Last December, 195 countries reached an unprecedented agreement on climate change. Now that three months have passed since this victory, parties are faced with another, perhaps greater challenge: ensuring the implementation of the pledges made at the summit, now that the media spotlight and public attention has moved to other issues.

Bottom up initiatives will be crucial to achieving the goals set by each party, as climate change is a global challenge with local roots. Global youth have become a key actor at the local level, inspiring communities around the world to adopt environmentally friendly ways of living. All over the world, youth initiatives have grown, driven by determined young people eager to support climate action and have their say in COP negotiations.

This eagerness to impact change and be involved in deciding the future of our planet inspired Fannie Delavelle to set up an initiative aimed at bringing the voice of the global youth to the climate negotiations.

Young people from all around the world were invited to send her questions about climate change. She got lots of replies from every corner of the world: from Ethiopia to China, from Peru to Bulgaria, from the US to Australia, young professionals responded enthusiastically.

During the second week of COP21 in Paris, she asked high-level participants such as Rachel Kyte - CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and former Vice President of the World Bank- to answer their questions. 

Climate change can be a pretty scary and depressing topic, and that makes a lot of us just want to tune it out. Social psychologists have been studying this for a while now, and have some interesting ideas.

1) Future discounting. Humans are pretty bad at long-term planning. Economists, dieticians, and anyone who’s tried to get their dads to quit smoking can tell you that. Climate change moves slowly, and while impacts are being felt here and now, people still perceive it as distant in time and space.

2) Motivated reasoning. We’d like to think we’re rational creatures, weighing evidence and making decisions based on facts, but we’re not. Humans are highly emotional, social beings that seek out information that confirms what they already believe.

3) Emotional numbing. People have been hit over the head multiple times with images of polar bears on melting ice sheets, or the earth on fire. These scary visuals are emotionally jarring, and tend to disengage people from the issue. It’s a lot to take in. So we just tune out.

So how can we effectively engage people in the biggest challenge of our time? Well, knowing is half the battle. Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP) has been using what we have learned from social psychology to create climate change education programs that counteract some of those more negative reactions.

CUSP is a network of climate scientists, learning scientists, informal educators, and community organizations in four cities in the U.S. Northeast. CUSP develops and delivers programming both in museums and in the community that focus on local climate risks and educates about tangible solutions people can get involved in at the community level. CUSP is currently active in New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C., and is led by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Community programs range from short tabletop interactions at festivals, to eight-week programs at senior centers or afterschool centers, to educational workshops at community meetings. For example, in one tabletop activity, participants learn that climate change can lead to increased heavy downpours. They are then challenged to re-engineer their neighborhoods to absorb more water, using sponges to represent green infrastructure. A recent evaluation suggests that this approach not only teaches people about potential climate change impacts and responses but also leads to an increase in conversations about climate change at home. We are continuing to test the idea that engaging in a locally framed and solution-focused activity that promotes hope and empowerment will lead participants to want to learn more about the issue as a whole.

Similarly, the CUSP Map, currently active in New York City and Pittsburgh, allows visitors to make connections between their daily lives and climate impacts. The map, which is used in conjunction with other CUSP programs and products, pairs hard data with local narrative information, creating a local picture of climate impacts and solutions that values the public’s experiences and observations. For example, map users might explore a dataset about precipitation projections or floodplain changes in conjunction with a dataset that shows the location of subway lines, helping them make the connection between a projection (increased heavy downpours and flooding) and an impact (a delayed subway commute).

Our approach of keeping climate information local, relevant and solutions-focused is in line with the latest learning research and science communication research. Ultimately, we want to give hope and empower people and organizations to work beyond personal choices to make an impact on a community and city level. Collectively, we can reduce further damage to the climate and prepare for those changes that are already underway.

There’s one simple fact that we have to accept: Climate Change is real and it is here now.

This has been reflected in the rising of temperatures across the globe - last year was the hottest year on planet Earth since records began. Sea levels are also rising, with island nations such as Kiribati in the Pacific and even cities like Miami under threat!

It’s time to direct our energies to what we can do to get out of the situation we have got ourselves into. For centuries, humans have managed to solve many of the problems that had been tormenting them.  This is reflected in The Power of Man! - a Green Hatters video that tells the compelling story of mankind and its impact on our planet.                                                                                                                                                                 

At last, we are slowly waking up. There are lots of organizations which are focused on trying to reduce their impact on the environment. Governments, NGO’s, different industries and even oil and gas companies are acting. Efficient energy use and green focused strategies are in…LEED certification too. Electric cars are making inroads and there are more and more charging stations on the streets.  Applying carbon pricing on internal projects is a good start to show we are taking social impact into consideration -  even if it sometimes  seems too insignificant.  The truth is that it is being recognized.

But that is not enough!

It is not enough for large employers and government just to talk and act on carbon emission at the work place. They should assume they are in a pivotal position to take this beyond their work borders and follow the example of a lot of companies that are engaging employees in managing their carbon emission, by incentivizing them to make smart daily choices - reduce energy use at home, alternative commute options - sharing rides, bike, use public transportation available et.al.

Products are now out on the market that enable both companies and individuals to calculate their carbon emissions and encourage changes in behavior.  It is time for the rallying call for action, as global citizens, with an individual focus. 

On MIT’s Climate CoLab, Connect4Climate’s proud partner, your climate change solution can win a $10,000 cash prize and be part of national or global plans for climate change.  New contests seek proposals for low-carbon energy, building efficiency, transportation, smart cities, adaptation, shifting public attitudes and behaviors and many more.

Authors of winning proposals will be invited to MIT to present their proposal, enter the Climate CoLab Winners Program, and be eligible for the $10,000 Grand Prize. Plus: If your proposal is included in a top global climate action plan later this year, you will receive CoLab Points, which are redeemable for cash prizes.

Even if you don’t have new ideas yourself, work with over 50,000 members in improving other people’s ideas and support the ones you find most promising.

Entries are due May 23, 2016. Enter soon to receive feedback from Climate CoLab community members and the experts who are overseeing the contests.

Can crowdsourcing save the planet? Find out at the Climate CoLab!