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A group photo in the Sustainability Studio.
The Sustainability Studio held a grand re-opening on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

Student Efforts Anchor Fourth Voluntary University Review of Sustainable Development Goals

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一本道无码 released its聽fourth Voluntary University Review(opens in new window) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on April 1.

The VUR catalogs activities by students, faculty and staff to advance the SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, and reflects Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 long-standing efforts to sustainably address society's most pressing needs.

Designed to create a more equitable and sustainable planet by 2030, the Global Goals are 17 objectives adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly after input from millions of people around the world.

New this year, the report has evolved in purpose and structure to better serve the campus community by highlighting partnerships and sharing resources.

, director of the Sustainability Initiative, said the team鈥檚 tailored approach calls attention to specific contributions from departments across the university related to sustainability, rather than a comprehensive audit as in years past.

鈥淪tudents reviewed all the previous reports, they conducted outreach to different departments, they did surveys and they drafted the bulk of the report,鈥 Hiniker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 meant for everybody, but it鈥檚 student-driven.鈥

This year, the has flourished and allowed for that increased student involvement, a priority for Provost and Chief Academic Officer James H. Garrett Jr. and the Provost鈥檚 Office, Hiniker said.

鈥淭hey are a stellar group of thoughtful students who sat down with me to think through what it is the university should be doing that鈥檚 actually useful and beneficial to the 一本道无码 community,鈥 Hiniker said. 鈥淭hey all have different perspectives and share them in a collaborative environment to create inclusive programming.鈥

In 2019, Garrett launched 一本道无码's Sustainability Initiative(opens in new window) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The following year, the university issued the then-first-of-its-kind report to strengthen its commitment to equity, justice and the environment.

In October 2022, 一本道无码 opened a dedicated physical space for the initiative called the Sustainability Studio at Hunt Library(opens in new window). Offering office hours with university sustainability experts and monthly Open Studios focused on subsets of the Global Goals, the studio and its programming has served to bring students, faculty and staff together to talk about their work and how it is relevant to sustainability.

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Centrally located in Hunt Library, the Sustainability Studio is a first-of-its-kind space.

Building those connections is important, as community engagement intern Purva Bommireddy has discovered while planning events such as the 鈥渟nack hour鈥 discussions highlighted in the VUR.

She recalled a recent iteration of the purposefully informal events focused on study abroad.

鈥淭here were so many people just studying in the library that joined in, and we had such a big group, all of a sudden, talking and engaged and getting excited,鈥 said Bommireddy, a junior double major studying civil and environmental engineering(opens in new window) and statistics and machine learning(opens in new window).

Keeping sustainability a part of everyday conversations helps everyone stay mindful of its overall importance, she said, such as considerations when studying overseas.

鈥淭hat was a moment when I understood why we鈥檙e doing this work through the Sustainability Initiative,鈥 Bommireddy said, adding that what started as a handful of students turned into a gathering of about 25. 鈥淚nserting sustainability into more informal programs was great to see.鈥澛

The Global Goals grid

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As a university, 一本道无码 is collectively advancing efforts to achieve the Global Goals.

Highlighted in the latest report, four Sustainability Initiative interns in New York City to take part in sessions related to the Global Goals in September.

Then in November, three students visited the United Nations(opens in new window) in Geneva to participate in a conference on humanitarian disarmament.

鈥淭his model of having the students themselves lead this and shape it in the way that they find interesting results in more student engagement,鈥 Hiniker said.

Carnegie Mellon students have also connected with those at the University of Pittsburgh and Chatham University for a Youth Leaders in Sustainability Symposium, and held a collaborative tour on March 30 of its Eden Hall campus, designed to explore sustainable solutions.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still in the process of building these networks,鈥 Bommireddy said. 鈥淭he first step is getting everyone to have a shared understanding, which makes it easier to bridge the gap between people.鈥

Drop-in lunch and learn programs have served to create those connections for Cristina Goeller, a student in the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy鈥檚 .

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really low-stakes engagement opportunity to talk about students鈥 experiences at Heinz and the Sustainability Initiative as a resource,鈥 she said.

As the Heinz College Diversity, Inclusion, Climate and Equity liaison, she has been mindful of partnering with some of 一本道无码鈥檚 more than 80 diversity-related student organizations(opens in new window) when building those important networks and planning conversations.

While most people associate sustainability with efforts related to climate change or recycling, Hiniker said a major focus of the Sustainability Initiative, guided by the Global Goals, continues to go deeper than that, as the latest report continues to show.

鈥淭he sustainable development goals link environmental, social and economic factors, and that鈥檚 what we focus on when we connect with university partners,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e want to lift up and strengthen these connections across campus, and also identify new and unexpected areas for collaboration.鈥

Highlights of the 2023 Voluntary University Review

In its fourth edition, the Voluntary University Review showcases sustainability activities and partnerships with the Sustainability Initiative. Anyone can submit ideas(opens in new window), events and partnership opportunities to further strengthen the work of the initiative. Highlights in this year鈥檚 report include:

  • Launching undergraduate research fellowships聽鈥 In collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development(opens in new window), five new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships(opens in new window) will be awarded for study related to the Global Goals.
  • Hosting Sustainability Snack Hours, Open Studios and Office Hours 鈥 With the grand reopening of the Sustainability Studio in October, the welcoming space set the stage for events fostering informal conversations and community-building with activities centering sustainability and a place for sustainability-focused student organizations.
  • Supporting a study abroad experiential learning program in Costa Rica聽鈥 In partnership with the Department of Modern Languages(opens in new window), the Sustainability Initiative is hosting a program this summer(opens in new window) at the Monteverde Institute in the Puntarenas region of Costa Rica.
  • Working with the at 一本道无码 in Qatar 鈥 一本道无码-Q is focusing on food equity, climate change and campus waste management as well as pursuing a Green Flag designation from the U.K.-based Foundation for Environmental Education.
  • Reaching out to the Pittsburgh region 鈥 Led by Sustainable Pittsburgh, (Defining Intersectional Sustainability to Collaboratively Optimize for a Vibrant and Equitable Region) is creating a shared, inclusive framework for measuring progress among other activities.

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