative

When: Thursday, August 18, 2022   9:00 am – 3:00 pm CST

Where: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, 2101 14th St, Cloquet, MN.

Who: Classroom teachers, informal educators, community youth educators from all disciplines, especially those serving tribal youth in the Ojibwe Ceded Territory of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

What: This “teach-in” was designed to develop confidence and competency to teach about climate change by integrating Ojibwe traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with STEM– no matter what grade or discipline.

Sessions included hands-on activities to apply climate vulnerability research that integrates TEK, applying climate adaptation strategies at school/community level, and incorporating culture into teaching STEM and climate change..

A Climate Teach-In Session

See the 2022 Gathering of Teachers Teach-In Agenda for the educational sessions we offered and the Climate Teach-In-Presenter Bios.  Presenters included climate education, TEK, and STEM specialists from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, and the University of Wisconsin-Extension, with help from the Will Steiger Climate Generation.

View a Teach-In video presentation on integrating traditional ecological knowledge and place-based evidence of climate change with scientific ecological knowledge to promote culturally relevant climate action.

Was the 2022 Climate Teach-In successful? Read the Climate Teach-In Evaluation.

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What is Climate Strong?

Climate Strong! is designed to increase climate change knowledge and leadership competencies in formal and informal educators. Climate Strong! training opportunities include educator professional development, youth climate “camps”, and community leadership events that:

  • Weave traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Lake Superior Ojibwe and place-based evidence in your community, with scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) to investigate climate change with students
  • Build leadership skills, personally and in students, that integrate Ojibwe and western leadership teachings
  • Engage students in culturally relevant climate leadership outreach and community-based action

Climate Strong! is a partnership with the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, 1854 Treaty Authority, and Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, funded through a NOAA Climate Resiliency Grant.

Past Climate Strong! Educator Institutes

2019 Climate Strong! Institute, July 8-12

Our first Climate Strong! Institute was attended by 25 teachers, “informal”, and community educators serving youth audiences, especially tribal youth and  tribal communities from the Great Lakes region, including Canada!  Field sites included the  the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, WI and neighboring tribal communities of Bad River and Red Cliff.  See what we learned at our  2019 Climate Strong Institute Agenda. Check out feedback we received 2019 Climate Strong! Institute Evaluation Results

Learning about the process of making traditional Ojibwe birch bark canoe from Marvin DeFoe-Red Cliff Tribal Elder