Join our community validation workshops: Help shape our Responsible AI for Climate Action Framework

How can civil society organizations, social movements and communities make thoughtful decisions about whether and how to use AI in their work? How can we explore the potential of AI while considering its social and environmental impacts? And how can we ensure that decisions about technology are grounded in the needs, values and realities of the communities we work with?

Through our research on AI for climate action, we have encountered organizations and practitioners navigating these questions with curiosity, intention and care. From their experiences, we have learned the importance of looking beyond narratives of hype and fear surrounding AI to consider whether a particular technology is appropriate for a given context, what trade-offs it might involve, and how it could contribute to the wellbeing of people and the environment.

Building on these insights, we have developed the Responsible AI for Climate Action Framework, a practical tool to support organizations and communities in making thoughtful, context-aware decisions about AI. We are now inviting civil society organizations, researchers, practitioners and community members to help us review and strengthen the framework through a series of community validation workshops. We hope to learn from your experiences and perspectives to make it more relevant and useful across different contexts.

What is the Responsible AI for Climate Action Framework?

The Responsible AI for Climate Action Framework is a tool designed for organizations, collectives and practitioners who are considering whether and how to use AI to address a particular need and are looking for a responsible and context-aware approachI. The framework brings together three complementary perspectives to support more thoughtful decisions about AI:

A frugal approach that encourages the use of lightweight, cost-effective and resource-efficient AI systems.
A community-centered approach that places community needs, priorities and local contexts at the center of decisions about technology.
An ecological approach that considers how AI interacts with the environment, territories and the relationships that sustain communities.

Through a series of questions and prompts for collective reflection, the framework aims to help organizations explore how their local context, community needs and environmental conditions can inform decisions about AI. This includes considering whether AI is appropriate in the first place, exploring different technical options and navigating potential trade-offs, while staying aligned with their mission and values and prioritizing the well-being of communities and the environment.

Through this tool, we also hope to challenge the sense of urgency surrounding AI adoption and the narratives that present AI as either an inherently positive or negative solution. Instead, we want to create space for curiosity, active listening and reflection, allowing communities to make thoughtful decisions about technology on their own terms.

A living framework shaped by civil society and climate action practitioners

To ensure the framework offers meaningful support and opens up new possibilities for organizations on the ground, we are organizing community validation workshops to bring different perspectives and experiences into the process of shaping it. You do not need to have technical expertise in AI to participate. We welcome contributions from civil society organizations, social movements, community-based researchers, technologists and practitioners who:

Are considering using AI in their climate action, social or environmental justice work
Are interested in exploring more responsible approaches to AI
Are exploring if AI is an appropriate approach to the challenges they are trying to address.

We are particularly interested in understanding how the framework might be used across contexts with different levels of access to resources and technical infrastructure, as well as varying environmental conditions and community priorities. We welcome curiosity, critical questions and diverse perspectives grounded in your lived experiences with AI.

Through these workshops, we hope to learn what resonates, what questions or considerations might be missing, and how we can make the framework more accessible, relevant and practical across different contexts.