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  1. Scope Change for Pollinator Awareness Sign

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Bee Campus USA

    The following scope change was submitted to SSC for the Pollinator Awareness Sign:

    Originally, there were no signs at all on campus showing how pollinator friendly the campus is. Now there are four; and the University is now considered part of Bee Campus USA. Now we want to add a bigger sign outlining the bee campus student organization, progress the campus has made, and changes the university implemented to be more pollinator friendly. This sign will include an acknowledgment of the SSC funding for the signs and for several of the pollinator friendly plantings around campus.

    The funding does not need to be increased, but we are requesting a schedule extension of one year.  The design of the sign is anticipated to take at least one month, so that students can assist with the content development, then the sign will be ordered, and since it may be winter –time when the sign is ready for installation, we may not be able to install it until the spring thaw. Please approve an extension to May 2021.

     

    Read the Scope Change in its entirety in the attached files below.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Invitation to Join Discussion re: Edu002 Internship Coordinator

    Associated Project(s): 
    Education iCAP Team
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Education iCAP Team Recommendations Summary

    Hello Education and Resilience teams,

    It was great to see many of you at the “Sustainability team open house”. We will plan another event next month so we can continue to connect and get to know each other! I am reaching out to revisit a recommendation submitted last spring by the Education team: Edu002 Internship Coordinator. When the iWG deliberated the next steps of this recommendation, it was discussed that there could be value in collaboratively discussing this idea to hear the perspectives from both the Education and Resilience teams.  

    I am writing to ask if you are interested in joining this discussion, please complete this Doodle Poll by 2/2. A summary of the recommendation is below and the full recommendation template is linked on the iCAP Portal:

    The Education team recommends developing a sustainable communities paid internship program in partnership with local businesses, non-profits, local government agencies, community-based agencies and cultural institutions in Central Illinois. 

    The internship program will be designed to build organizational capacity in the Champaign-Urbana / Central Illinois with regard to sustainability and resilience efforts to advance sustainable development and/or climate action goals. This program aims to allow students the flexibility to devise an internship experience that aligns with their specific interests within sustainability. Collaborations between the University and Champaign-Urbana community can be taken advantage of as projects where internships can be generated.

    The student interns will be involved in sustainability and community resilience efforts with directed emphasis toward sustainable development goals. Interns will gain real-world, project-based, and pre-professional experience in a workplace setting anywhere from 3 months (summer intern) to 1 year. 

    The intern program will also be tasked to provide leadership training as a foundation for real-world, project-based, and pre-professional experiences. Existing campus resources such as leadership development training modules available through Student Union programming should be utilized.

    I hope many of you are interested and willing to join the discussion! Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions.

    Meredith

  8. Sustainability Team Open House

    Associated Project(s): 
    Topical iCAP Teams

    Good afternoon and Happy New Year!

    We will be having a virtual open house for all Sustainability Working Advisory Team members on Thursday, January 28 from 3-4pm. This is a great chance to kick off the new semester, say hello and meet the other sustainability team members, hear about what each team is working on, ask questions, provide feedback or words of wisdom, etc.! We hope you can attend.

    Have a great week and talk to you soon!
    Meredith, Morgan, and Ximing

  9. Resilience iCAP Team Meeting Minutes from 1-27-21

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Urban Biodiversity Master Plan
    Green Jobs
    Environmental Justice Plan

    The Resilience Team met on Wednesday, Jan. 27th for their first meeting of the Spring semester. Our clerk, Kimmy, proposed changes to our iCAP portal theme page and received comments from all team members. The Biodiversity Plan recommendation is in the final steps of gathering approval from every team member and will likely be submitted to the iWG this month. Lastly, the team had a brainstorming session for how to identify existing green jobs infrastructure and how to coordinate our environmental justice efforts with the community -- specifically the Sustainability Advisory Commission for the City of Urbana. 

    Agenda, meeting minutes, and chat log are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Example Progress Report: Microsoft's Climate Commitments

    Associated Project(s): 
    Report on Progress
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    Microsoft's 2020 carbon recap offers an example progress report for climate commitments. In this article, the company highlights its biggest commitment to focus on the climate crisis by pledging to become carbon negative by 2030. Focusing on this initiative in-depth, Microsoft speaks about its plan to reduce the company's carbon emissions, remove carbon from the environment, and advancing transparency and accountability as a global company.

  13. Certified Greener Campus Programs Workshop

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    iSEE hosted our first “Certified Greener Campus Program Workshop” to guide U of I organizations in certifying as “green,” even while unusual conditions add complexity to campus’s daily operations. The online workshop included a program overview, steps to certification, FAQs, and an open discussion about overcoming common barriers to sustainability.

    If you were unable to attend Thursday’s workshop, you can still take steps to advocate for sustainable practices in your unit! I invite you to:

  15. Environmental Justice Plan January 2021 Brainstorming Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Environmental Justice Plan
    Resilience iCAP Team

    The following resources were shared at the January 20, 2021 brainstorming meeting. Meeting notes are attached below.

    Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Map
    Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
    Champaign County Climate Resilience Task Force
    Champaign County Regional Environmental Framework
    Salud America Health Equity Report Card
    Resources for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
    Champaign County Board Environment and Land Use Committee
    Box Folder - for ongoing updates

    Attached Files: 

  17. The Daily Illini: 2050 looms near as iCAP teams stress energy sustainability

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    Energy iCAP Team

    Please see the attached news story, published by the Daily Illini, regarding the challenges and goals surrounding 2020’s Climate Action Plan. The link is also available below. 

     

    Link to "2050 looms near as iCAP team stress energy sustainability" 

    Attached Files: 

  18. iCAP Working Group Meeting 1-20-2021

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Energy Performance Contracting / ESCO
    Energy iCAP Team

    Below is the recording link for the 1-20-21 meeting. Meeting minutes to follow.

    https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:2b989ffe-dd40-44b8-bba7-ae3543421080#pageNum=1

    ***Correction from recording*** Example scenario - if in the first year, College of Engineering spends $100 million on utilities and in year 5, they do work to reduce consumption by $1 million, will they get that $1 million of savings in perpetuity or for a limited time? They would get $100 million in allocation, but their utility costs would only be $99 million and they would keep the difference and be able to spend it on other budget items.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Weekly Update: CBC Fix-it staion operational

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Not a whole lot to report: The Bike Center Fix It pump is operational and I’ll be meeting this week about marketing to get the word out. I got an email not 12 hours after visiting the new Flagg Hall covered bike parking asking if it was operational, funnily enough. Parking tagged the bike that was locked up out front of the Bike Center. It was probably a donation but doing our due diligence on that.

    This week student staff will start and we’ll work through some more bike builds.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 6
    Sales: $59
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Misc: $29

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

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