February 2017: Classes, Trainings, and Community

Climate Change and Carbon Survey

Conifr is a team of students in Santa Cruz and Brisbane working together to develop an app that tracks individual carbon emissions from transportation. Their idea won them first place at Startup Weekend Santa Cruz in November. Their goal is to facilitate tracking of CO2 emissions and offer transparent ways to offset, or counteract, those emissions. Please fill out this survey so that they can better understand their market and know how to make the app as useful to you as possible! You can use this survey link or use the QR code above.

SEC Blueprint Breakouts throughout Winter Quarter: February 1, 8, 15
You're invited to the Student Environmental Center's (SEC) annual creation of the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus! Connect with students, staff, and faculty and share ideas on campus sustainability. Free vegetarian dinner will be provided each week. The events are on Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 PM. The dates and themes for each event are as follows: February 1: Waste Prevention and Land, Habitat & Watershed at Rachel Carson College Red Room. February 8: Green Building & Social and Environmental Justice at the Colleges 9&10 Namaste Lounge. February 15: Water & Green Purchasing at Rachel Carson College Red Room. For questions, please email seclead-group@ucsc.edu.

Zero Waste Campus Cleanups: February 4 & 26
The Sustainability Office's Zero Waste Team is hosting campus cleanups that are open for all to attend. Snacks and supplies are provided! The cleanups are happenings from 11 AM to 12 PM. Oakes & Rachel Carson Colleges' cleanup is on February 4, and Cowell & Stevenson Colleges' cleanup is on February 26. Each cleanup will meet in front of the respective dining halls. For questions or DRC accommodations, please email the Zero Waste Team at zerowasteucsc@gmail.com.

Labor Mobility & Precarity on a Global Scale Symposium: February 7
You are invited to attend this symposium on how global labor mobility and rising precarity affect and connect the experiences of citizens and non-citizens. Precarity, the experience of insecurity and constant risk of exclusion, is central to the experience of many labor migrants and citizen-workers in our time. Today’s labor migrants are new denizens—residents or inhabitants who are not quite full members of society. They are incorporated into societies that desire their labor, but reject their very presence. The event is on February 7, from 12-5:30 PM in the Stevenson Event Center. It is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to register before event.

Common Ground Center World Cafes: February 7 & 21
Kresge Common Ground Center is hosting World Cafes this Quarter at the Kresge Seminar Room 159. February 7th's discussion is called Arts and Activism and February 21st is on Media, News, and Influence. For more information, check out their website or Facebook page. Can’t wait to hear what actions emerge from these conversations!

Film Screening & Conversation with Ron Finley: February 8
Ron Finley is the renowned "guerrilla gardener of South Central L.A." and an advocate for urban gardens as a way to address poverty, alleviate food insecurity, and promote community cohesion. With the help of activists and community members, he was able to legalize curbside gardening in the city of L.A. for community use. Ron will give a short talk before the film, and participate in a Q&A session after the showing. The event is happening at 7 PM on Wednesday, February 8 at the Colleges 9&10 Multipurpose Room. Admission is free and seating may be limited. For information or accommodations, contact coco@ucsc.edu.

Democratizing the Green City Conference at UCSC: February 17-18
This conference examines a paradox: urban sustainability initiatives that are so vital in countering climate change can, through their improvements, contribute to driving up rents and driving out residents, and in the process, exacerbate sprawl, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change itself. Our speakers examine this growing link between environmental improvement and social displacement and ask: How is it possible to break this link? What would it mean to include affordable housing and equity within sustainability efforts? And what are the consequences—socially and ecologically—if we don't? This conference is free and open to the public. Please register and find out more at their website.

Climate Science & Policy Conference - Changing Climate: Acting Now to Secure a Sustainable Future: February 24-25
The Divisions of Physical & Biological Sciences and Social Sciences are proud to announce the 4th Annual UC Santa Cruz Climate Science & Policy Conference. It will feature a keynote presentation by Veerbhadran Ramanathan on "Climate Change Morphing into an Existential Threat: Need for a New Approach," as well as panel discussions on Saturday covering a variety of topics. The closing panel Fred Keeley Lecture on Environmental Policy is titled, "Climate Change Science and Policy in a President Trump Administration." Learn more and register online here.

Campus Fun-Run with OPERS and Financial Aid on April 29 during Alumni Weekend
Fun run on campus in support of student scholarships! UCSC is hosting a challenging 5k on campus that covers all of our colleges and major nostalgic, picturesque areas on UC Santa Cruz. They’ll have water stations, photos stations, shuttle service just in case and lockers and refreshments at OPERS on the East Field. Register early for the family-friendly fun in the sun this Spring! Find out more at Alumni Weekend website.

Santa Cruz Fruit Tree Project: February 4
The Santa Cruz Fruit Tree Project, in collaboration with the City of Santa Cruz Parks Department, will be breaking ground on a community orchard, bringing dozens of volunteers to amend the soil and plant about 20 fruit trees. The event will be on Saturday, February 4th at Mike Fox Park, alongside the river levee by the Riverside Ave Bridge. Check out their website for more information.

Bridging Social Justice and Sustainability with Student Projects

By Christine Ongjoco, Everett Program student and Graphic Artist for the Sustainability Office

Sustainability means leaving the world, planet and people, in the same or better way than when we found it. To me, this means recognizing that sustainability also means social justice.  Without a more inclusive world for all people, we cannot progress together to create a healthier planet for us all.

The Everett Program is an intensive sociology program on campus that creates a new generation of “info-savvy” advocates using information technology to overcome informational exclusion–based barriers to civic participation and social justice. The learning goes both ways: While advancing the larger public good, Everett students accumulate valuable technical knowledge, while sharpening their leadership and project management skills.

The heart and soul of the Everett Program are student projects. College students have a fire inside and want to change the world, but too often are not given a chance to tackle the issues about which they so deeply care. We take student passion and help temper it with social enterprise and startup practices so that they can design a polished, doable project that will tackle their issue from their own unique angle. Everett projects take students across the globe, around the country, and out in the streets of our own county.

Here are some projects that have successfully bridged social justice and sustainability:

Building Technological Capacity of Youth Leaders in a Rural Sustainable Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Initiative 

The Community-Based Monitoring and Evaluation project seeks to combat rural youth out-migration through the empowerment of eight youth leaders in eight different communities of San Ramón. Each year, project leaders are responsible for conducting field interviews to monitor the progress of their efforts. The results which are synthesized by CAN are then shared with the community members where project strategies and next steps are discussed by all project leaders and beneficiary families. With this project, youth leaders will be able to continue these efforts even when funding has ended.

Advancing Sustainable Communities

Advancing Sustainable Communities via Ancient Japanese Farming Practices began as a project to assess the success of Japanese sustainable farming in the context of rapid industrialization. The aim was to understand what factors, especially the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), had allowed these small farms to prosper, despite the encroachment of cities and spread of industrial agriculture, with the aim of being able to apply these techniques to other locations, especially rapidly developing nations ... Neil found that farms effectively employing ICT serve as a lesson to their peers in Japan and throughout the world, and all of the locations visited would benefit from expanded use of these technologies, such as an inventory management system and greater web presence.


Thirsty Trees Video Project

 
Thirsty Trees: And the Search for Better Alternatives” is an investigation into the different problems certain trees–especially eucalyptus- are creating in the arid regions of Kenya and Africa due to the fact that they consume huge amounts of water. Local alternatives to eucalyptus are discussed, including indigenous trees which have local spiritual and medicinal properties. The video incorporates both scientific and colloquial observations of the effects of eucalyptus and economic reasons behind its proliferation in Africa.

To find out more about the Everett Program, come to our event, May 18 at Social Science 2 047, to chat with students and fellows who are in the program!

You can also visit www.everettprogram.org for more information.

April 2015 Green Tip: Purchasing Electronics

As members of the University system in the 21st century, our lives are dominated by electronics like phones and laptops. These products are increasingly smaller, faster, and more advanced in their capabilities, allowing us to interact and share more efficiently than with older technologies; however, the process of putting these products together is much more socially and environmentally destructive than is often evident to the average consumer.

Conflict minerals (like gold and tantalum) are present in most of our commonly used electronics. These minerals are generally attained through intense social exploitation (i.e. child labor) in disastrous mines that cause extreme environmental degradation for their surrounding areas. Countries like the Congo that are rich in natural resources but are politically unstable are ravaged by war and violence because of this mineral trade that is fueled by western consumer demand for electronics.

Of the 21 largest electronics manufacturers in the world, you can buy your cell phones, computers, cameras, and other gadgets from those companies that are making the most effort to go conflict-free (and avoid those that are not). According to Raising Hope for Congo, here are the rankings:

Click image for larger view.

Organizations like Raise Hope for Congo are working to raise awareness about these issues and are urging electronics companies to take responsibility for their mining practices.

Fairphone is a prime example of how companies can take responsability for their production practices. Fairphone started in 2010 as a project of Waag Society, Action Aid and Schrijf-Schrijf to raise awareness about conflict minerals in electronics and the wars that they fuel and fund in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2013, they established their independent social enterprise to design and produce their first smartphone and take the next crucial steps in uncovering the story behind the sourcing, production, distribution and recycling of electronics.
To learn more about them, please download their fact sheet.

Next time you consider purchasing a new phone or laptop, consider first if you really need a new one. If you determine that what you have isn't sufficient, consider buying a refurbished one instead. You can also refer to the Enough Project's company rankings, a rating system that evaluates corporations on their efforts to be "Conflict Free."

Here are some ways to be sustainable with electronic products:

1. Purchase sustainable options, such as Fairphone, etc.
2. Use it until it's beyond repair instead of buying the newest version right away
3. Recycle it properly through certified e-waste systems
4. Donate old phones that do work but which no longer serve your needs

Read more about the ways that conflict minerals affect people living in the Congo in this National Geographic piece.

"Seeding Innovation" and spreading IDEASS

"Seeding Innovation" event highlights green technology projects
UC Santa Cruz undergraduates demonstrated green technology projects developed in collaboration with community members during an event on Friday, October 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz. The event was free and open to the public. This event was the brain child of a UC Santa Cruz program called Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS). Seeing Innovation is a forum for the community to talk about sustainability, particularly through the use of green technology. To read the full article and learn more about this awesome event, click here.

February 2014: Contests & Funding

Call for Submissions: Innovative, Sustainable Projects - Due February 17
The Campus Consciousness Challenge, hosted by REVERB Inc., is accepting U.S. undergraduate proposals that aim to have a direct or indirect positive effect on the environment. The winner will receive $10,000 for development of the proposal. Entries are due by 9 AM Pacific time on February 17.

Earthzine Seeks Student Juror for Science Competition
The online scientific journal seeks a university or college student as a juror to assist in scoring entries for NASA 2013 Earth Science Technology Showcase, an online presentation of technology developments for the earth science community.

Call for Papers for "Just Sustainability: Hope for the Commons" - Due Feb 24
Seattle University's Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability invites papers and proposals for talks, workshops and panel presentations for its inaugural conference “Just Sustainability: Hope for the Commons” to be held August 7-9, 2014. They invite papers related to environmental justice and sustainability from all fields of discourse, including but not limited to environmental studies, theology, business, philosophy, engineering, education, law, the arts, international development, anthropology, religious studies, geography and the natural sciences. For more information, visit the website.

February 2014 Green Tip: Purchasing Electronics

As members of the university system in the 21st century, our lives are dominated by electronics like phones and laptops. These products are increasingly smaller, faster, and more advanced in their capabilities, allowing us to interact and share more efficiently than with older technologies; however, the process of putting these products together is much more socially and environmentally destructive than is often evident to the average consumer.

Conflict minerals (like gold and tantalum) are present in most of our commonly used electronics. These minerals are generally attained through intense social exploitation (i.e. child labor) in disastrous mines that cause extreme environmental degradation for their surrounding areas. Countries like the Congo that are rich in natural resources but are politically unstable are ravaged by war and violence because of this mineral trade that is fueled by western consumer demand for electronics.

Organizations like Raise Hope for Congo are working to raise awareness about these issues and are urging electronics companies to take responsibility for their mining practices.

Next time you consider purchasing a new phone or laptop, consider first if you really need a new one. If you determine that what you have isn't sufficient, consider buying a refurbished one instead You can also refer to the Enough Project's company rankings, a rating system that evaluates corporations on their efforts to be "Conflict Free."

There is currently an initiative at UC Santa Cruz to become a conflict-free campus. For more information about this effort, please contact Leeza Arbatman, President of STAND, a student anti-genocide coalition that is currently focusing on these issues. Email her at earbatma [at] ucsc [dot] edu.

Read more about the ways that conflict minerals affect people living in the Congo in this National Geographic piece.

IDEASS Sustainability Program Spaces Still Available - Apply Now!

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 will be accepted until the program is full!

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!

May 2012: Classes, Training & Community

Live at PICA Next Year!

Interested in living in the PICA community? If you enjoy living sustainably, gardening, sharing home-cooked meals, and living in a friendly educational community, PICA (Program in Community and Agroecology) might just be the place for you! Details on how to sign up for the Village's amazing themed housing can be found here. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Bethany Hecht.

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.

AASHE Rio +20 Webinar - Increasing Collaboration to Build a Sustainable Future: May 10
Co-produced by AASHE, this webinar is the first in the Security and Sustainability Forum's "Run up to Rio +20" webinar series. AASHE's Executive Director Paul Rowland will host a panel of academic and industry thought leaders in a discussion about existing sustainability initiatives and collaborative efforts, and how they can be augmented to help meet the goals being established at the United Nations Rio +20 Summit. The webinar will take place 1:15 p.m. Eastern, May 10.

CURC Recycling Webinar - Campus and Community Outreach: May 10
Recycling Education and Awareness: Tools, Tips and Ideas for Campus and Community Outreach," hosted by the College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) and co-sponsored by AASHE, will cover tools and communications strategies specific to college campuses. Participants will learn how to increase program visibility through national events including Recyclemania; maximize reach through collaborations with campus-based and community organizations; and effectively utilize social media and other free communications tools. This webinar will take place 1:00 p.m. Eastern, May 10.

Workshop for Integrating Sustainability into Education: Registration Deadline May 15
This three-day workshop, to be held June 4-6, in San Diego, CA, and allows academic faculty to explore how they can meaningfully integrate sustainability, which is broadly defined, into their classrooms. Presentations on sustainable agriculture, sustainable communities, and biomimicry; a visit to the San Diego Zoo; a presentation on sustainability initiatives at Balboa Park; a Kumeyaay exhibit and presentation at the Museum of Man; and an optional excursion to the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, with tour and canoeing/kayaking afterwards. Limited to 40 participants, register now!

IDEASS Now Accepting Applications: Deadline May 25

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!

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!