Sustainability Week

From November 1st to 4th, the University of Illinois held its second annual Sustainability Week, building on a longer- standing tradition of “Live Green” week organized in prior years by Students for Environmental Concerns.

Major events held included a sustainability poster session at the ARC, a workshop on bike safety, a forum on the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), presentations on Facilities & Services sustainability processes (such as planning, building standards and utility rates) and a panel on green jobs followed by a presentation by Chris Pyke, the vice- president of research at the US Green Building Council.

At the iCAP forum, Pradeep Khanna, Director of the Office of Sustainability informed attendees that the University had achieved its 2015 goals on carbon emissions reduction and would be working to develop new, more aggressive goals.

Noted environmental lawyer Robert F Kennedy also visited campus during Sustainability Week, and spoke on leadership and transformative environmental change. At the end of his visit, Mr. Kennedy signed on in support of a student campaign to get the University of Illinois to divest from coal as part of its endowment.

Especially noteworthy was the presence of the University’s new Chancellor, Dr. Phyllis Wise, at two key Sustainability Week events. Chancellor Wise attended a campus walk featuring energy efficiency projects on Quad buildings, where representatives from the Illini Union and Facilities and Services presented many initiatives that the University was working on related to campus sustainability.

Chancellor Wise also hosted a student forum on Friday afternoon, at the University YMCA. At this forum, representatives from six different student groups presented various initiatives that they were working on to educate and engage students and make a positive impact on the environment. At the end of the event, Chancellor Wise said that she viewed student engagement on sustainability issues as one of the University of Illinois’s greatest strengths.

Kasey Umland, Program Director of the University YMCA was extremely pleased by the Chancellor’s visit. “I think it is vital that students have a voice in how their University is run. It is great to see Chancellor Wise making an effort to engage with students, particularly in a space, like the Y, where so much student activism around sustainability takes place.”

Suhail Barot