Sustainable Essex SEED Discussion Series

“SEED” - The Sustainable Essex Environmental Discussion series, is comprised of individual sessions grouped by climate change themes (waste reduction, sustainable management of water resources, etc.).

The overriding goals of the Series are to:

• Create awareness,
• Provide guidance with ways individuals can modify their household behaviors to address climate change
• Drive action at a community level

• Identify focus climate change topics
• Identify facilitators who are subject matter experts in each area
• Work with the Essex Public Library and facilitators to create a schedule for each session
• Implement promotional activities prior to each session
• Facilitate each session and measure outcomes
• Utilize learnings from the outcomes from prior sessions in the design and facilitation of subsequent sessions

The residents of Essex, CT are overwhelmed with information from a wide range of sources regarding the key causes and impacts of climate change. This has created confusion and anxiety and our community members need more focused information, and a way to ask questions and seek additional information. The SEED Series provides focused information from climate change experts and a forum for discussion with these experts and each other.

The overarching goal of the project is to build awareness of the key drivers of climate change and provide suggestions for how the residents of Essex can take action within their households. These discussions will also provide participants an opportunity to share ideas for how the Town of Essex can respond at a municipal level. Through these discussions, the Sustainable Essex Committee can provide a valuable voice for our residents with municipal government regarding their vision and priorities for community-wide actions to mitigate the effects of climate change and create a more sustainable community.