UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation

How Does Your Drinking Water System Compare? A Webinar and Demo on UCLA’s New Water Atlas
2025-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Discover how 663 Southern California’s water systems perform on water quality, affordability, and other important factors.
Join us for a webinar introducing UCLA’s newly launched 2025 Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas. This report and interactive map analyze 663 community water systems serving 40% of the state’s population, giving policymakers, researchers, and communities an unmatched tool to track water system performance and target solutions. The webinar will include an overview of findings, a live demo of the mapping tool, and a moderated discussion on the implications for advancing the Human Right to Water.
Why Attend: See how SoCal water systems stack up and learn about opportunities for improvement. By making outcomes transparent, this new tool from UCLA can help policymakers, water managers, researchers, and community advocates tackle affordability, water quality, and climate challenges.
When: Tuesday, Oct 7, 2025, at 12:00-1:00 PM Pacific Time
Where: Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
Presented by: UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Register Here
Hosts:
Edith de Guzman, Water Equity and Adaptation Policy Cooperative Extension Specialist, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Gregory Pierce, Senior Director, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Lauren Dunlap, Project Manager of Energy Equity Research, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Panelists:
Max Gomberg, Independent Consultant on Water Affordability and Resilience and UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation Advisory Board Member
Michael Rincon, MPP, Research and Policy Manager, Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles
Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez, Project Manager, Rural Community Assistance Corporation

Los Angeles Business Council's 19th Annual Sustainability Summit
2025-10-09 07:00 - 15:00 | Town and Gown, University of Southern California (USC)
Save the date for the Los Angeles Business Council’s 19th Annual Sustainability Summit. A high-level convening of business, government and nonprofit leaders transitioning to a dynamic, clean energy economy. See day-of agenda here.
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Time: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM (PDT)
Location: Town and Gown, University of Southern California (USC)
Hosted by: Los Angeles Business Council

Event Contact: Rali Mladenova, rmladenova@labusinesscouncil.org
Register here

Environmental Graduate Student Networking Reception 2025
2025-10-14 17:00 - 19:00 | UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 3rd Floor Commons & Patio (3383), 337 Charles E. Young Dr. East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
All UCLA graduate students interested in environmental justice, sustainability, and climate resilience are invited to our free, cross-campus mixer!
When: Tuesday, October 14 from 5-7 PM
Where: UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 3rd Floor Patio and Commons (3383)
What to Expect:

Discover student funding opportunities, jobs, internships, and campus resources
Connect with peers who share your passion for the environment
Enjoy appetizers and drinks in a relaxed setting
Meet professionals and experts offering insights to support your academic and career journey

RSVP: Eventbrite registration is required to attend. This event is free and open to UCLA-affiliated students, staff, and faculty. Sign up here today to join us!
Hosted by: UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation in collaboration with partners across campus
Campus Partners:
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Center for Impact (UCLA Anderson School of Management)
Graduate Student Water Resources Group (IOES)
Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (UCLA School of Law)
UCLA Campus Sustainability
Register Here

Protecting Children from Extreme Heat at School: A Legislative Briefing Webinar
2025-12-11 10:00 - 11:00
UndauntedK12, Ten Strands, the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, and the UC Santa Barbara 2035 Initiative are pleased to invite you to a virtual legislative briefing, Protecting Children from Extreme Heat at School: What California Policymakers Can Do To Protect Students.
Join us, and be some of the first to hear about:

The latest research on extreme heat in schools and its impacts on health and learning
Real stories from the classroom
Actionable policy solutions for legislators, including existing funding pots

When: Thursday, December 11, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Pacific Time.
Where: Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
Presented by: UndauntedK12, Ten Strands, the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, and the UC Santa Barbara 2035 Initiative.
Register Here

Policymaking Under Uncertainty: Zone 0 and Vegetation Clearance
2025-12-12 12:00 - 13:00
The UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge invites you to join Living with Future Fire: Getting to Research-Informed Policymaking for Fire-Resilience, a series of three webinars featuring experts unpacking the complicated natural and institutional dynamics at play as we work toward a more fire resilient Southern California.
The first webinar, titled Policymaking Under Uncertainty: Zone 0 and Vegetation Clearance, will feature a panel of experts that bring a diverse range of knowledge to help answer questions about what is—and, crucially, what isn’t—known about the role vegetation, the built environment, and other factors play in fire spread.
When: Friday, December 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM Pacific Time.
Where: Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
Presented by: UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge
Moderated by: Nurit Katz, UCLA Chief Sustainability Officer
Featuring:

Edith de Guzman, Water Equity and Adaptation Specialist, UC Cooperative Extension
Travis Longcore, Senior Associate Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Max Moritz, Statewide Wildfire Specialist, UC Cooperative Extension
Alessandro Ossola, Associate Professor, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Register Here

COP 30: Postpartum or Postmortem?
2026-01-14 12:00 - 15:00
The UCLA Latin American Institute, the UCLA Center for Brazilian Studies, and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation invite you to join COP 30: Postpartum or Postmortem?, a webinar roundtable offering a critical retrospective on the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30) held in Belém, Brazil.
This panel will examine the outcome of COP 30, which brought over 56,000 delegates to the Amazonian city of Belém to coordinate a global response to climate change. This COP featured breakaway countries headed up by Colombia and the Netherlands who are committed to rethinking climate action beyond the confines imposed by obstructionist petrostates. Each of the panelists, who come from a range of academic disciplines and activist groups, has a unique perspective and long experience with climate dialogues, COPs, and climate politics. Did COP 30 truly incorporate a wide range of perspectives, or did the agendas of governments and corporate lobbyists take center stage? What prospects are there for meaningful action to mitigate the effects of climate change?
When: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 from 12:00-3:00 PM Pacific Time.
Where: Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
Presented by: UCLA Latin American Institute, UCLA Center for Brazilian Studies, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Moderator: Susanna Hecht, Professor of Urban Planning and Director of Brazilian Studies, UCLA
Panelists:

Dan Kammen, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Raoni Rajão, Associate Professor, Department of Production Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Simone Athayde, Research Integrity Lead, World Resources Institute
Sassan Saatchi, Senior Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Ben Kantner, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Geography, UCLA

Register Here

CalHeatScore Webinar #5: Training Materials and Resources for Users
2026-01-28 12:00 - 13:00
Please join us for the fifth of six webinars on the California Communities Extreme Heat Scoring System (CalHeatScore). The purpose of the CalHeatScore Webinar Series is to help users learn about the State of California’s new heat warning system. These webinars cover what CalHeatScore does, the data it includes, and how it can be used.
In this session, participants will learn about new CalHeatScore supporting materials and how these resources can be utilized to advance extreme heat planning across the state.
When: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
Where: Register here to receive the Zoom link to attend.
This series is a partnership effort between the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC), and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation.
For more information about CalHeatScore, please visit: https://calheatscore.calepa.ca.gov/.
