From Reactive to Climate-Ready: A Cross-Sector Simulation and Planning Workshop for Schools, Cities, and Counties

Date: September 15, 2026
Time: 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Ballroom C

This interactive workshop helps participants explore how projected climate impacts—including extreme heat, wildfire, flooding, air quality, drought, and sea level rise—simultaneously affect TK–12 schools, Municipalities and surrounding communities. Participants will engage in a facilitated climate impacts simulation using California-focused regional projections and systems-thinking activities developed through implementation with school districts and county education partners. The workshop then shifts from impacts to action, guiding participants through collaborative resilience planning strategies that connect schools, municipalities, and counties around shared priorities such as stormwater management, heat mitigation, energy resilience, schoolyard greening, emergency preparedness, and community well-being. Through hands-on activities and discussion, attendees will examine how climate resilience can be embedded into existing plans, infrastructure investments, and operational systems rather than treated as a separate initiative. Participants will leave with practical tools, planning frameworks, and ideas for cross-sector collaboration that support more climate-ready communities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explore how projected climate impacts affect both school systems and broader municipal and county infrastructure simultaneously.
• Identify overlapping resilience priorities and mutually beneficial adaptation strategies across education and local government systems.
• Practice systems-thinking approaches that connect climate impacts, resilience strategies, infrastructure, operations, and planning processes.
• Examine how climate resilience strategies can be integrated into existing plans and decision-making structures, including facilities planning, emergency planning, sustainability planning, and community resilience initiatives.
• Strengthen understanding of how schools can serve as key partners and community assets in broader climate resilience and sustainability efforts.

Speakers:
Andra Yeghoian, Chief Innovation Officer, Ten Strands
Sarah Whiting, Director of Client Engagement and Data Science Services, Ten Strands