Announcing the Planetphilia Climate Fellows program. Applications welcome!

Applications from young and young at heart climate activists, entrepreneurs, academics, artists, students, writers and dreamers are being accepted for a year long online program of individual and group mentorship and support.

The Planetphilia Climate Fellows program will support individuals just starting out or with limited experience from anywhere in the world who have or want to create enterprises, books or articles, artistic endeavors, research, public engagement approaches or other creative concepts that advance progress in addressing the accelerating climate crisis.

Proposals ranging from the most micro and local to world changing, or that tackle climate related crises including ecological breakdown, over-consumption and global inequality are all encouraged. As will proposals that seek to advance the Climate Triad – emission reductions, large scale greenhouse gas removal, and direct cooling, particularly in the Arctic, with the goal of restoring a safe climate.

Fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend and one on one and group support. Depending upon the volume and nature of the applications some Fellows may be offered mentorship and group support with a lesser stipend.

At least one monthly group meeting will be held as well as more frequent one on one opportunities to meet with well qualified mentors.

Practitioners will be available to support the work of the Fellows.

Application process

Send a letter, preferably in MS Word format, that describes:

• what your idea is

• the progress if any you have made

• what your ideal outcomes would be

• what kind of support you hope to receive from the Planetphilia program

• why you should be chosen to become a Planetphilia Climate Fellow.

The deadline for applications is Earth Day, April 22nd.

Announcement of the Fellows will be made soon thereafter.

Who am I and what is Planetphilia?

I’m a long time climapreneur. I started Planetphilia in 2020 as a vehicle to advance creative climate action.

An initial round of Planetphilia support was provided in 2020 to a number of individuals and groups in the United States and overseas. I plan to support additional Planetphilia Climate Fellows in coming years.

My background includes::

• Executive Director of the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability, a pioneering effort in the early 2000s to support higher education sustainability initiatives

• Co-initiator of the 2017 effort that led to Montgomery county, Maryland becoming the first large government in the world and the second overall to declare a climate emergency and establish aggressive GHG targets

• Author of the first book that takes a step towards creating a new climate vocabulary – A Climate Vocabulary of the Future – in 2017. The second edition will be published at the end of this year

• A co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC) in 2021. HPAC is a group of scientists and public policy experts from 10 countries focused on restoring a safe climate through the Climate Triad – accelerated emission reductions, large scale greenhouse gas removal, and direct climate cooling, particularly in the Arctic.

• I’ve also been Director of the New Jersey State Planning Commission for a decade, County administrator in Atlantic County NJ, and on the faculty at two universities.

I live in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Questions and applications should be sent to Planetphilia@gmail.com

I look forward to receiving your application and wish you all the best.

Herb

Author of A Climate Vocabulary of the Future

@herbsimmens

HerbSimmens.com