The Engagement SWATeam members met on November 20 with Eric Green (Education SWATeam) to discuss first-year sustainability education recommendations. Topics discussed included working recommendations for a sustainability module in college 100-level courses, a mandatory sustainability training, and a sustainability general education requirement, all of which are currently being investigated by the Education SWATeam. Additionally, discussion of successful sustainability engagement principles led to a forming of two sub-teams to work towards recommendations within our committee:

1) Led by co-chair Ann Witmer: Creating a roadmap of current sustainability-focused projects that are going on and connections we can utilize to make future recommendations more effective 

2) Led by co-chair Robert McKim: Creating a sustainability 100 for individual colleges or one-size fits all model 

Meeting minutes are also attached below.

On November 17th, the Energy iCAP Team met to discuss student, staff, and chair priorities for forming new recommendations. The team decided on starting to develop three different recommendations in the future:

(1) Requiring campus buildings to comply with state Energy Code Compliance;

(2) Encouraging labs on campus to save energy;

(3) Educating students in residence halls about reducing energy consumption.

Agenda, meeting minutes, and chat log are attached.

The following email was sent on November 16, 2020 to the RLF Selection Committee:

Revolving Loan Fund Selection Committee,

I want to thank everybody again for your participation in the previous selection process. With the completion of that vote, the RLF fund source still has approximately $300,000+ available and a time sensitive submission from DIA has been received recently. The project being submitted is for a Retro-Commissioning (RCx) effort at the State Farm Center. RCx efforts see great results under normal operating conditions, but with the pandemic, significant savings could be realized now that many events are being cancelled and the facility is not being utilized at its full capacity. The request is for $250K and could see a payback of less than 2 years. Please see the attached document for more information.

We don’t necessarily need to score this project, all we need is a majority decision (yes or no) to approve.

I ask that you please reply with your individual yes (in support of funding) or no (decline funding approval) votes before November 26, 2020 (10 days away).

... Thank you again for your continued support of the RLF program.

See the attached file to read details about the Retro-Commissioning (RCx) for the State Farm Center.

Map the System 2021 Social Innovation Challenge

Call for individuals and teams to participate in Map the System 2021, a competition that challenges students to explore a social or environmental issue using systems thinking and to identify new levers for change. Gain insight for social ventures and pitch ideas for cash prizes and a chance to compete in Global Final. Sign up to receive updates about info sessions, workshops, and key deadlines.

Valeri Werpetinski • Origin Ventures Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Gies Business

 This opportunity is available online.

The Engagement SWATeam met on Friday, November 6 to formulate and condense potential recommendations in addressing Chapter 7 Objectives. Below are a list of current proposed objectives and the associated meeting minutes:

• New ways to support student environmental organizations
• Using Sustainability Training (https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/1_poty17ok) as a way to get feedback from students, staff, and faculty about their views on sustainability on our campus and to promote engagement
• Creating sustainability-focused GivePulse channel
• Routine and regular (quarterly) Massmail by campus leaders at all levels in support of sustainability initiatives
• Ensure all professionally focused degree programs provide students with an understanding of the consequences of climate change and the goal of living sustainably, as these matters pertain to the profession in question
• Sustainability book of the month 

The attached proposal is for funding from the Revolving Loan Fund to do RCx at the State Farm Center. This project is expected to cost $250,000 and pay for itself in energy savings within two years of completion. 

The Fall 2020 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) was released with the following message from Madhu Khanna, the Interim Director of iSEE:

Dear Colleagues,

Attached, please find attached the Fall 2020 “iQ” – the quarterly update from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

It has been two months since I became interim director of ISEE.  It has been exciting to see ISEE bring in multimillion-dollar research grants, launch a new research initiative in regenerative agriculture, and help coalesce sustainable agriculture research on our campus during this period.

Our Certificate in Environmental Writing has engaged students in making insightful contributions to a new issue of Q Magazine. We have also expanded our opportunities for education and scholarly discourse with several online events, including those on nuclear energy and geothermal energy research.

We formally launched the new Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP 2020) on Oct 20, 2020. This ambitious plan is the result of the hard work of campus sustainability folks who worked hand-in-hand with Facilities & Services and incorporated the vision of hundreds of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members into a plan for the next five years and beyond — all the way to carbon neutrality no later than 2050!

I am so grateful to Evan Delucia for his efforts over the first seven years as the first director of our Institute. He has left iSEE as a vibrant part of the Illinois community, and I am working with our outstanding ISEE staff to expand upon the work already begun — as evidenced in this six-page update.

Please take a quick look at those updates and more in “iQ.” For more regular news, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.

Wishing you a successful end to the fall semester,

Madhu