Environmental Policy Accelerator

The Environmental Policy Accelerator is a 6-session, part-time, free program, run in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Energy and Environment Program, that helps individuals and teams refine and strengthen a partially developed policy solution to an environmental problem.

The course will take place virtually over 6 sessions from 9-11am PT / 12-2pm ET: July 14, July 28, August 11, August 25, September 29, and November 3. Participants will be expected to attend these 6 virtual sessions and spend time outside of class time completing readings and assignments for the course.

Strong candidates are individuals or teams of up to 4 who have a somewhat developed solution to an environmental policy problem but need support in refining it or developing an effective advocacy campaign. Past accelerator participants have proposed reforms to federal crop insurance programs, advanced changes to local school district transportation policies, and advocated for greater community input in state renewable energy siting decisions.

By the end of the program, candidates will have developed a concrete environmental policy solution, produced a set of tangible outputs, and begun implementing an advocacy plan to present their solution to a decisionmaker, culminating in an opportunity to share their work directly with a key policymaker.

Before applying, please carefully review the Environmental Policy Accelerator details and eligibility below. We are also hosting a virtual information session on May 7 from 9-10am PT / 12-1pm ET that you can register for here. If you are applying as a team, you only need to submit 1 application. You can view a sample application here.