Background
Katherine Hayhoe, world-renowned climate scientist and communicator likes to say that “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change is to talk about it”.1 Talking about climate change and environmental sustainability has many positive impacts: it helps to raise awareness of these issues and why they matter to students, it raises the profile of climate change and sustainability and validates these as issues of concern in our society, it can empower individuals to take meaningful actions, it can give leaders the confidence that there is support for the systemic changes that are essential to building a sustainable future, and more.
In the University setting, students are central to the purpose of the institution and therefore the issues that matter to students are of concern to those who make decisions at the University and for the University. One of the key mechanisms for showing what matters to students is the conversations that they have amongst each other, with their instructors, with university staff, with administrators and other campus members. Creating more of a buzz around sustainability and climate change is therefore important but so is amplifying that buzz and creating quantitative and qualitative indicators for how strong that buzz is. When decision-makers at all levels are hearing that an issue is important to their major stakeholders, when they see numbers and stories that demonstrate that concern for the issue is widespread, they will feel the pressure to act, and they will know that there is support for action on these issues.
The Sustainability Office is looking to learn about best practices for encouraging more students to engage in sustainability-related conversations, both formally and informally. This work ultimately supports action on the Shift Neutral climate action plan and all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Scope of Work Could Include
- Conduct a literature review on the institutional impacts of conversations about sustainability and climate change. Are there compelling examples, studies that have measured impacts, or theories of change that validate the importance of these conversations in general and in businesses/institutions in particular?
- Research best practices from other Universities for promoting conversations on sustainability and climate change.
- Develop recommendations for how to inspire more sustainability and climate-related conversations between
- Students,
- Students and faculty or instructors,
- Students and staff (e.g. in residences, food courts, co-op office, etc.),
- Students and administrators.
- Explore simple ways of quantifying the number of student sustainability and climate change conversations occurring on campus.
- Recommend simple ways of evaluating the impact of the recommendations.
- Translate recommendations into infographics to disseminate on social media
Resources
The University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Office has many useful resources: Sustainability Strategy, Shift Neutral Climate Action Plan and Sustainability Guide.
Stakeholders
- Sustainability Office
Proposed Deliverables
The details of the deliverables are flexible but must meet the requirements set out by the course instructor. Some proposed deliverables include:
- A work plan early in the term outlining key milestones and responsibilities.
- Updates on progress at least once during the term.
- A final report outlining the outcomes of the research, best practices, and recommendations.
- A final meeting to review the outcomes of the report and answer questions.
1 https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change _talk_about_it