What We Did: Inter-Org 2015

On January 9th-11th, the Campus Sustainability Office planned and hosted their 5th annual weekend retreat for a variety of organizations. The beauty of the Inter-Organizational retreat is that attendees' primary focus does not have to be sustainability. Groups with a variety of interests and foci were in attendance. The unique point of view that every organization brought made for a far richer experience. The first night, Friday, took place on campus, while the remainder of the retreat took place in Boulder Creek, California at the YMCA Camp Campbell.

Friday night began in the Stevenson Event Center with a delicious dinner prepared by volunteers, and the Inter-Org Foods subcommittee. The planning team would like to thank PICA for letting them use their kitchen and supplies to cook the meal on Friday evening. The meal consisted of delicious, spicy vegan chili and tortilla chips. Dessert was a delicious gluten-free, dairy-free brownie. There was assigned seating so that attendees were forced out of their comfort zone by being required to meet new people and mix and mingle with other organizations and individuals. Thanks to Lily Urmann and Chris Kane, two UCSC student leaders, we were all able to silk screen our white t-shirts after dinner, with the weekend's motto: "Communi[ty]cation!"

Next, we were introduced to the Recreation Department's Experiential Leadership Program. It consisted of an awesome group of student leaders who taught us activities that allowed us to practice the skills necessary to working well in a group. One activity that stood out as particularly fun was the blind-fold maze. We were placed in groups of two, and one member wore a blindfold. The other member of the pair had to guide the blindfolded individual across the maze through their directions- no physical guidance was allowed! If you stepped on the cones, you were frozen! Communication and trust were absolutely integral to playing this game; just as communication and trust are an integral part of working together in an office and organization!

Friday night ended with fun skits! Each of the team building groups were given about 15 minutes to create their own original cheer, chant, rap or story that was representative of their evening at the Inter-Org kick off dinner. Shortly after, most went home to pack and get their camping gear in order for our early morning the following Saturday.

Saturday morning kicked off with a great seminar by Generation Waking Up, led by Mira Michelle of PICA, Tawn Kennedy of Green Ways to School/People Power/Sierra Club, and Maiya Evans of UCSF. Generation Waking Up is an open source curriculum that works to ignite the passion in young people to bring forth a more sustainable world.

After Generation Waking Up, attendees were treated to a variety of workshops presented by our fellow student organizations. Some workshops topics included Cultural Resilience, Biomimicry, and Compassion. The workshops left everyone feeling energized and full of new knowledge and understanding. After the student-led workshops, everyone shared a delicious dinner together and then gathered at the campfire for the annual talent show! It is amazing how much talent each and everyone individual who attended possesses!

The following morning, the retreat wound down with a delicious breakfast and break out sessions for individual organizations to gather and discuss ways to incorporate their newfound knowledge and inspiration into future projects. Inter-Org ended with a group circle where everyone shared a word that personally summed up their experience at the retreat.

Thanks to Lauren Korth for the photographs, and to everyone who made this retreat possible! If you are interested in getting involved in planning next year's retreat, please email Melina at mmeserol[at]ucsc[dot]edu.

Love Innovation and Sustainability? IDEASS Seeks Winter Interns

Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) will have a few select spots available for Winter 2015 enrollment. IDEASS is looking, largely, for Environmental Studies and other social science majors to bring their unique expertise to projects around campus and the Santa Cruz area. 

Enrollment in IDEASS helps to fulfill the senior exit requirement for almost every major (all Environmental Studies majors hoping to use IDEASS to fulfill their senior exit requirement, should contact Adam Millard-Ball at adammb [at] ucsc [dot] edu THIS quarter to be accepted for Winter). Anyone who is interested in applying or is looking for more information should visit the website.

WWOOFing in Canada, A Short Film

Andrew Blackwelder, a UCSC undergraduate studying Intensive Sociology focusing on increasing campus accessibility for disabilities, produced a short film that he wants to share with the sustainability community.

The film features his experiences during a two-month stay at Stein Mountain Farm through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, Canada. Watch the film on Youtube here.

Andrew is involved in the Program in Community & Agroecology (PICA) as the A-quad garden coordinator, a Resident Assistant for C-quad in the Village, and a Fellow in the Everett Program.

He submitted "WWOOF is a priceless experience. :)" to a video contest through the non-profit WWOOF Canada. To learn more about WWOOF, visit their website.

June 2012: Classes, Training & Community

IDEASS Now Accepting Applications: Deadline June 20

Are you an innovative, entrepreneurial, and self-motivated student seeking opportunities to put ideas about sustainable design, social change and environmental stewardship to the test? A new interdisciplinary program: Impact Designs, Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) is now accepting applications for class enrollment for the 2012-2013 academic year. Juniors and Seniors from all majors are encouraged to apply. Click here for details, and here to apply now!

Opportunities with ESLP Next Year

The Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) offered eleven wonderful student-led sections this Spring Quarter. They also had an inspiring guest lecture series that raised awareness and brought new ideas to the table about environmentalism and social justice issues. If you want to become part of the inspiration, they’re offering organizer positions and 2-5 unit internships for the upcoming academic year. For more information, visit their website or send them an email.

Summer Writing Workshops
This summer, UCSC Environmental Studies lecturer and research associate Sarah Rabkin will be offering a five-day writing retreat in the northern Sierra Nevada and two workshops at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, on the Oregon coast. For more information, please click here.

Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy: Apply by June 1
Graduate and senior-level undergraduate students are invited to apply for this University of Illinois at Chicago interdisciplinary program that explores a broad spectrum of sustainability and energy related topics including policy, economics, health, science, engineering, environment, urban planning, business and entrepreneurship. Themed "Election 2012: Energy, Economics and Environment," the August 2012 institute will use the presidential election as the point of departure for a critical analysis of national energy and sustainability issues. For fullest consideration, applications should be submitted by June 1.

Webinar: Creating a Bike-Friendly Campus Culture - June 6
Best for those institutions that are still in the foundational stages of developing a campus-wide alternative transportation strategy, this Academic Impressions webinar will take a step-by-step approach to creating a bike-friendly culture on any campus using Duke University (NC) as an example. Supported by AASHE, this event will start with basic initiatives including bike racks, bike storage rooms and bike maps, and move into deeper investments like developing effective town/gown relationships. It will take place at 4 PM online. Click here for more information and to register.

IDEASS Program Now Accepting Applications: Deadline Extended to June 20 - Apply Today!

Are you interested in...

• Learning how to build and install a rainwater catchment system?
• Sequestering energy for the grid from algae?
• Creating a digital media platform to change Boardwalk consumer habits?
• Installing an electric vehicle charging station on the Wharf?
• Filming and editing a documentary about local sustainability initiatives?
• Working with local businesses to reduce their carbon footprint?

Or maybe you have your own idea for a sustainable design project with potential to make a real community impact, but you aren’t sure how to make it a reality? If you answered yes to any of these questions and want to learn what it takes to work as a sustainability change agent, then you should apply to IDEASS!

Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service is a new team-based internship program on campus designed to create opportunities for students to work on local (primarily off-campus) sustainability challenges with community partners or industry sponsors. 

Apply Now by Clicking Here! Applications to be considered for enrollment in Fall 2012 are due Wednesday, June 20!

IDEASS offers a unique college experience. Students spend minimal time in the classroom, putting the majority of their effort into realizing project deliverables in the field. This is an opportunity for undergraduates approaching graduation to transition into the emerging green-technology workforce. Multiple IDEASS students graduating in 2012 are entertaining or have already accepted job offers resulting from their achievements working on an IDEASS project.

Santa Cruz Wharf Wind Turbine Project

Visit the Project Clearinghouse and search for IDEASS to view examples of completed and active IDEASS projects. Click here to read a student testimonial about an IDEASS project taking place in Porter College!

To find out more about IDEASS, please visit the website or contact IDEASS with any questions or concerns. IDEASS needs your talent, so apply today!

March 2012 Sustainability Profile: Campus Sustainability Internship Program

The Campus Sustainability Internship (CSI) program is a year-long course and internship designed to engage students in campus sustainability work. CSI provides students with trainings and resources to enable their success as future environmental professionals and leaders. The program pairs students with staff mentors to work on campus projects related to green building, waste reduction, energy conservation, and more.The application deadline is approaching quickly--staff applications are due March 16 and student applications are due April 4. Click here to apply now!

To give readers a first-hand account of the program, Student Newsletter Coordinator Melissa Ott interviewed two of the participants in the program to learn about their experiences in CSI. Kathryn Cunningham is a Strategic Sourcing and Sustainable Procurement Manager in Procurement and Business Contracts (P&BC) and CSI staff mentor to CSI Intern and Environmental Studies Senior, Christian Frederick (pictured below).

Melissa: What is the project that you’re working on, and why it's important for sustainability efforts and for the UCSC campus?

Christian: I am working with Procurement Department on creating a training program to education staff about “greenwashing,” which refers to false or misleading marketing claims aimed at promoting a product for its sustainability or environmental friendliness. By creating this training program, campus buyers can teach their on-campus clients how to identify environmentally preferable products more effectively and steer clear of marketing schemes geared toward misleading customers. This work will further campus sustainability by improving our green purchasing efforts and increasing the number of sustainable products at the university.

Kathryn: We want the program to use current products purchased by UC Santa Cruz personnel to explain and illustrate green washing tactics, and then offer alternatives that are better choices for the environment and society as a whole. Developing and delivering a green washing training program for P&BC will provide a better understanding of how marketing strategies can cloud good purchasing choices. With this understanding and the training program generated P&BC personnel can carry this to their campus clients. Once the campus clients—those making daily purchasing decisions—have the same knowledge, it is expected they will make more sustainable purchasing choices thereby improving UC Santa Cruz’s environmentally preferable purchasing metrics.

Melissa: Christian, the CSI program requires you to participate in class lectures and professional development trainings in addition to your internship work. Why has CSI been beneficial for you?

Christian: It allows me to take an active role in sustainable efforts within my (campus) community. I gained appreciation for sustainability through various classes here at UCSC but never truly felt I had any impact in matters until I started this program. This program has not only shown me how to take an active role in green purchasing but in all aspects of environmental awareness on campus. Through the class, we learn about institutional change and how students play a huge role as long as they participate. Through this class, and my work so far, I have become involved in multiple organizations on campus, including the Sustainability Office and the Green Purchasing Working Group. My involvement in these areas has provided me with an extraordinary level of experience developing professional skills in just the first half of the quarter. The experience has also helped me learn how to organize effective meetings, create project plans which help guide long-term work objectives, and polish my public speaking abilities. I receive this education both at the office with my staff mentor (by actually working in a professional environment) and in the classroom (through professional skills trainings and discussing ideas with my peers).

Melissa: Kate, what is useful about having student support for projects you are working on?

Kathryn: P&BC Buyers have been asking for this training for some time but our resources available for developing such a program have been limited. Now, through the Campus Sustainability Internship program we have that needed resource. This is Christian’s only project—we get fifteen hours each week focused on research, data analysis, supplier practices, and program development—it is going to be a great training program for buyers to share. Being located at 2300 Delaware, P&BC does not interact much with students so when we do have the opportunity, as with the CSI program, we get a sense of the energy on the hill.

Melissa: What made you want to participate in the CSI program?

Christian: I applied for the CSI program because I wanted to learn more about real-world efforts for sustainability outside of the classroom. I saw the internship as a great opportunity to take what I had been learning in the classroom and use it to make our campus more sustainable. I was also attracted to CSI because of it introduces student applicants to various staff and their projects on campus. Within the program, there is also overlap on projects, and I already have collaborations with about three other interns. This aspect is special to me because it resembles a real work environment. Each of us has a common goal for campus sustainability, but we are able to understand how cooperation from different areas is the key to making change.

Kathryn: The CSI program has given our department another format for communicating the work we do and the policies and procedures that govern that work. In addition to finally having a resource to put together a green washing training, we have used the CSI program as a chance to recruit for our Green Purchasing Working Group (GPWeG). While we have enjoyed some outstanding student members in the past, we’ve not attracted more than one at a time. Our last GPWeG meeting roster included five students. These student voices help us shape the work we do.

Melissa: What is the value of students and staff working together to foster a culture of sustainability at UCSC?

Christian: As a student it is easy to get caught up in the ideologies of change and sustainability without having the knowledge of how to act on them. Staff members provide the know-how and guidance required to make effective change on campus. Collaboration between the two groups is essential because it utilizes the drive and passion of students with the dedication and knowledge of staff members. We all want to make change for the better, and we all need to work together to make a difference.

Kathryn: Students have access to faculty and administrators in a very different way than most staff. When staff can share with students “how things work” at UC Santa Cruz, we all begin to make connections and form ideas that can lead to collaborative change in favor of sustainable business practices.

Want to talk to Christian and find out more about green purchasing? Interested in zero waste efforts? Be sure to attend the Zero Waste/Green Purchasing workshop this Saturday, March 3 at Earth Summit in the Colleges 9/10 multipurpose room from 12:45-1:45 PM. Learn how to reduce waste and green your campus with the power of purchasing, and if you’re interesting, speak with Christian about the CSI program. If you are interested in getting involved with the Campus Sustainability Internship Program as a staff mentor or as a student intern, find out more and apply here. Questions? Email Shauna Casey.