UC Berkeley has a long and rich history of pioneering knowledge and action on the most urgent issues to California, the nation, and the planet. On Jan 31, 2008, UC Berkeley will demonstrate the depth of its commitment to higher education and public service to present global warming solutions for America. For this event, UC Berkeley is mobilizing its students, staff, faculty, alumni, administration and the local community to participate in this educational and interactive forum to put the spotlight on institutional, community and individual action on climate change. The UC Berkeley Focus the Nation team will invite local, state and federal political leaders and decision-makers to come to campus and participate in a non-partisan, round-table discussion of global warming.
The student leaders are preparing breakout sessions to discuss all aspects of climate change and its connection with environmental sustainability at a policy and action level.

The goal of this event will be to disseminate a unified message - “It affects us.” The outcome will be an even stronger commitment to local, regional and global action to respond to the message. More specifically:

UC Berkeley’s FTN Vision for its student body: Learning that decisions made today will have far-reaching and irreversible impacts on the lives of today’s students and the lives of their children is a key message for the student body. Students must lead in transforming society. We envision engaging 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students to come together and spend the day learning about and discussing climate change. We seek to let students utilize the official FTN structure currently scheduled for Berkeley’s International House, but we also want to encourage students to take the message to their classes and make the event operate in satellite centers around the UC Berkeley campus.

UC Berkeley’s FTN Vision for its staff: UC Berkeley’s staff are critical actors in the ecological metabolism of UC Berkeley. The decisions made to operate its classrooms, laboratories and offices significantly affect the greenhouse gas footprint of UC Berkeley.

Staff members must lead in reforming this institution. We envision 100 staff members participating in the UC Berkeley Focus the Nation event. Engagement at the staff level of UC Berkeley is critical in reforming the institution to become what history demands of its educational institutions. We envision the Chancellor providing the mechanism for staff (or selected representatives) to be given the privilege of participating in the organized event at International House.

UC Berkeley FTN Vision for its faculty: UC Berkeley’s faculty involvement is key to a successful teach-in. The intellectual capacity of UC Berkeley rivals that of any in this nation, and the knowledge and wisdom of our faculty must inform our students and staff on this issue. We envision 50 faculty members will participate in formal events, but we challenge every faculty member to consider and discuss how their scholarship engages the reality of climate change and provide time in their class on January 31, 2008 to facilitate student discussion of climate change and what is needed to address this issue now.

UC Berkeley FTN Vision for alumni and local community: The people of the UC Berkeley play an important role in shaping environmental outcomes in their own communities. Community and alumni participation will exemplify the interdependency between University and non-University governance structures and how they collaborate to effect change.