What was CAPECA?

CAPECA was a 15-month training program for placed-based teams of community members and researchers in California to work together for a just and survivable future.

Community-Academic Partnerships to Advance Equity-Focused Climate Action was a pilot that aimed to augment the training of up to 12 Californian place-based teams of community leaders and university researchers from the UC and CSU who worked together to ask and answer key research questions that informed climate planning and action in their place.  We called the project CAPECA for short. 

CAPECA harnessed a team of popular education-based curriculum designers and facilitators who trained and walked alongside climate vulnerable low-income communities and communities of color throughout California to support community-driven climate resilience planning. The training was rooted in the principles and practices of participatory action research, popular education, and social equity. 

CAPECA goals included:

1. Honoring existing expertise and building capacity of community-based leaders who are rooted in impacted communities that are directly affected by local, city, or municipal climate planning;

2. Connecting community-driven climate justice and resilience efforts with university researchers and students, and strengthening those partnerships;

3. Supporting community-based facilitators and organizers to learn and co-create together with UC and CSU students and faculty various methods to establish community-driven analysis, strategies, and knowledge that enabled community members to participate meaningfully as leaders and not as token community representatives in research project design and throughout project execution; 

4. Surfacing and giving voice to the priorities, visions, goals and strategies of impacted communities as they related to equity-focused climate action; and

5. Supporting the UC and CSU students, faculty and community leaders to expand what issues were included in “climate” and “climate justice” research and action, who got to participate, and how.

Desired Outcomes:

CAPECA aimed to enable:

• Up to 12 place-based community-academic partnerships in California with 

  • team-developed principles for collaboration and

  • tools and preparation to:

    • Co-create local, equity-focused, community-driven participatory action research processes for climate action (i.e., tools and preparation for collaborative research design, data collection, analysis, and action strategy); and 

    • Pursue relevant equity-focused state and federal climate action research funding opportunities;

• A learning community of UC and CSU faculty and students trained in CAPECA research methodologies; 

• Preparation and identification of a sub-cohort of community leaders, faculty, and advanced students eligible for subsequent TBD CAPECA trainers’ training to promulgate CAPECA’s approach among additional colleagues and students in subsequent climate research contexts; and

• A training manual and roadmap for CAPECA training replication, highlighting stories of transformation, best practices, and lessons learned for rapid dissemination through relevant channels across the state.

CAPECA was sponsored by the University of California's Carbon Neutrality Initiative through the UC President’s Global Climate Leadership Council. 

CAPECA worked with place-based teams in California. CAPECA invited teams composed of representatives from the community (leaders or staff in community groups, organizations, or hubs), facilitators or intermediaries that work within the community, and lastly, university-based researchers or facilitators from UC and CSU campuses. We welcomed participation from already formed community-academic partnerships as well as those in beginning and formative stages. We also welcomed inquiries from individuals who are open to building relationships towards a potential place-based community-academic partnership. Check out the following criteria.

This training was intended for individuals and groups who…

• Worked within one or more community-based group/organization/hub rooted in a community with limited resources and experiencing direct climate impacts AND they

• Realized that they had a role to play in climate planning so that their community was not left behind (climate planning can include, e.g., issues of housing, food access, land use, health, water); 

• Their community had opportunities for grassroots equity and justice work that could be parallel, in resistance, or connected to city planning; 

• Had the ability to anchor their community as a leader/facilitator who can be held accountable; and

• They had a positive track record in their community.

• Worked as a facilitator or intermediary for an organization that supports community-based entities that fit the criteria above AND they

• Had relevant skills; 

• Were open to self-reflection and learning; and

• Utilized an equity lens in their work, particularly in analysis.

• Worked as a university-based researcher or facilitator (note: students are eligible but must be partnered with a faculty or post-doctoral scholar mentor) AND they

• Had relevant skills; 

• Were open to self-reflection and learning;

• Utilized an equity lens in their work, particularly in analysis (note: if they had low equity experience, they had a requirement to partner with someone with greater experience);

• Had a demonstrated commitment to collaborate on a community-driven research project;

• Were available for the entire project (through December 2023); 

• Were affiliated with a University of California or California State University campus; and

• Could receive the academic credit or job requirements they sought without needing particular research or publication outcomes.