FAQs

What is the purpose of CAT? I don’t understand the mission statement.

CAT’s purpose is evolving and being refined as we learn more about the relationship between information technology and the climate crisis. Our current goals are:

• To be a community of practice and learn together.

• To support climate action at the single-contributor level.

• To empower employees to leverage their roles and push for organizational change.

Who’s in charge here?

Check out our how we organize page.

How are you different from other groups?

It just feels different? Maybe it’s the lighting? Jokes aside, we’ve been thinking a lot about where we sit in the landscape of climate groups, especially as other groups have reached out to us.

If XR (Extinction Rebellion, which organizes creative demonstrations to force a moral decision) is on one side of the spectrum and The Climate Group (a nonprofit that works with large corporations & governments to accelerate climate action) is on the other side, we are in the middle. XR is grassroots & pushing for action from the outside. The Climate Group is working top-down at the institution level.

CAT is working from the inside out. The system needs to change and technology is a large part of that system. Not only do we consume and pollute like all other industries, we make tools that speed up the system.

Do you ever meet in person?

Yes. Most of our CAT events currently run online but if you are interested in meeting up with local folks, just post in your #local-[wherever you are] channel and ask. Maybe attend an event together, or even start a meetup (guidelines here)! You can start a #local channel if you’re the first.

You can find all CAT events on our MeetUp or add our public calendar to your GoogleCalendar or iCal.

I was hoping to meet a founder / collaborator / advisor / someone to talk to about X, but I don’t have time to read #introductions all day.

Check out our member directory (pw: climatechange) and reach out to people directly. To be added to the directory, fill out this form. Not everyone is on it (yet), so also ask in #ask-anything or any other relevant channels.

We also have a #cat-roulette channel where you can get matched 1:1 with other CAT members. More info here.

I have some spare time, is there a CAT or climate project that I can work on?

Of course!

• If you want to help out at CAT, check out our How to get involved page.

• If there is a nonprofit or organization doing work that you admire, just reach out and let them know what skills you want to volunteer and how much time you have. Most organizations need help and don’t have the bandwidth to manage higher-level volunteers. Try connecting to their local branch first if they have one.

• You can also check out the member directory (pw: climatechange) and see if there’s anyone working on projects that sound interesting.

Actually, I just wanted to do a one-off thing. Do you have any hackathons?

We don’t. We recommend organizing an internal hackathon at your job. It will have a more lasting impact. Some ideas are: create a dashboard for carbon emissions, set up raspberry pis to measure recycling & trash, implement tactics from any of the #greener channels. You could also:

• Organize your own public hackathon (it could be informal).

• Look for existing climate hackathons (and invite some CATs to participate with you!).

How do I start a project?

If the project is for the CAT community, check out instructions on our How to get involved page. If it’s a personal project, you can pitch your idea in #share-your-work and post progress updates there too!

Can I start a Slack channel?

Yes! Feel free to start one and own it (facilitate conversations, maybe document your learnings somewhere & put a link to it in the channel topic…) We just ask that you follow the naming convention:

• #local-[country/city] = location-based channels - say hi your neighbours, and if you don't see a local channel, make one yourself!

• #greener-[community of practice] = communities of practice - the roles you identify with, or the areas you wanna grow in, to learn to integrate sustainability into how we work - it’s easier together! If you don't see a greener channel that works for you, make one yourself.

• #cat-[project name] = CAT community projects you can get involved in

• #proj-[project name] = projects you can get involved in

Why can’t we get Slack to sponsor us?

We’ve written up our thoughts on this here.

Can I have permissions to ____ which would give me access to member data, but I’m not planning to use member data?

We trust your good intentions, but no. It’s already hard to keep track of who has access to what.