Community Engagement

Our goal is to empower individuals, governments, businesses and organizations to connect their knowledge of how the Yampa Valley is changing to actions that collaboratively conserve resources, increase resilience and reduce emissions throughout the Yampa Valley.

Our Role:

Community Engagement is central to what we do at YVSC and why we do it. We strive to bring relevant science and research into the service of dialogue, decision-making and collaborative action, serving as a consistent and reliable resource for understanding how climate change is influencing the Yampa Valley and how our region can impactfully mitigate it (reduce emissions) and increase resilience to current and projected changes.

YVSC supports, convenes and leads collaborations in an approachable, community-centered, nonpartisan and respectful manner. We advocate for frameworks and actions that advance the health and resilience of the people and ecosystems of the Yampa Valley. We strive to be a hub for community members of all ages and backgrounds to learn about and engage with some of the most pressing sustainability and climate issues that our community faces.

Why it Matters:

The Yampa Valley is changing socially, economically and environmentally. The region is transitioning away from coal and the economic development pathways for the region are uncertain. Tourism remains a major source of regional revenue while sustainable tourism management and planning lags behind other mountain tourism destination norms. We are seeing the effects of climate change firsthand in the Yampa Valley through increasing temperatures, earlier spring melt, changing snowpack, increasing risk of wildfire and more. 73% of people in Routt County and 63% in Moffat County believe that global warming is happening, but over half do not know what they can do to address it. This underlines the need to increase public understanding of what we can do to address climate change. There is a need to increase connection between Routt and Moffat County so NW Colorado can create and scale services and economic development pathways that advance climate solutions and increase resilience, while increasing mutual understanding and respect among disparate geographies and ways of life in the Yampa Valley

Click the links below to learn more about the work YVSC is doing in each of these sectors.

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ReTree Volunteers since 2010
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What we are doing

Community Engagement Programs

YVSC Monthly Community Meeting

YVSC Monthly Community Meetings are designed to convene community partners and community members so that we can connect, learn about sustainability challenges and opportunities, identify common goals and activities, and find ways to collaborate to create more impactful and farther-reaching programs and practices in our community. The structure of our Monthly Community Meetings include topic-focused meetings — which have a featured guest speaker followed by a prompt-led roundtable discussion — and quarterly Partner Update Community Meetings, where YVSC and community partner organizations/entities provide updates on their programs, events and volunteer opportunities.

YVSC Sustainability Awards

Every year, YVSC recognizes local businesses, partners and community members for their efforts and work toward creating a more sustainable future.

Sustainability Speaker Series

The Sustainability Speaker Series, formerly known as the Talking Green Event Series is a partnership between YVSC, Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs, and Bud Werner Memorial Library. This ongoing series seeks to connect our community with timely insights, research and actions that inform and inspire how we build our sustainable Yampa Valley futures. The Series and discussion topics advance an integrated approach to social, economic, educational and environmental dimensions of sustainability challenges that lead toward collective solutions.

Workshops, Education and Outreach

Each YVSC program is anchored on educational outreach and uses an array of channels to effectively communicate with and engage community partners and members. YVSC has hosted an array of workshops and trainings across programs, ranging from Green Building workshops to Waste Diversion strategic planning sessions.

Contact YVSC to learn more about our workshops and outreach efforts.

Youth Engagement

YVSC strives to support, educate and empower youth and students to be leaders and agents of change in the Yampa Valley. We do this by providing technical assistance to youth-led initiatives and in-classroom workshops and lessons for local students and teachers. Additionally, YVSC hosts the Rising Leaders in Sustainability initiative. This initiative focuses on engaging youth in YVSC programs using social media, a monthly newsletter and youth focused events.

Sign up for the Next Generation Newsletter, YVSC’s youth focused newsletter

YVSC Internship Program

In 2021, YVSC formalized the YVSC Internship Program after recognizing that there was a need to support local students and young professionals in gaining professional development for sustainability and climate career pathways. Using a project-based approach, participants are assigned a staff mentor who helps them expand on or develop a meaningful environmental project within our community.

Learn more

Volunteer Opportunities

Sustainability and climate action takes all of us working together. Whether you are passionate about mitigating climate change, conservation and/or increasing recycling successes in your neighborhood, there are numerous ways for you to get involved and put your passion into the service of a better future in the Yampa Valley as a YVSC volunteer. Join us and help us build a more sustainable community.

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What you can do

Make sustainable differences in your everyday life!

Volunteer for YVSC

Intern with YVSC

Partner with YVSC

Support YVSC as a member, donor, or sponsor

Attend YVSC meetings and events

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