The University of Michigan has a proud tradition of offering creative classes in which students can get unique real-world experience. The School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) class “Leadership for Turning Climate Anxiety into Action” is no exception.

Students in the SEAS seminar are organizing a spring event to empower U-M students, faculty and staff to engage in individual and collective efforts to build a sustainable and just future. 

Building on the success of last year’s 2023 Advancing Climate Education (ACE 1.0) event and the recommendation for institutionalizing such an event annually, plans are underway for ACE 2.0. This time the specific focus will be on leadership for turning climate anxiety into action, since anxiety is one of the main barriers to individual and collective mitigation and adaptation behaviors. Scheduled for March 20-21, ACE 2.0 will allow students, faculty and staff to connect with, learn from and support each other with the aim to cultivate the next generation of U-M climate leaders.

An exciting new feature of ACE 2.0 is a creative expression contest open to all U-M students. The winners will receive cash prizes totaling $1,000, courtesy of SEAS and the Global CO2 Initiative.

“Consistent with Martin Siegert, visiting professor at the Grantham Institute in London, we believe that ‘art has the potential to inspire minds and touch emotions in a way that science alone often finds challenging.’ Creativity has an important role to play in inspiring and expressing emotions surrounding climate change,” said Michaela Theresia Zint, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, SEAS Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and class co-instructor.

“We are excited to provide U-M students with the opportunity to explore and find an outlet for translating their climate emotions through art and other creative means—to inspire all members of our community to contribute to the transformation toward a more sustainable and just future.”

Contest details:

• First place: $500
• Second place: $300
• Third place: $150
• Fourth place: $50

Contest submissions can be in any medium, e.g. photography, collage, painting, film, mixed media, computer-generated art, sculpture, poetry, short story, etc. Students may submit up to three items.

Contest submission form

The submission deadline is February 14 at 5 p.m.

This article originally appered on the Global CO2 Initiative website.