Welcome to the second week of Advocacy Month, led by the Sustainability and Resiliency Task Force! We are so excited to share our work and interact with the membership this week. Make sure to follow along at @aias_advocacy to check out our posts and stories each day! You can also get a head start on your own advocacy journey by checking out our Sustainability Best Practices Guide under the Resources tab and adapting it for your own #greengameplan! Now, before giving you the rundown for our takeover week, we’d like to introduce ourselves, our schools, and what sustainability means to us. Also make sure to join us for the THRIVE Webinar on March 24th to see our work, get to know us, and learn about being on a National Committee!
Jillian Baumann, Chair, NJIT– Sustainability to me means building and designing for the future. It means acknowledging the need to consider how future generations will utilize the planet and addressing those concerns presently and efficiently.
Shannon DeFranza, Board Liaison, Northeast Quad Director– To me, sustainability means thinking past tomorrow. It means thinking about others before yourself. It means thinking of resources as a common pool, not things to be owned.
Kyra Byrne, Roger Williams University– Sustainability to me is designing for future generations and creating structures that are flexible for a rapidly changing society. It also means keeping the environment at the core of everyday actions and being conscious of our impact on the earth.
Lydia Morgan, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo– Sustainability to me is a mindfulness and thoughtfulness of the world around us. It causes us to redefine our actions around the future rather than our present desires. It is about empathy and perspective.
Haley Rogers, Bowling Green State Univeristy– Sustainability to me is a lifestyle of making more responsible decisions. Being more conscious of choices and how it not only impacts yourself, but also people around you, the world, etc. This mentality can be applied at multiple scales which is what makes sustainability so applicable to multiple disciplines.
Kristin Lorentzen, California Polytechnic State University Pamona– Sustainability to me means the development of ecological, social and economic systems that regenerate, enabling communities to provide for the future as well as the present.
Aubrey Bader, University of Tennessee, Knoxville– Sustainability is forward-thinking action anchored in our present moment. In my professor’s words (of which I agree), “sustainability is meeting today’s needs without harming the quality of life for future generations.”
Zeke Cambara, NYIT Old Westbury– Sustainability is the future. The future of design, the future of the environment, and the future of humanity.
Kaylee Barnett, University of Nevada Las Vegas-Sustainability is setting up the infrastructure, lifestyle changes, and policy changes to ensure a brighter future
Anna Weithas, Montana State University– Sustainability is recognizing our damaged relationship with the environment and making the conscious decision to heal it.
This week our Task Force will cover a wide range of topics related to sustainability, resiliency, and architecture. Each day we will cover different issues, showcase schools and members, use the story to get feedback from you, and promote fellow advocates. Take a look below for a sneak peak of the themes we’ll cover over the next seven days:
Sunday, March 7th: Education on Climate Change and Sustainability challenges faced by the different Quads and International Regions of the AIAS
Monday, March 8th: Showcasing a few case studies done by students at Montana State University on passive and active systems, as well as a building on UNLV’s campus
Tuesday, March 9th: Demystifying green building software and analyzing the equity implications of software
Wednesday, March 10th: It is Wednesday my dudes… So what can I do? We will go over tips you can use individually to lead sustainable lives!
Thursday, March 11th: “How does your school do sustainability?” Showcasing sustainability initiatives as Roger Williams University and University of Tennessee, Knoxville!
Friday, March 12th: What has Covid’s impact been on sustainability? How has it changed our perspective on the systems we live in? What could a new normal look like?
Saturday, March 13th: Analyzing the topic of Environmental Justice and the people affected by our degradation of the environment
Remember to attend the THRIVE Webinar, Taking Action: Make Your Voice Heard!, this Wednesday March 10th 7-8:30 pm, to gain skills in advocacy with Cindy Schwartz, Managing Director of Advocacy and Operations at The American Institute of Architects (AIA). We hope to see you there and share how you practice advocacy to take action in your communities! Share how you engage throughout the month by using the hashtags (#AIASAM2021 #AdvocacyMonth #AdvocAIASy) and tagging @aias_advocacy! The best and most consistent advocates could get reposted on @aiasorg and featured in our Advocacy Month Recap!
