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Projects Updates for theme: Engagement

  1. iSEE Newsletter: Plantings Complete Solar Farm 2.0!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
    Energy iCAP Team

    The final stage of the Solar Farm 2.0 project is wrapping up this month with the planting of a native pollinator habitat. The farm will serve as a major demonstration and research site for pollinator-friendly solar arrays, with more than 6.5 million flowering plants and native grasses around the 54 acres of panels creating a natural habitat for birds and beneficial insects. With this second solar farm, the campus has achieved clean energy goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) nearly four years ahead of schedule. Clean energy production will now support roughly 12 percent of annual campus electricity demand. Congratulations to Facilities & Services for all of the hard work on this important project; iSEE and its SWATeam members were proud to provide key support for Solar Farm 2.0 by pushing for an increased renewable portfolio in the iCAP. Students in iSEE's sustainability minor also helped assess the new array's carbon footprint!

  2. Congratulations to our 2020-2021 Greener Campus Awardees!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Certified Green Chapter Program
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)
    Certified Green Event Program

    This year, we awarded 38 green certifications on our campus! Congratulations to all! This includes 28 events (including iSEE Congress and the “TED Talk: Eco Edition” series) seven Greek chapters (including gold-level awards for Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Zeta Beta Tau), and three offices: International Student & Scholar Services, Department of Communication, and Department of Chemistry Administrative Office. Learn more about all of iSEE’s Certified Greener Campus programs.

    Greek Chapter Gold Certifications:

    • Pi Beta Phi — March 2021
    • Delta Delta Delta — March 2021
    • Delta Gamma — March 2021
    • Kappa Delta — February 2021
    • Zeta Beta Tau — November 2020

    Greek Chapter Silver Certifications:

    • Triangle Fraternity — November 2020 (Read more!)

    Greek Chapter Bronze Certifications:

    Event Certifications:

    • SECS iCAP Teach-In — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Trivia and Happy Hour — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Plant Parenthood Fundraiser — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Roundtable with La Colectiva — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Earth Day Climate Strike — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Stargazing — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Teach-In — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Ecosociology Lecture & Discussion — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Virtual Sustainable Cooking — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Volunteering with Red Bison — Certified April 2021
    • SECS “Plogging” 5k Fun Run — Certified April 2021
    • SECS Painting Climate Strike Signs — Certified April 2021
    • Illinois Solar Decathlon ADAPTHAUS Inauguration Event — Certified April 2021
    • Campus Recreation Food Assistance & Well-Being Program Digital Food Drive — Certified April 2021
    • iSEE Congress 2021: The Future of Water — Certified March 2021
    • Champaign Park District/UIUC Bunny Brunch — Certified March 2021
    • iSEE TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series — Certified March 2021
    • Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) Environmental Policy Workshop — Certified March 2021
    • ELP Corporate Sustainability Workshop — Certified March 2021
    • SSC Coffee Hours — Certified March 2021
    • RST/Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club Young Olympians Program — Certified March 2021
    • One Winter Night Anniversary Plaza Donation Drive — Certified March 2021
    • One Winter Night — Certified February 2021
    • Parkland College Trivia Night, 3/24/2021 — Certified February 2021
    • Illinois Extension Everyday Environment Webinar Series — Certified February 2021
    • American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) general meeting series — Certified February 2021
    • Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Sustainability Seminar Series — Certified December 2020
    • ECEC21 (Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference 2021) — Certified December 2020

  3. NSRC Pollinator Garden Build

    Associated Project(s): 
    Compost at National Soybean Research Center (NSRC) [ARCHIVED]
    Student Groups with Sustainability Focus
    Red Oak Rain Garden
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Bee Campus USA

    The 350 square-foot pollinator garden at the National Soybean Research Center is planted! The weather was beautiful and we had a fun time hearing plant stories and learning about our very own native species from Layne Knoche. Check out our Facebook post here. 

    Huge thank you to Layne Knoche, Eliana Brown, and the whole Red Oak Rain Garden team, Eric Green, Michael Dzianott and the Red Bison team, Joey Kreiling, Blake Cedergren, and the From the Ground Up team, and all friends who helped out with the planting. 

    Stay tuned for more fun! 

  4. Article: An Earth Month to Remember

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Earth Month
    Illinois Solar Decathlon
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Solar Farm 2.0

    The Spring 2021 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) highlighted a diverse array of campus initiatives that made this year's Earth Month one to remember. Ranging from hosted events to sustainable energy, the article discusses the launch of the "TED Talk: Eco Edition" series, Solar Farm 2.0, community trash pickup, and more!

    Read the article in the attached files below. 

    Attached Files: 

  5. Spring 2021: iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) [ARCHIVED]
    Environmental Leadership Program (ELP)
    iSEE Congress
    iSEE Scholars
    Earth Month
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Illinois Solar Decathlon
    Solar Farm 1.0

    The Spring 2021 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) was released with the following message from Madhu Khanna, the Interim Director of iSEE:

     

    Dear Colleagues,

    Attached, please find the Spring 2021 “iQ” – the quarterly update from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

    It has remained a busy time here on our campus, as we bolstered our outstanding Congress and Critical Conversation events with the addition of two experts — activist Catherine Coleman Flowers and nuclear expert Denia Djokić — who are serving as Levenick iSEE virtual resident scholars.

    Thanks to the support of experts Eban Goodstein, Tami Craig Schilling, and Harriet Hentges, our new Environmental Leadership Program workshops for undergraduates were a rousing success.

    And we were so pleased to have a mix of virtual and in-person Earth Month events to engage students, faculty, and staff from across our campus!

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

    Best wishes for the summer,

    Madhu

    Attached Files: 

  7. Halie Collins is the Next President of Illinois Solar Decathlon

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Solar Decathlon

    Halie Collins is the officially the next President of the Illinois Solar Decathlon (ISD) team! In her new position, she will be leading the efforts to form the next Build Team and Design Team. 

    The outgoing president, Shashikiran Duraisamy, shared this note of thanks with Morgan White at F&S: "The Illinois Solar Decathlon team is extremely grateful for all the support that you have provided in the last two years. Your support was extremely valuable for our success and to support and contribute towards University’s sustainability initiatives. We are so much grateful for the Facilities and Services’ decision to allow ISD to store our construction materials in the Physical Plant Services Building and the constant support that the Receiving team (Dave Boehm & Jim McGuire) provided us to access the materials with ease. This was a lifesaver for our project. I look forward to the continued relationship between Illinois Solar Decathlon and Facilities & Services."

  8. Brainstormed Ideas for the ECE Lobby Display and Kiosks

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Net-Zero Energy Building
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Build a Culture of Sustainability

    A document of ideas brainstormed for the displays and kiosks in the ECE lobby was sent to Joyce Mast by F&S contacts. These ideas were created with the goal of having students actively engage with the display through physical interaction, as well as passive engagement while students look at the stations in passing.

    Attached Files: 

  9. TED Talk: Eco Edition Series - Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]
    Campus Bike Center

    Thank you for attending another excellent TED Talk: Eco-Edition series discussion all about bikes on 5/26! Sarthak Prasad led a great discussion on Wednesday evening after watching Adam Stone’s TED Talk, “How cycling transforms people and places.” Sarthak’s presentation is attached. Be sure to check out the Bike @ Illinois website for more information about the Bike Center, bike routes, safety, and other helpful resources! You are welcome to contact bike@illinois.edu at any time with questions or feedback.

    Thank you again for attending on Wednesday, and we look forward to seeing you at our next TED Talk discussion in June on the topic of water! Stay tuned for more details by checking out the iSEE Sustainability Calendar and signing up for the newsletter. Have a nice and safe Memorial Day weekend!

    Attached Files: 

  10. UIUC Becomes an Official Member of Green Sports Alliance

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Facilities & Services (F&S) department officially became a Green Sports Alliance (GSA) member! In doing so, F&S strives to further promote sustainable projects and environmental stewardship.  

    This announcement was officially released as a part of GSA’s “Member Spotlight” in its May 2021 Newsletter. 

  11. Weekly Update: Summer hours, Donations, iSEE Ted Talk

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]

    All, This week’s report is delayed as I was off last week.

    From the 10th – 14th we had some volunteer interest, slightly busier times, and some more donations. Just today we received another batch of donations: tires/tubes, a wheel, and whole lot of jerseys/clothing that we likely will not be able to even give away. I’ll reach out to some cycling clubs and see if they’re interested.

    This week we’ll be debuting our new hours of M/W/F 2 – 6p. These will be our hours all summer, effective immediately. iSEE is hosting a Zoom TedTalk thing on Wednesday and tonight is TBPs member meeting.

    I’ll be understaffed to start the summer as one of my summer workers got an internship and won’t be available after all. I’ll work on drumming up some more help this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 24 (I-card only)
    Sales: $565
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $340
    Membership: 1 for $30

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  14. iWG Meeting Minutes 5-14-21

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)

    The iCAP Working Group met on 5-14-21. The agenda was as follows: 

    • Transportation iCAP Team presentation
    • Engagement iCAP Team presentation (presentation attached) 
    • Celebration of success ~ thank you!

    The Zoom recording is found here. (must download in order to view)

    Attached Files: 

  15. Scope change approved: iSEE Green Labs Intern

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Lab Program
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The SSC approved a scope change for the Green Labs Intern project to allow the funding to be used for the larger Greener Campus program, and to revise the schedule to have an expiration date of June 30, 2023. The project contact is Meredith Moore at iSEE.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Post-TED Talk Resources

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]
    Build a Culture of Sustainability

    Nan Holda, one of the participants in the latest TED Talk: Eco-Edition event provided some great resources to follow up from the conversation on 4/29.  

    • Joan Gregerson's book “Climate Action Challenge.” Here’s a link to her book and workbook: https://www.climateactionchallenge.net/book.
    • Link to where people can sign up for her free, quick start online training: https://www.climateactionchallenge.net/challenge.  2021 International Climate Action Challenge
    • Joan’s weekly Green Team Academy Podcast: https://greenteamacademy.com/podcast/.
    • Climate Crisis Policy/Earth Bill Network is an umbrella organization wrangling in all other US environmental orgs to create one comprehensive Earth Bill to present to President Biden (http://www.climatecrisispolicy.org/). IMO their approach to passing federal policy is more inclusive, unified, and broader than Citizens’ Climate Lobby (which is another big lobbying org). The Earth Bill Network would love to have some college student volunteers working to create a college/university student network for the Earth Bill. If anyone is interested, they should check out the website and register at https://climatecrisispolicy.org/registration/, noting how they would like to volunteer.

  17. Global Climate Change: Implications for National and Global Energy Policies

    Associated Project(s): 
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Climate researcher James Hansen, known for raising alarms about climate change in the 1980s, will address failures in energy policy & suggest changes moving forward. While the public is coming to grips with climate change, scientists & engineers failed to shape policies to avert its worst consequences, says Hansen, Director of Columbia University’s Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program.

    May 5, 12–1:30 pm • Zoom | Password 591223

     

    Julie Wurth Asmussen • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    Global Climate Change: Implications for National and Global Energy Policies

  18. 2021-2022 Student Sustainability Committee Member Application

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The Student Sustainability Committee is seeking undergraduate and graduate students interested in applying for a voting member position for the 2021-2022 academic year. Applicants are not required to have a sustainability or STEM background. Any dedicated student interested in promoting campus sustainability is encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply is May 14, 2021.

     

    Student Sustainability Committee • Student Success and Engagement

     

    2021-2022 Student Sustainability Committee Member Application

  19. Engagement SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach
    Engagement iCAP Team

    The Engagement SWATeam met for their final meeting for the semester on April 30. The team contributed their ideas for definitions of sustainability and engagement to be used by the team and iSEE as a whole. These definitions will be refined over the summer. Also, the team plans to work over the summer with iWG to discuss the Engagement Mind Map to make a clear start for next semester. Meeting minutes attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  20. TED Talk: Eco Edition Series - Earth Month

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]

    We had a great TED Talk viewing party and discussion on environmental activism! Please share the TED Talk video with your friends, family members, and peers, and keep initiating conversations about climate change – even when they are difficult. Maria Maring did a fantastic job as the host and her presentation is attached.

     

    Consider joining Waste Reduction @ Illinois | Facebook to continue the conversation! This is a great community forum for sharing ideas and continuing sustainability discussions. Keep an eye out for our May TEDTalk: Eco Edition which will focus on the topic of bikes, in celebration of Bike Month! Please be sure to sign up for the iSEE newsletter to stay up-to-date on upcoming events and programs.

     

    TED Talk video: https://www.ted.com/talks/xiye_bastida_if_you_adults_won_t_save_the_worl...

    Attached Files: 

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