The COOL Boulder Campaign includes many different program areas for participants to engage in.
Review the different program areas below, and let us know what program area you're most interested in!
PROGRAM AREAS (you'll have an opportunity to choose one)
#1: Plant and Protect
This team will literally “dig in” and help plant and maintain trees, pollinator habitat, and other important landscape features like shrubs. It will take a little muscle and getting dirty as we contribute directly to our local ecosystem.
#2: Produce, Grow & Share
This team will 1) help create supply of plants, and 2) create supply of critical support materials needed for planting success, including high quality soil, compost, biochar and mulch in ways that can lower the barriers of cost and accessibility. Production systems will include both at-home/at-work opportunities and community production facilities at a number of different locations.
#3: Train to Become a Community Resource
Participants in this group of teams will be trained to provide basic information to the community members on plant selection, planting guidelines and best practices, ongoing maintenance, and problem identification and solutions. Two volunteer training programs will be offered (you will have the opportunity to learn more and select one or both of these tracts in future months):
- Tree Tenders—Learn basic tree planting maintenance and share with other community members in need of assistance caring for and planting trees on private property; facilitate tree distributions; lead volunteers in planting projects; and share education materials and Tree Trust initiatives with the community.
- Pollinator Advocate Training—This multi-session training will enable those who go through the program to become resources to their neighbors, other community members, or organizations by assisting in the design, installation, maintenance, and monitoring of pollinator habitats throughout the city.
#4: Become a Community Scientist
Participants in this action area will have the opportunity to join one or more teams conducting information gathering and assessment around a number of issues critical to developing natural climate solutions (again, more information on all of the below will be forthcoming). These areas include:
- NOAA Urban Heat Mapping—Boulder is applying to be a part of a national National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiative to provide community members with the tools to gather heat data in ways that enable development of heat management strategies through natural climate solutions and other actions. Resident Community Scientists will be trained to conduct two heat data collection events during the summer of 2022. This data will then be jointly analyzed by the NOAA team and the CU-based Earth Lab to assist the city in developing strategies to optimize its heat management actions.
- Bee/Invertebrate Surveys—There is a significant lack of data on the incidence and population levels of critical pollinator species. During the summer of 2022, the Campaign will work with the Xerces Society, Butterfly Pavilion and CU based researchers to develop community member survey systems that will start to build a baseline of information that will help assess the effectiveness of pollinator protection and enhancement efforts over time.
- Soils/land assessment—In 2022, the city’s Natural Climate Solutions team will work with researchers to develop a land and soil assessment protocol that can be launched in 2023 to build a baseline assessment of overall land condition on a continuum from urban lands to land in the natural and working lands outside city limits.