Brown's Equitable Climate Futures initiative is making significant strides in bringing research and community action closer together. This initiative, which kicked off on Nov. 22 with a town hall for interested faculty members, aims to create a more sustainable future through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Uniting Science and Community for a Greener Tomorrow

Creating Working Groups for Community-Oriented Climate Research

ECF plans to establish two or three working groups that will bring together researchers from different disciplines and community members. This approach aims to bring a fresh perspective to traditional project structures led by a single principal investigator. Elizabeth Fussell, a faculty director of ECF and professor of population studies and environment and society, explains that these working groups will consist of at least two lead investigators guiding transdisciplinary teams.This initiative recognizes the importance of community input. As Fox-Kemper, a faculty director and professor of earth, environmental and planetary science, emphasizes, "You can't just do science and then say, 'Here's what we know, somebody else figure out how to use that knowledge to design a solution.' We need to figure out the solutions in conjunction with community partners." Partners can include advocacy groups, government agencies, corporate partners, and other community organizations.

Incorporating Voices from Historically Marginalized Communities

ECF is committed to including the voices of historically marginalized communities. Fussell points out that in the past, these communities have shouldered a significant environmental burden. "We recognize that a lot of environmental burden has been placed on communities that are already overburdened or have been marginalized, either socially, economically or in any number of ways. They've been excluded from the conversation about how we're going to, as a society, solve some problem." To address this, ECF will have a dedicated community partner specialist to identify and integrate community perspectives and expertise.

Funding and Sustainability

ECF has received funding from the Office of the Provost from Jan. 1 through December 2026. Each year, it will receive $180,000 to $200,000. Working group proposals and funding will be held in two rounds, one this year and one in 2025, with each working group receiving $20,000 to $60,000 per year. Donor support is also hoped to add to the long-term sustainability of the initiative. There will be additional funding for postdoctoral and undergraduate researchers to join the working group teams.ECF plans to hold a conference in the spring to inform and engage the Brown community about the initiative and its progress. As a two-year project, the ultimate goal is to facilitate the creation of these interdisciplinary working groups and provide them with the resources to get started, with the hope that they can continue to grow on their own. As Fussell notes, "Nobody's expected to finish a research project during the course of ECF. What we expect is for them to have space and opportunity and resources to initiate a new kind of research and then go and apply for funding to support the continuation of that research."