2026 Midwest Climate Summit Campuses as Climate Engines: Cutting Carbon and Building Resilience

Event description

Campuses are more than places of learning. They are testing grounds, conveners, employers, purchasers, and community anchors. In other words, they can be powerful climate engines.

This interactive session explores what happens when campuses widen the lens on climate action. Alongside conversations about buildings, energy, and transportation, speakers will spotlight other high-impact levers that too often get left out of the plan—including food systems, procurement, workforce development, and public infrastructure. The throughline is simple: if we want more resilient communities, we need more of the right people, systems, and ideas at the table.

Jeremy Eltz of the Good Food Institute will bring that lens to food. In “Rethinking Protein: Alternative proteins for greener communities,” he will explore why no serious climate strategy is complete without addressing food systems. From universities and hospitals to school districts and municipalities, institutions have enormous power to cut emissions through procurement, expand consumer choice, and help build new workforce pathways in sustainable food systems. His session invites participants to think practically about how dining programs, sustainability goals, and education pipelines can work together.

The workshop also features “Zeroing In: Advancing Low-Carbon School Design with Ann Arbor Public Schools,” presented by Jessica Haberstock and Denise Gravelle, and “Unlocking Resilience: How Schools Are Using Federal Funds to Build Climate-Ready Facilities,” presented by Kristen Hengtgen. Together, these sessions show how climate action takes shape across the built environment, public investment, and everyday institutional decisions.

Expect more than presentations. This session is designed to get the room talking. Through small-group discussion and Q&A, attendees will dig into questions like: What levers are missing in your region? What is not yet being integrated into your climate work? And what would it take to pull those pieces in?

Whether you work in higher education, K–12, public policy, sustainability, food systems, design, or community planning, this workshop offers fresh ideas, practical examples, and a chance to connect with others rethinking how campuses can lead.