Day 4: Establishing the Climate Collaboratory

by | Jun 17, 2025 | Children & Youth, Climate Collaboratory, Education, Environment, Resources

I remember the excitement of officially establishing the Climate Collaboratory as a project of We, the World and the University of Florida Extension.  

 At that time, I co-hosted the Welcome to WE! Show with Rick Ulfik.  We talked with four people:

  • Jennison Kipp Searcy, state coordinator of the Sustainable Floridians Program.  We had met a few years earlier at the “Imagining Climate Change” symposium and started talking about a children’s story to engage all ages in a county-wide climate conversation.   (Interestingly, five years later, Jennison is the Resilience Coordinator for the Alachua County Environmental Department, working on the Climate Action Plan that our community program supports.)
  • Dave Room, co-author of Pacha’s Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature.
  • Allah El, animator of the augmented reality book, Pacha’s Pajamas.
  • Lynne Cherry, producer of the video series, Young Voices for the Planet, with children and youth changemakers. 

Our vision included a sequel to Pacha’s Pajamas with a full-length animated film, engaging young people throughout Florida in a collaborative storytelling adventure.  We’d start right here in Alachua County.  And we did.  The story is unfolding from the 2020-21 Sustainable Floridians course to the 2025-26 Alachua County Climate Story.  We have new partners and new projects on the Road to 2030, 2050, and Beyond.

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