ESP 481 - Local Scale Climate Policy I: GHG Inventories
This is a sample syllabus.
This sample syllabus is a representative example of the information and materials included in this course. Information about course assignments, materials, and dates listed here is subject to change at any time. Definitive course details and materials will be available in the official course syllabus, in Canvas, when the course begins.
Overview
This is the first course in a two-course series for the Local Climate Action Program. Students partner with representatives from local governments across Pennsylvania seeking support for advancing local climate policy initiatives. In the fall semester, students work to build relationships with their government partners, learn about the community they're working with, and complete a greenhouse gas emissions inventory at either the community- or local government operations scale. Students produce a robust methodological report detailing their inventorying work and present their findings to an elected or appointed body of that local government.
The course is divided into three units:
- Foundations - in the first several weeks of the course, we’ll establish the context and necessity of local scale climate action by exploring historical and contemporary basis of climate science and policy at a variety of scales of impact and governance.
- Emissions Inventories - in the next part of the semester, we’ll really dig into the utility of emissions inventories as baseline tools for governments to use to make important decisions about areas of climate action to prioritize in their communities. This unit focuses on the quantitative aspects of climate action from collecting and interpreting data to making decisions with the results.
- Beyond Our Inventories - emissions inventories are powerful tools to understand greenhouse gas emissions at the municipal scale, but also represent the starting point of the work that must follow to reduce those emissions and prepare for a changing climate in our communities. We’ll spend the final part of the semester focusing on how we communicate findings, ensure replicability in our work, and look ahead to climate policy planning for the following semester.
Objectives
At the successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand the historical and contemporary context of the ongoing climate crisis and how work at various scales of governance from international cooperation all the way down to community-based responses contributes to solutions and management.
- Apply principles of emissions calculations to the development of an accurate and complete community-scale greenhouse gas inventory for your assigned community partner.
- Create and present an emissions inventory report which describes the work completed, including any data limitations and caveats.
Above all else, our shared goal is for you to develop and nurture ongoing professional engagement skills through your community partnership.
Required Materials
Typically, there are no required materials for this course. If this changes, students will find a definitive list in the course syllabus, in Canvas, when the course begins.
Prerequisites
None
Expectations
On average, most students spend 8-10 hours per week working on course assignments. Your workload may be more or less depending on your study habits. If you stick to our schedule and stay connected and engaged, you’re going to be successful in this class.
We expect you to be honest, hardworking, and curious. You can expect us to be available, thorough, and supportive. Maintaining strong communication lines will be critical to our shared success in this class.
Major Assignments
Project Management (10%)
Part of your responsibility this semester is managing your project to keep it on track for completion. We’re juggling data from multiple sources, various stakeholders and contacts, and working in teams in many cases – so there’s a lot going on. Each week, you’ll complete a progress tracker to help us keep up with the overall progress across all projects in the LCAP. Additionally, you’ll be responsible for ensuring all of your inventory data is loaded correctly into the ICLEI master data workbook.
Weekly Activities (50%)
In each of the 12 lessons for the course there are assessments to evaluate your comprehension of covered material. Some of these are directly relevant to the inventorying work you’re doing, others are more broadly scoped. These assignments range in format and individual weighting within this category. See assignments and grading rubrics in Canvas.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (40%)
The inventory is the basis for much of the work we’ll be doing next semester, it's imperative that it is accurate and complete.
- Inventory Quality Control Checks (15%) – subject to instructor and ICLEI review for completeness, accuracy, and organization
- ClearPath Final Inventory (5%) – subject to instructor and ICLEI review for completeness, accuracy, and organization
- Final Inventory Report (10%) - The final inventory report provides the methodological breadcrumbs to repeat inventorying in subsequent years. This allows the municipality to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented reduction strategies. The inventory report, which will be based on a template provided by ICLEI, must include a discussion of how emissions calculations were performed and how/why decisions about those calculations were made. The report should be tailored to the community you’re working in as much as possible.
- Final Presentation for Community Partner - Students are required to present their inventory report and recommendations for climate action planning by the end of the semester. The outlets of these presentations may vary a bit depending on the organizational structure of the local government but some possible relevant outlets include Board of Supervisors or Borough Council Meetings or Environmental Advisory Council Meetings. Note: there is no requirement that the final presentation occur in person. If geography and your schedule permit and you’d like to do that, awesome. If not, that’s what Zoom is for.
- Presentation Preparation (rehearsal and slide deck) (10%) - To prepare for the public presentation, students will rehearse their presentation with the instructors and a subset of their peers. To be successful on this assignment, students must produce a complete and elegant slide deck based on the provided template and be able to speak to it with confidence and clarity.
- Public Presentation (10%) - Students must present the results of their inventorying work from this semester to a relevant group in their partner community. Students should be well-prepared with complete information and be comfortable answering questions about their work when they arise.
Course Schedule
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | LCAP Overview |
| 2 | The Science of Climate Change |
| 3 | Environmental Justice and GHG Emissions |
| 4 | International and National Climate Governance |
| 5 | State and Local Climate Governance in the US |
| 6 | The Role of GHG Inventories in Climate Policy |
| 7 | GHG Inventories: Stationary Energy Sector |
| 8 | GHG Inventories: Transportation Sector |
| 9 | GHG Inventories: Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste Sectors |
| 10 | GHG Inventories: Data Analysis and Input (Work Week) |
| 11 | GHG Inventories: Data Management and Interpretation (Work Week) |
| 12 | Climate Action: Reviewing Local Scale Climate Action Plans |
| 13 | Communicating Inventory Results to the Public (Presentation Rehearsals) |
| 14 | Preparing Robust Inventory Reports |
| 15 | Using a GHG Inventory to Inform Climate Planning |