Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment:
CLIMATE ACTION

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is establishing an extended training opportunity for faculty to expand the impact of their research and scholarship beyond the academy. ACSA is partnering with The Op-Ed Project and the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to provide training and guidance on externalization strategies. This opportunity is for architecture faculty, whose research intersects with climate action or climate justice, and is intended to help them impact conversations that affect everyone.

ACSA will select an initial cohort of twelve academics to take part in The Op-Ed Project’s “Write to Change the World” workshops. The Op-Ed Project is a think tank and leadership organization that accelerates the ideas and impact of underrepresented voices. They are a community of journalists and thought leaders who actively share knowledge, resources, and connections. The workshops are 100% virtual with participants joining from across a range of identities, voices, and ideas.

Workshops consist of two consecutive days of 3.5-hours each, where participants emerge with tools to generate new ideas, tactics for being timely at any time, an outline for a draft op-ed, and a global network of diverse peers. Academics will explore the source of credibility; the patterns and elements of persuasion; the difference between being “right” and being effective; and how to think bigger about what you know – to expand the impact of your scholarship in the world.

After the workshop, academics will have up to three months of access to The OpEd Project’s Mentor-Editor network to get individualized feedback on their op-ed drafts to double their chances of publishing success.

In addition, ACSA will offer all its members the opportunity to join a series of climate training modules led by USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. Academics will be highly encouraged to join these training modules as well, which will focus on storytelling, media, terminology, and more.

By the end of the training in July 2025, academics will be expected to have attended the workshops and submitted an op-ed for publication in a local, regional, or national newspaper.