The Alaska Alliance for Community Engagement- Climate and Health (AK ACE-CH) has the goal to promote health equity and climate justice by bringing together diverse community, state and scientific stakeholders in network to assess climate change and health impacts in remote and rural regions of Alaska and implement strategies that foster mitigation, adaptation and resilience at the community level. 

The first annual AK ACE-CH stakeholder meeting took place in Anchorage on July 25th-26th and brought together Tribal leaders, researchers, federal agencies, and state agencies from across Alaska. Partners gathered with the intent to: 1) develop shared understanding of the AK ACE-CH project goals; 2) recognize each other’s strengths and interests; 3) come to an understanding of their role in the alliance; and 4) develop a plan for assessment of rural Alaska Native community priorities in relationship to climate change and health.   

The 23 participants engaged in interactive activities that included a roundtable discussion of the personal impacts of climate change for everyone in the alliance that initially brought out group anxieties and worries for the current and future generations of young people. However, at the end of the meeting, these initial reflections transformed into one-word statements of “hope,” “motivation,” and “excitement.” 

A primary output from the meeting was the co-production of the AK Alliance Agreements. Alliance Agreements describe how the AK ACE-CH will engage with each other and with communities.