Recap: 2026 Climate Resilience Design Table Kickoff

By Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer and Zoe Forbes

Across Counties, Together with Purpose

On Saturday, October 18 we welcomed teams from 6 Ecumenical Congregations across 4 counties to Common Good Tacoma for the first ever "Climate Resilience Design Table" Kickoff! This Design Table is a group of people dedicated to joining with the Spirit in pursuing Shalom by effectively stewarding church space towards climate resilience in the Pacific Northwest.

We shared food, spiritual practice, sang together, and discussed how we can steward faith land towards a vision of resilience in our communities that is multifaceted & grounded in peace.

Building on a shared foundation

Several of these congregations have been through Design for Peace’s Faith Land Discernment Cohort. All have discerned a common focus and desire to steward their congregation’s physical space as a hub of climate resilience.

For many, this design work intersects with work already happening in their contexts. 

Mikey Koert, a member of the Common Good and First United Methodist Church of Tacoma team, shared why it was important for them to be part of this table. “Climate conversations are at the center of everything that we’re doing when we’re working on solving homelessness and abolishing poverty,” said Mikey.

“Right now on the Hilltop, on this block in Tacoma, it’s not legal to be here living if you don’t have a roof over your head. People complain about trash, people complain about human waste... It’s impossible to separate that from climate justice and climate work. We need to find ways to build up an infrastructure and create space where unhoused humans can exist.” 

Jeannie Vosburg from Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Olympia shared about her desire to build on the intergenerational aspects of this work. In her words, “we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." She expressed her desire to "learn some new ways of thinking about community and our responsibility to the world as a whole.” 

WHAT’S NEXT

Over the next month, each cohort member will be meeting with neighbors to learn about what resilience means for them, in their community. Through April, these teams will be developing clarity around how their space can be used as a hub of climate resilience, and learning how to

The Cohort is supported by a Climate Resilience Advisory Team of 9 community leaders in education, development, architecture, food systems, urban forestry, public health, and county operations. Learn more about their