AMHERST - Four college students touring western and central Massachusetts on bicycles will be in Amherst this week as part of an effort to educate the public on climate change and other environmental issues.

Tali Smookler, a student at Brandeis University, is one of those riding as part of the New England Climate Summer, an organization developed from Students for a Just and Stable Future and Massachusetts Council of Churches.

Smookler and her fellow riders will be at the Newman Center, 472 North Pleasant St., Thursday at 6 p.m. for what is being called an emergency meeting and green forum.

"We will be discussing the basics of climate change, what the town is already doing, and different ideas of how to move forward," Smookler said. "It is a great way to network and organize all those who are interested in becoming involved in this important issue."

In Amherst, the group will also be having two potlucks and will be doing a sleepout with high school students.

Stephanie Ciccarello, the coordinator for the town's Energy Task Force, said the forum is an educational opportunity that brings information about the possibility that the climate is changing more rapidly than even many scientists predicted.

"We applaud and support what they are doing," Ciccarello said.

People who attend, Ciccarello said, will learn about the problem, the possible impacts that will be felt and what can be done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Climate Summer is inspired by the work of author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, who has written that reducing carbon dioxide emission levels down to 350 parts per million is necessary to avoid long-term environmental consequences.

Among other towns and cities the riders are visiting are Worcester, Lenox, Williamstown, Franklin and Springfield. Smookler said a variety of activities will take place in each community, depending on how much time there is to organize and meet up with people.

"It really varies from town to town," Smookler said. "But we might volunteer on farms and community gardens, give presentations to children, give trainings on how to be community leaders and organizers, work with local environment groups on projects they are doing, go to farmers markets to meet people, and we're trying to get in a July 4th parade."