It’s been just over half a year since we launched the En-ROADS climate solutions simulator publicly at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid. It took little time for people to pick up En-ROADS and spread it globally to engage people in meaningful conversations around climate change. As of June 2020, 939 En-ROADS events had been held in 56 countries globally. These events mobilized nearly twenty-five thousand participants. The highest numbers of events have been facilitated in the United States, followed by Canada, Germany, Argentina, and Spain. While En-ROADS – our newest tool – has gained the headlines, our long-standing C-ROADS simulator widely known for its use in the World Climate Simulation is still popular, and sometimes even coupled with En-ROADS.
Alongside this growth and impact, our team at Climate Interactive is thrilled to observe the diversity of our facilitators and the audiences coming from all walks of life – professors, business leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, civil society leaders, and beyond. It was our first virtual World Climate Simulation event! At the back of our minds, we kept wondering, what if some participants are unable to join because of a slow internet connection? What if some had never used Zoom before and signing in will be a challenge? What if very few participants attend? We were concerned. However, we were prepared and we were excited.
Among the different ways people are using En-ROADS, events registered suggest that the En-ROADS Climate Workshop is the most popular.
We have held two rounds of the Mastering En-ROADS trainings series this year. These trainings provided a deep-dive into the En-ROADS simulator dynamics along and tips on facilitating events with En-ROADS. Many participants of this training have gone on to become En-ROADS Climate Ambassadors who are a dedicated network of facilitators that are running events all over the world. As of now, our ambassadors come from 35 countries and are facilitating En-ROADS events in 23 languages. 34 of our En-ROADS Climate Ambassadors have facilitated 5 or more events among which the highest recorded number of events is 28 by our ambassador Florian Kapmeier from Germany.
In spite of all the disruptions from COVID-19, the En-ROADS Climate Ambassador network has seen steady growth this year. These Ambassadors have mobilized a significant number of En-ROADS event participants.
Comparing the last half of 2019 with the first half of 2020, we saw a 3-fold increase in the number of participants in our online training webinars and workshops. More than 2,000 people participated in the two Mastering En-ROADS trainings series this year.
Overall, En-ROADS has been a tool to empower, engage, and inspire climate action in all kinds of innovative ways. We look forward to so much more in the months and years ahead!
