Katharine Wilkinson, co-founder of The All We Can Save Project, will give the opening keynote address during the La Follette School’s second annual policy forum supported by the Kohl Initiative. The daylong climate policy conference Wednesday, October 6 is free, although online registration is required.
Researchers, policymakers, and community leaders are invited to the La Follette Forum: Climate Policy at UW–Madison’s Union South. Participants may register for on-site, virtual, and hybrid options. The first 200 in-person registrants are eligible to receive a free copy of All We Can Save, co-edited by Katharine Wilkinson. Books can be picked up during check-in.
Wilkinson is an author, teacher, co-founder of The All We Can Save Project, and co-host of the podcast A Matter of Degrees. Her books on climate include All We Can Save, The Drawdown Review, Drawdown, and Between God & Green. In 2019, Time magazine named her one of the 15 Women Leading the Fight Against Climate Change.
The La Follette Forum: Climate Policy will feature morning and evening keynote addresses and six breakout sessions. The in-person event will feature several networking opportunities for participants, including an evening reception.
“We have an exciting agenda, top-notch panelists, and high expectations for engaging conversations about innovative solutions to one of our most challenging policy issues,” said Professor Greg Nemet, who is leading the conference with Assistant Professor Morgan Edwards.
Participants may watch the presentations in real-time or online after the conference. Breakout sessions will focus on:
- Climate Science, Risk and Resilience
- Climate Communication and Youth Mobilization
- Agriculture and Negative Emissions
- Utilities, Regulation, and Electricity
- National and International Climate Policy
- State and Local Climate Policy
Panelists will include:
- Lieutenant Gov. Mandela Barnes
- Kathy Blumenfeld, Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions secretary
- Scott Coenen, Executive Director, Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum
- Kathleen Falk, Former Dane County Executive
- Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold
- James Edward Mills, journalist
- Randy Romanski (MPA ’98), Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection secretary
- Erick Shambarger (MPA ‘02), City of Milwaukee director of sustainability
- Dan Vimont, professor of Climatology in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department
The Kohl Initiative was created with a $10 million gift from former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl in 2019. It focuses on three La Follette School priorities: to expand its public outreach mission, to advance the training of future public leaders, and to support influential research by faculty and students.