Walnut Creek Watershed Learning Network (WCWLN)

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Community Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh (CCERR) Project

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PEJ, in partnership with the City of Raleigh, was awarded a grant through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) for the Community Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh (CCERR) Project.

Project Goal and Objectives

The goal of the Community Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh (CCERR) Project is to increase community resilience to climate hazards and weather-related emergencies by providing learning opportunities and resources for autonomous resilience action, building community capacity for civic engagement and by engaging communities in resilience planning efforts to improve City of Raleigh services and infrastructure that supports community-level resilience goals. 


The project has three core objectives: 

To develop cohorts of Raleigh residents who are informed about watershed management, flood risk, heat risk, climate resilience and environmental justice. Two of Raleigh’s primary climate-related risks are flooding and extreme heat. This project will target residents in flood-prone neighborhoods and in Raleigh’s identified Urban Heat Islands to develop knowledge of these risks, understanding of the governance of risk mitigation, civic engagement skills, and understanding of environmental justice. 

To increase community capacity for autonomous resilience action in vulnerable communities. This project will support Raleigh’s most vulnerable residents in accessing decision makers, financial resources for small scale projects and other supportive resources to build their household- and neighborhood-level resilience to climate risks

To support the City of Raleigh’s climate resilience planning efforts. The City of Raleigh will integrate community priorities from neighborhood resilience planning efforts to inform City program and infrastructure planning. 

PEJ is only involved with

Activity 1: Convene Community Learning Networks at the Level of Risk

This project will identify neighborhoods at elevated risk for hazardous flooding and/or heat vulnerability and engage residents of those neighborhoods in learning networks. These networks will consist of 1) training modules to introduce technical data on climate risks, 2) presentations by government staff on the services available to residents and the processes of government engagement, 3) presentations by experts on climate science, environmental justice, and historical context of climate action, and 4) financial support for individual climate resilience projects.

The goal of this work is to prepare residents to take actions that build community adaptive capacity by developing:

Understanding of Climate Risks: including how to interpret relevant climate data and future projections of climate hazard impacts. The project will utilize Floodplain maps, heat maps created through partnership with NOAA and NWS, and climate data from NOAA assets such as the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) and North Carolina Climate Science report. 

Understanding of Environmental Justice: an understanding of historical patterns of environmental impacts in Raleigh and the social dynamics of those patterns of impact. 

Adaptive capacity: knowing how to implement autonomous actions residents to protect households and prepare for climate hazards, as well as provision of support to implement a project action as part of the course modules. 

Advocacy capacity: an understanding of the essential functions of City, County, and State governments, relationships with local government staff, how to engage decision makers and participate in governance processes, and advocate for services and infrastructure improvements to address climate hazards. 

PEJ's WCWLN program is a six-week, cohort-style program that empowers watershed residents with knowledge of environmental justice and civic engagement. Each cohort focuses on a specific environmental issue ranging from water quality to heat islands. As part of the WCWLN graduation requirements, participants must design, complete, and present a community project related to their cohort area of focus. 


The WCWLN is a six-week community education and empowerment initiative that PEJ first implemented in Spring 2021 based on the innovative Atlanta Watershed Learning Network model with the primary objectives of


  1. Educating participants about various topics such as stormwater management, green infrastructure and environmental justice
  2. Making connections about why these topics are important to them and their communities, and
  3. Providing participants with the tools to become more engaged stakeholders and be empowered to take action in protecting the integrity of their communities.


PEJ has conducted 7 WCWLNs with about 100 graduating members.

Fall 2024, Spring 2025 (Foundations of Water Education)

Summer 2025 (Heat Islands and Emergency Preparedness)

Fall 2025 (Watershed Action Plan)

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