iCAP Resilience Team had their last meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 1PM. The team edited the Carbon Offset Statement. The team will send this this statement as a recommendation format to the iWG. Afterwards, with the approvals of iSEE, iWG, and F&S, the team will send this statement to Chancellor Office. Attached is the meeting recording. 

On 4/9/2023, the Res005 Sustainability Economic Analysis recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Madhu Khanna, Director of iSEE, with the following email. The iWG assessment is attached. 

Hello Dr. Khanna,

The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) recently reviewed recommendation Res005 from the Resilience iCAP Team to support student-led Sustainability Economic Analyses for the local community. The iWG discussed this and recommends that iSEE support this recommendation as described.  Please see the details included in the attached Resilience iCAP Team recommendation.  

The Formal iCAP Procedures includes a section on campus unit responsibilities upon receipt of a recommendation, and we respectfully request your response to this recommendation by May 3, if possible.  If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, we are happy to arrange a zoom call. 

Sincerely,

Morgan

=====================================

MORGAN B. WHITE and

Dr. JENNIFER FRATERRIGO
Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP)

iCAP Working Group co-chairs

See the RES005 Sustainability Economic Analysis recommendation here.

The Resilience iCAP Team submitted the attached Res005 Sustainability Economic Analysis recommendation to the iWG on 2/20/2023. The recommendation states:

Provide undergraduate research support for reporting on sustainability concepts including cost-benefit analysis, lifecycle costs, and finance considerations for Sustainability-related projects of interest to the local urbanized areas of Urbana, Champaign, and Savoy.

Topic examples include Green Infrastructure or Energy Conservation / Renewable Energy projects that municipalities are interested in undertaking. This research should help identify useful case studies and provide reporting on the economics of “green” capital projects of interest. Information showing that Green Infrastructure projects and/or Renewable Energy projects are fiscally sound, financially viable, and can demonstrate a return on investment have a greater chance for adoption over the easier “status quo” or lowest-bidder projects.

iSEE will provide some oversight and work to identify potential resources to partner with communities to answer sustainability questions with regard to “green” and “sustainable” community investments – where cost-benefit analysis and life cycle analysis reporting would be beneficial.  ISEE recommended that Eric Green’s ENVS 492 undergraduate course is an appropriate class to partner with.

This recommendation also seeks assistance from iSEE to help identify future funding for the development, implementation, and outreach of this plan.

Additionally, the Education iCAP Team will assist in identifying online and on-campus degree programs with capstone courses that may align with the project scope. The Resilience iCAP Team leaders will continue to work with community partners to identify areas of prioritized need to be shared with a growing network of faculty and programs who in turn, are interested in providing real-world research-based opportunities to their students.

Through ENVS 492 and potential online and on-campus capstone programs, students will work with communities to conduct research and outreach, and to disseminate applicable reports and findings.

Suggested unit/department to address implementation: ISEE

Resilience iCAP Team had its first virtual meeting of the Spring 2023 semester on Tuesday, January 10th, at 10:30 AM. Cheryl Bicknell is the new Facilities & Services representative of the team. At the meeting, the Biodiversity Master Plan project student intern Gabriel Harper-Hagen gave a brief overview of the biodiversity plan and shared his progress through an extensive update document. Afterward, the team discussed its goals for this semester. 

The full recording of the meeting can be found here

Meeting minutes are attached. 

The Resilience iCAP Team had its final online meeting of this semester on Monday, November 28th, from 11:00 - 12:00 PM. The team discussed two recommendations: Coordinated Rainwater Management Plan Recommendation and Sustainability Economic Analysis Recommendation. The team plans to revise and send the Coordinated Rainwater Management Plan Recommendation to the iWG by this Friday, December 2nd. Also, the team chair, Stay Gloss, will present the Sustainability Economic Analysis Recommendation at the iSEE Management Meeting and ask for any potential iSEE funding. Meeting minutes are attached. 

The 2022 Campus Sustainability Celebration was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated! The PowerPoint presentation is attached, and the agenda for the event was as follows:

• 3-3:15 PM – Welcome
  • Jennifer Fraterrigo, on behalf of Director Madhu Khanna (iSEE)
  • Chancellor Jones
  • Vice Chancellor Susan Martinis (OVCRI)
• 3:15 – 3:30 PM – Holistic initiatives
  • Plastic reduction (Jen)
  • Clean energy/Solar Farm 3 (Morgan)
  • Greener Campus Program (Meredith)
• 3:30 – 4:40 PM – iCAP Team presentations
  • Energy
  • Transportation
  • Land and Water
  • Zero Waste
  • Education
  • Engagement
  • Resilience
• 4:40 – 5 PM – Student groups (SSLC, SSC) – Jack Reicherts and Maiah Caise
  • Closing remarks by Jennifer Fraterrigo (on behalf of Madhu Khanna)
• 5 – 6 PM – Celebration - refreshments, roundtable forum with each iCAP Team, student tabling session