The students who worked on the Unity Project last year were not consulted in Student Council's recent decision concerning the future of the Unity Project. In our view, the Unity Project left major legacies around the University including many opportunities for student involvement and collaboration, especially with regard to the last theme of the Project: Environmental Sensitivity and Sustainability.
The most obvious legacy was the production of an Earth Week with 40 student groups collaborating on more than 40 events with more than 1,900 students in attendance. This was the University's largest celebration of Earth Day, which will continue this year with a wide collaboration of groups contributing to the endeavor.
Second, the UVA Green Challenge, which launched this week, seeks to engage students in sustainable practices by enabling changed behavior. The idea to implement a "No Impact Week" came up last year but was not implemented during Earth Week because of a lack of time. The modified year-long competitive Green Challenge will encourage student sustainability by offering sustainable rewards from local businesses and encouraging dorm competitions. The website (https://utilities.fm.virginia.edu/GreenChallenge/) will be used to tally points associated with certain ecofriendly behaviors and will track winning dorms and individuals.
Third, the Green CIO Program, created by the Unity Project last year and revamped under the new leadership of Joe Lloyd, is currently working to improve access to resources and opportunities for more than 25 sustainability-minded student groups. This is a very effective organization that will continue to unite and encourage cooperation with CIOs that have similar interests.
Fourth, our Earth-Week evaluation sessions brought together different students across years and departments to generate ideas about creating high-energy spaces for learning outside of the classroom. One exciting idea that emerged from those conversations was the creation of "flash seminars:" informal classes where students can engage with provocative subjects, from education to sustainability. Many students and faculty are now a part of the team to generate and maintain the spirit of flash seminars (Check out the website at www.flashsems.com).
The Unity Project created powerful and exciting legacies by enabling students all over the University to come together around the theme of environmental sensitivity and sustainability. There seems to be an even greater interest in sustainability this year, and I hope that Student Council will consider the successes of the Unity Project's grassroots model when trying to create other Grounds-wide integrated initiatives.\nThese grassroots efforts do more than motivate and empower students to find creative ways to achieve real problems. They are also noticed by the administration, which is gauging how important certain issues are to the student body when considering its own initiatives. For example, a survey from the President's Committee on Sustainability to administrative offices this summer revealed that "student interest was cited far more often than other options as 'one of the biggest drivers' in encouraging sustainability initiatives at UVA." As the undergraduate representative for the President's Committee on Sustainability, I have been working a lot this year with Joe Lloyd of Green CIO Consultants to learn about all of these grassroots initiatives relating to sustainability and have found more groups spontaneously occurring than I had ever imagined. I had started a running list during our comprehensive outreach for the Unity Project last year, but it seems that we are always finding out about new initiatives, whether it's an Engineering School project like "The Rod Squad" which performs energy audits for nonprofits in Charlottesville, or an art initiative like "River Rocks," which only uses materials from within a 10-mile radius. When one includes all organizations that students are involved (not just student-run), there are at least 35. The Greek recycling initiative is the only one that overlaps between groups, but each of the entities involved is successfully working together to improve a growing participation in the recycling program among fraternities. This decentralized model at University also allows for strong ties to other grassroots nonprofit organizations, both locally and nationally. There are seven nonprofit organizations that have a presence on Grounds in the form of a campaign or student chapter, and many are recruiting student interns.
Is there too much going on to get involved with sustainability? Absolutely not: There are plenty of opportunities for projects and students are coming up with creative ways to improve sustainability initiatives and to address areas that have previously not gotten enough attention. The Unity Project may be a thing of the past, but the legacy it left has already helped to connect students and organizations this year and will for years to come. We have come a long way in the past couple of years, but there is much more to do if we are to aspire to be a truly sustainable University, and it starts with us: the students.
Sheffield Hale was the 2009-10 Unity Project co-chair and is the current undergraduate representative on the President's Committee on Sustainability.
Read More
CARTER: U.Va. Health owes clarity to transplant patients
By Nathaniel Carter | 15 hours agoUnfortunately, this negative press is fully the fault of U.Va. Health — it failed to address significant stakeholder concerns when crafting its justification.
EDITORIAL: Upholding medical amnesty is a collective effort
By Editorial Board | YesterdayUniversity leadership, Greek life organizations and students themselves must recommit to the safety provided by an effective and knowledgeable use of medical amnesty.
KURTZWEIL: Dockworkers’ unions cannot avoid the threat of automation
By Paul Kurtzweil | 2 days agoInstead of continuing to demand decreased automation, the union should work with the legislature in the hopes of driving investment into the reorganization of the current workforce.
