Climate Change AI Summer School 2024
We are excited to host the third Climate Change AI Summer School in 2024! This year’s program includes two distinct programs: a virtual program and a selective in-person program.
Registrations for the virtual program are still open. Program runs from Jun 20-Aug 5.
Full program schedule below.
Applications for the in-person program are now closed.
Virtual Summer School
The virtual program provides an opportunity to learn about different applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for climate action from expert researchers and practitioners, and develop expertise to make an impact in this space via lectures and hands-on tutorials. The content of the program is geared towards those that have some prior engagement with topics in either climate change-relevant areas or AI, and are looking to learn more about the intersection of these fields.
Due to United States sanctions and export controls, CCAI is unfortunately unable to accept participants for both the virtual and in-person program who reside in the following countries: Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Russia, and sanctioned parts of Ukraine.
Dates and Registration
- Dates: Between June 20-August 5, 2024
- Registration link: https://share.hsforms.com/10ag80GW5RzSSh_cYKIeEWwquu4v
- Registration link (with waiver): https://share.hsforms.com/1SPxHrbx7QseUy900ZTYcuwquu4v
More information about registration fees and fee waivers can be found below.
Virtual Program Structure
The CCAI Summer School provides a standalone virtual program that will run for 7 weeks from June 20-August 5, 2024. The format of the program is designed to facilitate live, asynchronous, and self-paced participation. Each week, the program will feature approximately 4 hours of lecture content, as well as coding tutorials. The lectures take place live via Zoom according to the schedule outlined below. Each week all recordings of the lectures and walkthroughs of the coding tutorials will be made available. There will also be social and networking opportunities available throughout the program.
The content of the program is geared towards those that have some prior engagement with topics in either a climate change-relevant area or AI, and is inclusive to participants from across sectors (e.g., academia, the private sector, the public sector, and students).
The lectures will cover applications of AI in different climate-related fields (spanning areas such as energy, land use, climate science, economics, and policy), as well as related topics such as AI ethics, regulation, and environmental footprint. Through hands-on tutorials, participants can practice working on solutions across these application areas. The 2024 program schedule can be found below.
It is incredibly important to CCAI that the Summer School is accessible to all, which is why the program can be completed entirely asynchronously. We understand that the live lecture times will not always align with participant schedules. All lectures will be recorded and shared with participants so that they can be viewed when it is convenient for each participant. All tutorials are available to be completed asynchronously and will be accompanied by pre-recorded walk through videos created by the tutorial developers. We encourage participants to attend lectures live to participate in Q&A with the lecturers live, as well as to join the Q&A and discussions on the CCAI Community Platform throughout the program.
Participants will be able to sign up to social and networking events. The timing of these events will vary in an effort to ensure that every participant is able to participate.
Certificates of Attendance
A certificate of attendance will be available for all participants who complete 8 or more, out of 12, lecture feedback forms. These optional feedback forms will be released after each lecture. Each feedback form will have two sections: a short quiz based on the lecture followed by a section to provide feedback on the lecture. The quiz section will not be graded, but participants will receive the correct responses afterwards for their own self-assessment of their learning.
Certificate eligibility does not depend on live lecture attendance, the feedback forms will be available to all participants. Additionally, there is no coding requirement for the certificate of attendance. As long as at least 8 feedback forms are submitted by the deadline, August 31, the participant will be eligible to receive the certificate.
Fees
Registration fees for the Virtual Summer School vary based on your primary residence. Please use the categories below and the World Bank classifications to determine which program fee you should pay. If you live in a high-income economy according to the World Bank classifications, the registration fee is $30 USD. If you live outside of a high-income economy, the registration fee is $10 USD.
- Participants residing in a “high-income economy”: $30 USD
- Participants residing anywhere other than a “high-income economy”: $10 USD
We are committed to making the Summer School accessible to all so a fee waiver is available for anyone unable to pay the registration fee.
Register for the Virtual Summer School using the links below!
- Registration without a waiver (paying the registration fee): here
- Registration with a waiver (not paying the registration fee): here
Virtual Program Schedule
Please note that lectures can be attended live or asynchronously. Certificate of attendance eligibility does not depend on live lecture attendance. More information about certificates can be found here.
Day 1 - Introduction to Climate Change and AI - June 20, 2024
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Lectures | |
| 3-4 PM UTC |
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Details: (click to expand)Speakers:
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| 4-5 PM UTC |
Introduction to Machine Learning
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Rasika Bhalerao - CCAI, Northeastern University |
| Asynchronous recording |
Introduction to Climate Change
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Kamal Kapadia - Terra.do |
Day 2 - AI for Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use - June 24, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 5-6 PM UTC |
AI for Agriculture
Details: (click to expand)Speaker:
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| 6-7 PM UTC |
AI for Forestry
Details: (click to expand)
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| Tutorials | ||
Land Use and Land Cover Classification using Pytorch
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Author: Isabelle Tingzon - CCAI, World Bank/GFDRR |
||
Day 3 - AI for Biodiversity and Ecosystems - June 26, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 6-7 PM UTC |
AI for Wildlife Conservation
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Devis Tuia - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) |
|
| 7-8 PM UTC |
AI for Conservation Decisions
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Lily Xu - University of Oxford, Columbia University |
|
| Tutorials | ||
Agile Modeling for Bioacoustic Monitoring
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 4 - AI for Social Sciences, Economics and Policy, Part I - June 28, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 2-3 PM UTC |
Climate Innovation Policy
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Alice Lépissier - Green Finance AI |
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| Tutorials | ||
NLP Models for Climate Policy Analysis
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 5 - AI for Climate Science - July 2, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 4-5 PM UTC |
AI for Climate Science
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Kai Jeggle - CCAI, ETH Zürich |
|
| 5-6 PM UTC |
AI for Weather
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Peetak Mitra - Excarta |
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| Tutorials | ||
Forecasting the El Niño/Southern Oscillation with Machine Learning
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 6 - AI for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification - July 5, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 10-11 AM UTC |
AI for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification of Corporate GHG Emissions
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Kasia Tokarska de los Santos - Carbon Pool |
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| Tutorials | ||
Estimating Coal Power Plant Operation From Satellite Images with Computer Vision
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 7 - AI for Social Sciences, Economics and Policy, Part II - July 16, 2024
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Lecture | |
| 10-11 PM UTC |
Empirical Estimation of the Influence of Weather and Climate on Socio-economic Outcomes
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Jonathan Proctor |
Day 8 - Ethics, Impacts, and Regulation of AI - July 18, 2024
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Lectures | |
| 9-10 AM UTC |
Ethics of AI
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Angella Ndaka - Centre for African Epistemic Justice |
| 10-11 AM UTC |
Regulation of AI
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Philipp Hacker - European University Viadrina Frankfurt |
Day 9 - AI for Buildings and Cities - July 19, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 11 AM-12 PM UTC |
Role of Data and AI for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Cities
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Angel Hsu |
|
| 12-1PM UTC |
AI for Buildings and Cities
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Filip Biljecki |
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| Tutorials | ||
Building Load Forecasting with Machine Learning
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Author: Marcus Voss - CCAI, Birds on Mars |
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CityLearn Tutorial
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Building Control with RL using BOPTEST
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Author: Javier Arroyo |
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Day 10 - GHG Impact Assessment of AI - July 22, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 4-5 PM UTC |
GHG Impact Assessment of AI
Details: (click to expand)Speakers:
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| 5-6 PM UTC |
Responsible AI and Sustainability
Details: (click to expand)Speakers:
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| Tutorials | ||
Reducing your Climate Impact when Training ML Models
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Author: Mel Hanna - CCAI, Stable Auto |
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Day 11 - AI for Energy Systems - July 29, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 7-9 PM UTC |
AI for Power & Energy Systems
Details: (click to expand)Speakers:
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| Tutorials | ||
AI for Optimal Power Flow
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 12 - AI for Transportation - July 31, 2024
| Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | ||
| 11 AM-1 PM UTC |
AI for Transportation
Details: (click to expand)Speakers:
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| Tutorials | ||
Predicting Mobility Demand from Urban Features
Details: (click to expand)Tutorial Authors:
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Day 13 - Climate, Health, and AI - August 5, 2024
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Lectures | |
| 9-11 AM UTC |
Climate, Health, and AI
Details: (click to expand)Speaker: Sara Khalid |
In-Person Summer School
The in-person program aims to prepare participants to become leaders in tackling major climate problems using AI, via collaborative projects, hands-on mentorship, technical training, and leadership workshops. The in-person program is geared towards individuals with prior backgrounds in AI and/or a climate change-related field, across career stages.
Update: We are no longer accepting applications for the 2024 In-Person Summer School. We encourage those interested in the program to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when applications open for next year’s summer school.
In-Person Program
- Dates: August 12-16, 2024
- Location: Mila - Quebec AI Institute, Montreal, Canada
- Application link:
<https://share.hsforms.com/17ttt0XiNS7ayW-OLLECCoAquu4v> - Application deadline:
April 14, 2024, 23:59 AOE (Anywhere on Earth, UTC-12)
In-Person Program Structure
Participants of the in-person program will have the opportunity to work together in interdisciplinary teams to develop projects using AI to address important climate change-relevant challenges. Throughout the development of each project, mentors with expertise on the topic of the project will provide guidance and feedback. At the end of the program, each team will present their projects in front of their peers and a panel of experts from different sectors.
Training sessions will also be delivered with the aim of enhancing participants’ ability to impactfully and responsibly shape their projects, and to assume leadership positions in the broader climate change and AI space. These trainings will be led by experts from various backgrounds across industry and academia, and will include topics such as shaping and communicating pathways to impact, ethics and responsible AI, project evaluation, and effective communication. For context, more information about the program from the 2023 in-person Summer School can be found here.
Sponsors
Flagship Funder
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Hosting Partner
Organizers
On behalf of Climate Change AI:
Amanda Sessim Parisenti (Climate Change AI)
Elena Fillola Mayoral (University of Bristol)
Erick Kapp (Climate Change AI)
Millie Chapman (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis)
Umangi Jain (University of Toronto)
Yazid Salahudeen Mikail (Ahmadu Bello University)
Frequently Asked Questions
Virtual Summer School FAQs
Q: What is the age requirement for the virtual program?
A: All participants must be at least 18 years of age.
Q: How do I access the virtual program?
A: When you register for the virtual program, you will be automatically added to CCAI’s Community Platform and the Summer School 2024 space. You will receive an email with information about how to access the community platform, please be sure to check your spam folder if you do not see the email. All information regarding lecture and tutorial live streams and recordings will be shared on the Community Platform.
Q: Will there be recordings?
A: Recordings of all lectures will be available for asynchronous viewing. We will aim to make these recordings available on the same day as the live lectures.
Q: What topics will be covered in the virtual program?
A: The virtual program will provide an overview of how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can be used to address climate change. Through lectures and tutorials, participants will learn how AI/ML are employed across different climate-relevant fields/sectors, discuss important considerations for framing/scoping problems, and gain hands-on practice applying AI/ML to climate-relevant problems.
Q: Are there prerequisites for the virtual program?
A: Modules will be presented at varying levels of technical depth. For some of the modules, substantial knowledge about AI/ML, Python programming, or both is assumed. For other modules, only minimal prerequisite knowledge about AI/ML, Python programming, or both is assumed. Individual module prerequisites will be made clear prior to the summer school.
Q: Will self-study materials be provided to help me obtain prerequisite knowledge for the virtual program?
A: Yes we will aim to provide them before the start of the program.
Q: When will the exact schedule be posted?
A: The schedule is now available! You can find the schedule by scrolling up on this page or navigating to this link
Q: What is the deadline for registering?
A: Registration for the virtual summer school will remain open until the end of the program.
Q: Will CCAI provide certificates of attendance for the program?
A: CCAI will be providing certificates of attendance for all registered participants that complete at least 8, out of 12, lecture feedback forms.
Q: My question isn’t answered above. What should I do?
A: If you have a question not answered in the FAQs, please email summerschool+virtual@climatechange.ai. Due to the large number of inquiries, we may not be able to reply to all emails.
In-Person Summer School FAQs
Q: What is the date and location of the in-person program?
A: The In-Person Summer School will be held from August 12-16, 2024 at Mila - Quebec AI Institute in Montreal, Canada.
Q: Who is eligible to apply for the in-person program?
A: Anyone over 18 years of age is eligible to apply.
Q: What is the application deadline for the in-person program?
A: The deadline to apply was April 14, 2024 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth). We are no longer accepting applications for the in-person program.
Q: Is there an application fee for the in-person program?
A: No! All applicants who fill out the application form will be considered.
Q: Will food, lodging, travel, and/or visa application costs be covered for accepted applicants?
A: Accepted applicants will have the opportunity to apply for financial assistance to cover participation cost. Before accepted participants need to confirm their attendance, we will let them know which costs will be covered for everyone and we will also let accepted participants know if they have been awarded financial aid.
Q: What will the schedule of the in-person program be like?
A: The in-person program will give participants the opportunity to work on collaborative projects together in multi-disciplinary teams. The program will also include learning exercises on shaping and communicating pathways to impact, ethics and responsible AI, and more, as well as social activities to help build connections between participants.
Q: Will there be opportunities for networking and collaboration at the in-person program?
A: Yes absolutely!
Q: My question isn’t answered above. What should I do?
A: If you have a question not answered in the FAQs, please email summerschool+inperson@climatechange.ai. Due to the large number of inquiries, we may not be able to reply to all emails.