Sustainability@UIC

Need Funding for Your Campus Sustainability Project? Apply here!

2012-09-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

The Green Fee Advisory Board (GFAB) is requesting proposals to fund sustainability, energy efficiency and conservation, and/or renewable energy projects on UIC's campus. Approximately $110,000 is available to support proposals in 2013 that help increase the use of clean energy technologies on campus and that aid in establishing a sustainable campus environment by expanding such areas as composting, landscaping, and transportation initiatives while also reducing waste and conserving resources. More information can be found here.

The Green Awards

2011-02-28T11:49:00.000-06:00

The Green Awards brought to you by Green Giant-

This award gets people involved by:

Submitting your ideas for the chance to win $25,000 by March 6th
Voting for the greenest ideas from March 12-27th
Connecting with other green thinkers and spreading the word
Celebrating the winners

Submissions can be in one of four categories:

Green Civic Leader
Green Entrepreneur
Local Organizer
Green Parent

Submission Checklist:

A complete entry includes a video (1-minute or less) and short essay (100 words or
less). Be sure that your video and essay answer these questions:

What is your initiative or idea?
How does it positively impact the environment?
How does it impact your community?
How does it inspire others to take their own steps to sustainability?
How would $25,000 help you and your idea make a giant difference?

Other tips:

Do not reference any non-profit organization affiliation
Do not feature any logos or images that you do not have ownership of
Do not exceed 1 minute in your video submission or 100 words in essay
Do not feature any other individuals in your video unless you have confirmed
permission from them or their parents, if minors.
Confirm that you are available to attend The Green Awards Presentation on May
13, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA

Check on the Website for complete rules.

Travel Survey

2011-01-21T14:25:00.003-06:00

The Office of Sustainability has created a Travel Survey for UIC students, faculty and staff to take. In this survey, we ask individuals to tell us how far they travel to campus, how often and mode of transportation they use. We will use this information to further track our emissions as a University.

Access the survey here.

Our goal is to reach 20% of the student body (est. 5249), faculty (est. 514) and staff (est. 1788).

The Chicago Clean Air Design Challenge

2011-01-19T13:51:00.004-06:00

Design Makes Change, a Chicago design initiative, is hosting The Air We Breathe: The Chicago Clean Air Design Challenge.

This contest is aimed to challenge participants to a regional design addressing issues of air quality in two Chicago's most affected neighborhoods- Little Village and Pilsen. Living in close vicinity to the Crawford and Fisk coal-powered plants, these residents, along with the rest of the Chicago region, have high rates of asthma and other illnesses.

This is the critical environmental concern of the moment in your city and you are the designer. What will you do about it?

Design Makes Change is looking to see what designers in industrial design, graphic design, interior architecture and public space design will envision to raise awareness, address the health issues and improve overall quality of life for the people who live in these coal-polluted neighborhoods.

To create the best design, Design Makes Change encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration. Submissions can come from a class, group, partnership or individual.

Project Scope:

(taken from the Project Brief PDF)

Show your design phases from concept to resolution. If your solution is an object, structure, or space, show us your finished design through detailed drawings, 3-D renderings, and/or prototypes and physical models. If your solution is a graphic one, present all print, interactive media, or packaging materials with a plan for implementation.

Take a local viewpoint to the issue of poor air quality in the neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village, and/or an adjacent Chicago community that is most affected by the coal powered plants.

• Make your project relevant to the issue of clean air as this relates to health, the environment, and quality of life in these communities.

• Focus on design solutions that are viable means to solving the problem.

Project essentials

• Show depth of thinking and quality in your design

• Communicate the feasibility of your concept

• Show supporting evidence to prove relevance and importance. Tell us why your idea is the best idea.

• Show a strategy for implementation

The Jury

• Submissions will be judged by a multi-disciplinary team of jurors from the fields of design, environmental policy and advocacy, community development, and medicine. This will offer a holistic perspective in identifying the designs with the greatest potential for implementation and success. All submissions will be judged together regardless of discipline, professional, or academic. We are looking for the best solutions.

Important Dates

All submissions due April 18, 2011

Top entries announced May 6, 2011

Exhibition T.B.D

Exhibition Details & Awards

• Outstanding entries will be selected to be in a juried exhibition at a gallery spacein Chicago.

Awards will be given to 3 of the top entries with a grand prize of $2,000 in seed money for the most outstanding entry. The recipient of the grand prize will also receive professional assistance to help further develop and implement their design.

More details can be found on www.designmakeschange.com or by E-mailing info@designmakeschange.com.

Earth Ed Intl: Summer Course

2011-01-12T12:15:00.003-06:00

Earth Education International (EEI) is an experiential learning organization in Costa Rica providing courses in sustainability, environmental studies, and social responsibility. EEI works in partnership with educational institutions around the world to promote local sustainability initiatives.

Over Summer 2011, from July 24- August 6, 2011, EEI will be offering a short course called Deep Ecology & Sustainable Living.

Deep ecology is a holistic approach to the role of humans within the natural world that includes awareness of cognitive thoughts, feelings, values and actions. This course will consist of investigating your personal and collective relationship with the Earth through an exploration of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of humans as a part of nature. It will include discussions, field activities, and individual and group exercises addressing the concepts of self-awareness, eco-psychology, ritual and ceremony, voluntary simplicity, and spirituality. Within this context, you will explore the integration of sustainable living practices. This will be complimented by local field site visits where we will meet and hear from individuals in Costa Rica who are making similar efforts.

General Requirements and a tentative syllabus can be found on the EEI website.

Beginning in San Ramón, the class will explore the Western Central Valley, the Northern plains surrounding Arenal Volcano, and a visit to the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Likely sites will include an Eco-Lodge, medicinal plant garden, organic coffee farm, nearby pacific beach, and the Madre Verde (Green Mother) community reserve. You will learn about these sites from local experts, interact with the land, explore our connection with Nature, and contemplate how we might achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.

For more information on participant preparation, costs, and applications visit the EEI Summer course offering Website! Applications must be in by April 22, 2011.

Become a Zipster at a discount!

2011-01-07T10:38:00.003-06:00

UIC has signed on with Zipcar to provide an occasional driving plan to students at a discounted rate!

Students who join Zipcar with begin saving immediately because they are free of any initial membership fee. By avoiding the $60 fee, students will only pay an annual fee of $25. When signing up with your UIC E-mail, there are no monthly commitments or deposits that have to be made. Just the annual fee of $25 plus individual driving costs!

Depending on the car model, students will be charged from $7 /hour and $68 /day (any 24-hour period) on Mondays through Thursdays and $7 /hour and $73 /day on Fridays through Sundays.

Included in these costs are gas, insurance and180 FREE miles!

Zipcar helps the campus by reducing congestion in University parking lots, reduces our carbon footprints as a sustainable alternative transportation solution, eliminates the costs of gas and insurance, includes programs for faculty and staff, and possess a simple application process. Students receive self-service access to cars 24/7, low rates hourly or daily, the ability to reserve zipcars in seconds online, cars located right on campus, and a way to help the environment!

Environmental Implications of Emerging Technologies

2010-03-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems announces a program provides support to develop and test the environmental effects of new technologies. Fundamental and basic research is sought to establish and understand outcomes as a result of the implementation of new technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology.

The full proposal windows are February 1, 2010, to March 3, 2010, and August 15, 2010, to September 23, 2010. Details.

Environmental Engineering and Sustainability

2010-03-01T14:05:00.001-06:00

The Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster supports engineering research with the goal of reducing adverse effects of solid, liquid, and gaseous discharges into land, fresh and ocean waters, and air that result from human activity and impair the value of those resources in the context of ecological tenets. This cluster focuses on research on innovative biological, chemical, and physical processes used alone or as components of engineered systems to restore the usefulness of polluted land, water, and air resources. The program cluster includes:
Energy for Sustainability, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Implications of Emerging Technologies, and Environmental Sustainability
Next full proposal window: August 15, 2010 - September 23, 2010

NSF: Water Sustainability and Climate

2010-03-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

The goal of the WSC solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use, the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models.

Three categories of awards are anticipated for this solicitation.

Category 1: small exploratory or incubation grants to develop teams, identify sites, hold workshops, and develop plans for establishment or operation of a study site.
Category 2: place-based observational and modeling studies.
Category 3: synthesis and integration grants that will only use existing data to integrate and synthesize across sites.

LOI due 3/15/2010, Full proposals: 4/15/2010. More.

Environment, Sustainability and Energy Forum Early Career Award

2010-03-01T13:51:00.000-06:00

The Environment, Sustainability and Energy Forum Early Career Award is for exceptional contributions to the chemical sciences in the area of environment, sustainability and energy. Candidates must be in their early career, i.e., aged 40 or under. The age specified is intended to guide nominators and selection panelists; appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken career breaks or followed different study paths.

Nominations open 1 September 2010, Nominations close 31 January 2011.

[Award Information]

Chancellor's Discovery Fund for Multidisciplinary Research

2010-02-10T13:15:00.000-06:00

The Chancellor and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research announced the second round of the Discovery Fund program, intended to support up to five new collaborations led by emerging researchers at UIC. The purpose is to foster academic inquiry drawing on different disciplines, nurture careers, and help leverage extramural funding. Awards will be up to $30,000 over 2 years. Letters of intent due Feb. 24, applications March 31. More.