Meredith Moore, Morgan White and Stacy Gloss met for the weekly check-in on resilience work.

Agenda:

• Review iCAP goals 8.5 & 8.7
• Discuss iCAP objective assessment powerpoints
• Schedule October meetings 

Notes:

• iCAP goal 8.5 – Stacy should reach out to Eric Green and Lana Holden about how students find out about green jobs; what green certifications are known.
• iCAP goal 8.7 –Stacy should reach out to Eric Green to find out about student work on carbon off-sets. Ideas: Consider a white paper/literature review on “local” carbon offsets , or host round table/presentation / symposium with “experts” on local offsets
  • Stacy will read more on Second Nature off-sets / campus carbon calculations
  • 1 MW = 1 REC,  1 off set = 1 ton of CO2e reduced or kept out of atmosphere
  • Read status of the voluntary carbon markets 2021 pdf doc shared from Morgan
• Stacy will post previous meeting notes from Resilience Objective meetings on Sustainability, Vision Zero, and Green Infrastructure
• Cancel the 10/7/2021 meeting due to Green Quad Day, next weekly check-in on 10/14

SSC received final report for Spring 2021 for Local Grains and Locally Processed Foods for Dining Services project on 09/27/2021. Please see attached. 

The Transportation iCAP team met via zoom from 9:00 A.M.-10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, September 29th. This meeting featured an update on proposed telecommuting policies from Doctor James Gallaher, discussions on the iCAP Objectives Assessment and iCAP celebration, and a general review of the goals and projects of the committee.

The following email was sent as a Massmail to U of I students:

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

Hello students,

The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) is a student-led organization that funds student, staff, and faculty project proposals via two student fees—the Cleaner Energy Technologies Fee and the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee—which together make up the Illinois Green Fund. Projects selected for funding are those which provide the greatest benefit to sustainability on campus, while providing engaging, educational opportunities for students to learn more about sustainability. The SSC is accepting project applications now! 

Additionally, the SSC is introducing a new program to guide students from a broad interest in sustainability to a fully-fledged project application. By supporting applicants step-by-step through our process, we hope to engage students on a larger scale, ultimately resulting in the strongest applications possible. This new Project Funding Workshop Series will span five sessions, which can be found on the SSC calendar. Our first meeting will be held this Wednesday, September 29th, from 4-5 pm CT, in Lincoln Hall, Room 1065. We will discuss issues related to sustainability on campus that could be addressed with an SSC-funded project. In subsequent sessions, we will develop solutions to these challenges, create project proposals, and help participants write funding applications.

For anyone who is passionate about sustainability and the environment, this is a great opportunity to turn your passion into a tangible, positive change for the campus community! Presently, we are not offering this event online. If you are unable to attend in-person, but still would like to get involved with the SSC, you can stay up-to-date by signing up for our mailing list. If you are interested in becoming a General Member, or other aspects of the committee, please visit our website. Every student at the University pays approximately $14 a semester to the Illinois Green Fund, so please join us to help allocate these student dollars!

October is Campus Sustainability Month! We encourage you to attend UIUC’s inaugural Student Sustainability Summit this October, co-hosted with the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC). This month-long program includes University- and community-led sustainability efforts through events such as Green Quad Day, a Sustainability Research Symposium, teach-ins, tours of campus facilities, a movie night, and much more! To learn about the full breadth of the summit and stay updated on other sustainability-related RSOs, add the SSLC’s calendar. You can also connect with our social media accounts @ssc_uiuc and @uiuc_sslc on both Twitter and Instagram! Finally, for more information on campus sustainability efforts and events, check out the iCAP (Illinois Climate Action Plan) Portal and iSEE (Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment) Calendar.

We hope to see you at the Project Funding Workshop Series, Student Sustainability Summit, and more events throughout Campus Sustainability Month and beyond!

Best,

Jack Reicherts

SSC Chair

The Engagement iCAP Team met on Wednesday, September 29 for the first time this fall semester. During the meeting, members discussed the team mission, updates on all 6 iCAP 2020 objectives, and the iCAP 2021 Objective Assessment. Meeting minutes are attached below.

Here is the purchase of paper reams at F&S Stores from FY21:

F&S

• Virgin – 177
• Recycled – 1,206

Campus

• Virgin – 7,131
• Recycled – 5,350

The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) and the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) are hosting U of I's first-ever Student Sustainability Summit in October. This month-long celebration includes Green Quad Day on 10/7 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and a Research Symposium from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, at the Campus Instructional Facility. If you are an Illinois student, staff, or faculty researcher and would like to present your sustainability-related research, please fill out this interest form! >>>

ELP Registration Opens Next Week! Interested in an environmental career? Starting Oct. 4 you can register for iSEE's new Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), designed to prepare Illinois undergraduates for leadership roles in the sustainability field. In the Spring 2022 program, participants will learn about policy-making at the local and state levels, develop real-world environmental policies, and present proposals to decision-makers in Springfield and Urbana-Champaign. Participation is free, including travel expenses to Springfield during spring break. Students from all backgrounds, class standings, and majors can apply! Stay tuned for details on our website >>>

Check this out! https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/398e0ea564be4dcaa20d2ba88fa7ed01 

Campus Sustainability Month is right around the corner and we are very excited to invite you to a series of events throughout the entire month of October! Starting this week, Wednesday, September 29 at 6:00 PM, Dr. Ann Perry-Witmer is hosting the next TED Talk: Eco-Edition series over Zoom. She will present a pre-recorded TED Talk and lead a discussion on sustainable decision-making in everyday life - you won’t want to miss out. Register HERE. 

Next, back by popular demand, the second Waste Reduction Challenge begins on Monday, October 4. Participants track items they throw away from October 4 – October 31 to learn about and reduce individual waste generation as the month progresses. It is a fun and results-driven challenge with a supportive community. Throughout the month, we send helpful tips and tricks to make it as easy and informative as possible. Sign up HERE.

Other events in October include:

• Green Quad Day – October 7 from 10 – 4 PM
• Virtual Solar Open House – Topia online platform – October 15 from 1 – 2:30 PM
• Campus trash cleanup – Engineering Quad - October 15 from 3:30 – 5 PM
• TED Talk: Eco-Edition – Sustainable Economy with Alexa Smith – October 19 from 6 – 7 PM. Register for the Zoom event HERE.
• Campus Sustainability Celebration – NCSA (1205 W Clark St, Urbana) – October 20 from 1 – 4 PM
• Illini Lights Out – Foreign Language Building – October 22 from 5:30 – 7 PM. Sign up HERE.  
• Student Sustainability Summit: Research Symposium – Campus Instructional Facility 4029 - October 26 from 5 – 8 PM 

Check out more information and other Campus Sustainability Month events on iSEE’s Sustainability Calendar HERE. If you are aware of a sustainability event that is not listed on the calendar, let us know!  

Start filling your calendars – there are many opportunities to get involved, make a difference, and meet new people. Remember, while we have sustainability events all year long, Campus Sustainability Month is a month-long opportunity to highlight our environmental pride, connect with others, and increase participation in sustainability-related events by the U of I community and beyond. Get involved and come show your support! As always, we are here to answer any questions and guide you in the right direction.

Have a great week and happy Campus Sustainability Month!

Resilience Work Weekly Check-In

09/23/2021, 2:00 PM

Attendees: Morgan White, Meredith Moore, Stacy Gloss

Updates

Stacy provided an overview of her activities for the previous week including

• reviewing the Resilience page and project histories
• beginning work (by contacting key stakeholders and setting up meetings) on Vision Zero, Green Infrastructure, and Taking Leadership on Sustainability objectives.

iCAP Portal

In this meeting we discussed additional functionality, the strategy and rationale on Resilience web page organization. Morgan provided insights on using the iCAP portal such as accessing projects through a table by using the Project Page and searching Projects by Status.  Projects can be added to the iCAP portal by sending a proposal to add a project to Morgan and Meredith.  There is an iCAP Portal Content template that should be used.

Community resilience and sustainability projects

We reflected that there are many community projects and programs related to sustainability and resilience that do not appear anywhere in the iCAP such as MTD projects, Sanitary District work, Stormwater partnerships, Recycling projects and programs, certain solar projects.  We discussed that having a website or webpage dedicated to community partnerships, programs, and outreach about sustainability, environment, resilience, water, energy, land-use etc could be an excellent community resource. The idea bubbled to have a Community Supported Resilience Portal in parallel to the iCAP portal for tracking programs, resources, and projects. This could be a recommendation for meeting one or more of the iCAP objectives.