As community energy and climate action planning continues to evolve and become more central to how communities think about their futures, it may be we are leaving out a powerful stakeholder group that could have considerable influence in implementing these plans. We think about getting all the right people and organizations at the table to influence goals, identify strategies for achieving those goals, and target resources for implementing the strategies. But are we overlooking a powerful community resource by not including students in this round-table? It’s remarkable how influential students can be and even how they are able to mobilize around efforts that are meaningful to them. Furthermore, students are quickly becoming a go-to source to meet volunteer needs partly as a result of the growth of service-learning in higher education. Is it that students simply have greater passion …or are they less encumbered by form, function, protocol, and budget restraints? Whatever the reason, we should be tapping this resource. Students today are business owners, institutional drivers, and civic leaders tomorrow. They have a stake in the planning process because these plans are their future.
I could not agree more. I was reminded of this just a few weeks ago when several student’s joined me during their spring break to deploy hundreds of recycling bins across the 150-acre Auraria Campus. Not only were they back on campus during their “break,” they came with a positive attitude and a sound work ethic. This passion and selfless dedication is the single driving factor behind our $500,000 / year student “green fee.” Because of this leadership, all 47,000+ students across three separate institutions of higher education contribute $5 / semester to make the Campus a better social, financial, and environmental steward of our collective resources. Check out some of their/our projects here: http://frisco.ahec.edu/#/greenfeatures/
Happy Earth Day!