Hey, so I think we need to talk. I guess you could sort of say that I’m asking you for a favour... Anyway, here it goes:
The Office of Campus Sustainability is holding a couple of public consultations soon and you should definitely be involved.
Okay I get it, but before you say no, hear me out.
This year we’ve been running around, pumping out ideas. It’s a lot of work. Lately, we’ve been trying to get some attention from the uOttawa community. The office I am working with has been thinking about ways to get you to notice us and to make you happy because it really means a lot to us. Yes, we understand that Green Spaces are great but hey, we have a bunch of other issues as well that we want to put our efforts towards.
Soooo, we started developing a sustainability plan as part of the new campus sustainability policy. Now, "what even is a Sustainability plan" you ask? Good question!
We want uOttawa's sustainability plan to outline who we are, what our mission is, and how we will work on attaining our goals, alongside our achievements and what we’ve been up to. A good sustainability plan needs to let everyone see what you are doing and show everyone how they can play a part.
The University has been pretty busy lately, especially with Imagine 2030, a visioning exercise for the campus' next 10 years. The University has also been building things like new lecture halls, new pavilions, new research labs, and a cool new lunch spot (hopefully). But back to the Vision 2030 process. Our office has been doing our best to sort of, “infiltrating” the process.
Okay, it's no big secret but we have an agenda. This may even be an ambitious agenda but... we love a challenge. And maybe infiltrate is the wrong word; maybe the right sentiment is looking to elevate the process. Some of the things we have been proposing include ideas that help the University look at all the facets of sustainability :
- healthy/organic food vending machines,
- more research on the subject of sustainability,
- reducing the amount of disposable coffee cups on campus
- and *sigh* I guess we can add more trees and green spaces on campus, if you insist.
I don't want to pick on green space but is that really all you want? See, our office can’t know for sure until we ask you. That is why the Office of Sustainability has started public consultations to actually hear what the members of our campus want, what they need, what they feel passionate about. These consultations include: surveys, polls, interviews and workshops. It’s an awesome way to get involved with our community. Plus, since the University has launched their Imagine 2030 process anyways, don't you think it's cool for you to have a hand in the future of our campus?
So, we need your help. We want you to fill out our surveys during the summer. We want you to sign up for our workshops (even if it’s just for the free doughnuts). We want you to to get involved and make sustainability a priority. If not you, who, and if not now, when?
hanna ~ campus sustainability clerk