The Community Environmental Council (CEC) has opened enrollment for the next session of its Climate Stewards certification course, designed to engage and empower individuals on the Central Coast to take meaningful climate action.

CEC is the first and only nonprofit in the region to deliver the Climate Stewards certification program in partnership with the UC Environmental Stewards program, and one of only a handful across the state.

“At a time when federal support for climate action is shrinking, communities are increasingly being asked to lead,” said Kathi King, course instructor and CEC’s director of Outreach and Education.

“The Climate Stewards program builds the local capacity needed to meet the climate crisis head-on, empowering people to take meaningful action and drive solutions in their own communities,” King said.

The course is open to all. Teachers, high school and college students, nonprofit staff, entrepreneurs, retirees, and community members are encouraged to enroll.

The eight-week Winter 2026 course will meet weekly, Jan. 27 through March 17. Prospective participants can sign up online to join the next cohort of Climate Stewards. The program equips stewards with the tools to be a part of shaping a more sustainable Central Coast, the CEC said.

Class sessions are held online via Zoom, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. The course also includes a few in-person field trips, mostly on Saturdays.

The Winter 2026 cohort will have a chance to collaborate with the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade — a volunteer organization providing community-led disaster response, restoration, and resilience — at their Elings Park Humanitarian garden.

The course curriculum includes online modules, peer-to-peer discussions, small group activities, hands-on and inquiry-based activities, and experiential learning.

Participants will gain access to climate action resources and ways to engage with the movement, and will graduate with a better understanding of the psychology and science behind climate change and the knowledge to effectively communicate the climate crisis, organizers said.

The course curriculum also has a Stewardship Project that allows participants to explore their interests.

Past projects have succeeded in adding climate programs and messaging at foundations, large nonprofits, city governments and retirement communities. Many course graduates have gone on to integrate climate action into their professional and volunteer efforts.

“The course provides the tools and community to help someone move from passion into action,” said Lauren Leland, a Spring 2025 cohort graduate. Leland transferred her passion for climate justice into a Stewardship Project to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the damages caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

“Becoming a Climate Steward gave me a solid foundation in climate science and communications as well as a clear view of the solutions across California that are working and how we can replicate or build on them,” she said.

The course fee is $360 and covers part of the cost of instructor time for classes and field trips, as well as fees to the UC Environmental Stewards statewide program.

Scholarships are available to Central Coast residents who express financial need, and for 2026, nine full scholarships are available for K-12 teachers in Santa Barbara County.

Learn more about CEC’s Climate Stewards program and sign up here.

CEC advances rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis, including ambitious zero carbon goals, drawdown of excess carbon, and protection against the impacts of climate change.

CEC was recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and a city of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, and is led by CEO Sigrid Wright who was recently named 2022 Congressional Woman of the Year.

CEC has worked since 1970 to incubate and innovate real life environmental solutions that directly affect the California Central Coast.

Learn more about the work of CEC at CECSB.org/impact. Find CEC on the web at CECSB.org.