UNMC campuses will celebrate Campus Sustainability Month this October. Hosting Campus Sustainability Month in October provides a nice juxtaposition to Earth Month in April and often serves as a catalyst for student involvement on campus.
Academic campuses are essential drivers to the environmental movement. In large part, colleges and universities’ interests in sustainability stem from student interests. UNESCO reports that 91% of students agree that their higher education institution should actively pursue and promote sustainable development. Academic institutions pursuing environmental sustainability and climate change resiliency often partner with their local communities, which has positive effects on the campus as well as the residents, municipalities and land surrounding the institution .
Like everything else, Campus Sustainability Month will look different this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, we invite you to become a LiveGreen Ambassador and help us achieve our 2030 sustainability goals.
As an ambassador you:
- Model sustainable behaviors;
- Share information and discuss with colleagues; and
- Help implement sustainability initiatives through personal communication.
We can’t reach our goals without you. Joining our ambassador workshop in October is a great way to learn more about sustainability at the med center and help us transform our system.
We have the following activities planned, and would like to share other opportunities to engage in sustainability more broadly:
- LiveGreen Ambassador Workshop: If you are interested in becoming an ambassador, or already are one, we are hosting a virtual workshop on Oct. 15. Email LiveGreen.
- People’s EcoChallenge: You can join the med center’s team, which will compete in the People’s EcoChallenge, a monthlong virtual challenge (Oct 7-28) where participants pledge and then record a variety of sustainable activities. Friends and family are welcome, too.
- CleanMed: CleanMed is a conference run by two non-profit organizations designed to explore environmental sustainability in the health care sector. Traditionally, these conferences have a cost to attend, but this year, CleanMed is hosting six free, virtual sessions on sustainability in health care. Register for the virtual sessions and join us for discussion circles following.
CleanMed Sessions in October:
- Oct. 7: Resilience from farm to plate
- Oct. 14: Rethinking supply chains in response to COVID-19
- Oct. 21: Collaborating to build resilient health care
- Oct. 29: Clinical sustainability: Environmental stewardship at the bedside