<aside> 💡 Prepare a description of what a climate corps is and its potential implementation in your state to effectively engage partners and stakeholders outside of the national service world

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Despite the abundance of press and interest in the Civilian Climate Corps, there is limited understanding outside of the national service world on how a climate corps might be structured if implemented and what key stakeholders are necessary for its successful implementation. Those outside of the AmeriCorps or service world often have a fairly limited understanding of how it all works. They likely have had one sliver of an experience with AmeriCorps that colors their entire perspective. But service can take a lot of different forms, and service members can and have done many different things. At the same time, you need to be careful not to overwhelm potential state or philanthropic allies with the nuances of national service programming upfront. It may be more effective to provide them with the basic outline of a climate corps and how it might align with their various goals and objectives. This can be a challenging balancing act, as you want to provide enough context and detail to be clear about where national service programming can fit in without causing confusion or discouraging interest.

This toolkit is intended to facilitate development of state-level climate corps initiatives. Such initiatives should align with state climate needs and goals and ideally serve a wide swath of the state. This is important because developing a description of a single program is different than developing a description for a more expansive initiative that aims to serve diverse needs through a variety of activities across different geographical areas.

If you have identified key climate challenges for your state and potential policies, programs, and key stakeholders (Getting Started), you should be in an ideal position to outline what a climate corps might be in your state that you can use to build engagement. Based on your research, you should draw upon knowledge of existing programs and activities as well as examples from other states that might be more developed. At this stage, it is likely important to prioritize the what rather than the why of a climate corps (addressed in the next article) because your initial description of what a climate corps is likely will determine how you frame the specific values. At the same time, we recognize that the what and why are linked, and developing a description and value proposition for your climate corps may be an iterative process as you develop ideas, refine your vision, and connect with key allies and stakeholders or identify available resources. For example, while you may start with a general emphasis on addressing climate in broad terms, you may shift towards a focus on clean energy due to your state’s more robust clean energy goals and programming but still be in the development stages for adaptation or resilience programming.

Some key elements of a climate corps description that you may want to consider weaving together include:

What — For an outsider looking to understand how service can play a role, you need to describe in very simple terms what a climate corps entails. In other words, frame the climate corps as an AmeriCorps program aiming to address state climate needs through service activities. Alternatively, describe it as a network of service programs focused on addressing climate needs. If possible, identify specific policies or state needs that this climate corps aligns with (e.g., “in support of our state’s recently passed climate action plan”).
Where — Where in the state do you imagine this work will happen? If statewide, perhaps how might this look differently in various communities or regions (i.e., rural vs urban, coastal vs mountains)?
How — Varying on the level, describe key categories of activities that members of the climate corps will engage in to help stakeholders understand a concrete understanding of this initiative. However, be careful not to compile an exhaustive list. Rather, focus on broader areas of activity (i.e., climate education or ecosystem restoration). Some examples under these areas are useful, but it is not necessary to list everything upfront.
Who — Who are you, and what do you bring to this effort? If you are a state commission, position this as a comprehensive initiative. If you are a program, identify how you are appropriate for this task (and/or your membership coalition). If you are an advocate, make it clear how you see this bringing together key parties (i.e., national service, state agencies) to contribute to a greater whole. In addition to outlining who you are in this effort, it is also a good idea to identify and name key stakeholders that are important to this effort (i.e., state agencies, legislators, philanthropic partners, local stakeholders). Identifying your potential coalition early on in the process may be valuable as you move towards securing support and commitment.

The figure below illustrates how climate service programs are shaped by and inform existing practices and activities in the state.

Positioning climate corps within existing practices and activities Source: Farallon Strategies

Depending on where you are in the process, you may want a more basic or a more robust description. For example, if you are in the early stages and are trying to set up an initial meeting, a simple description may suffice. However, if you are further along and need to get more specific for a given audience (i.e., a state agency), your description may weave in state climate risks, state goals, and activities, and perhaps the role of your organization in existing national service efforts.