1. UCSF Community Engagement and Education Towards Better Sustainability
Claire Skach, Jerry Liu
University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Position Background
Events
Impact
1.) Sustainability Resource School of Dentistry Orientation
Who: Incoming UCSF dental students
What: Taught students how UCSF
diverts waste.
Why: The success of UCSF waste
diversion programs requires accurate
waste sortment.
2.) UCOP Cool Campus Challenge – Tabling Sessions
Who: UCSF students, staff, and faculty.
What: Tabled & advertised the CCC at UCSF’s highly trafficked areas
Why: To register participants and spread advertize the CCC.
3.) Film Screening: Paris to Pittsburg
Who: UCSF students, staff, faculty, and
the general public.
What: Dinner and a showing of Paris to
Pittsburg, a documentary that touches
on challenges that individuals face from climate change and their efforts to resolve them.
Why: The documentary served as an inspiration for UCSF community members to develop improvements to help UCSF become more environmentally sustainable.
4.) Campus-wide Living Green Ice Cream Social
What: A lunch gathering to showcase UCSF campus resources that will help personnel and offices become environmentally sustainable.
Why: UCSF students, staff, and faculty have limited free-time during the day. The ice-cream social allows for a low-effort way for the UCSF community to learn of ways to help UCSF become carbon neutral.
Attendees / People Reached
Overall we estimate that these events reached more than 550 members of the UCSF community. Funding for the resource fair and CCC tabling sessions were provided by UCSF Facilities Management and Office of Sustainability. Permission was obtained to screen Paris to Pittsburg, and catered vegan meals were provided to attendees. Mitchell’s ice cream, reusable tote bags, bike helmet, water flossers, and gift cards to vegan restaurants were purchased to incentivize engagement for the ice cream social.
Data: Cost per Attendee for Events funded by CNI Engagement Fellowship
Experience snapshot from Ice Cream Social Attendee
“At the sustainability ice cream social I learned proper recycling, composting, and waste reductions techniques. I learned that the disposable utensils with holes at the end are certified compostable. This was a great event; people were able to walk away with very useful information and prizes!” - Sana Mahmood, third year dental student
The CNI Student Engagement Fellowship is a one year program which offers environmentally-minded students to develop programs to engage their campus community to contribute innovative research, business practices, and policies that will help the UC reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025.
Image 2(Above) : UCSF Facilities Management and CNI Engagement fellows raising awareness on recyclability of waste encountered within the UCSF Dental Clinics
Image 1(Left) : Categorization of dental waste created by students at the resource fair
Implementation
Engagement fellows are given $1000 in programming funding and left with full autonomy over decisions with its use. However, in fellows were given an additional $75 worth of tote-bags and were encouraged to use them at events that will promote the UC-Wide Cool Campus Challenge (CCC). The CCC encourages campus community members to form teams, take pledges, and report actions that will reduce their carbon footprints in the month of April. In addition, engagement fellows work to shape their campus’ culture to become more environmentally-friendly through education and awareness.
Event
Attendees
Money Spent
$ Per Attendee
Film Screening 23
$450
$19.57
Ice Cream Social
325
$550
$1.67
CCC Tabling
104
$75
$0.72
Image 3: CNI Fellow Jerry Liu, answers questions about the CCC
Vision
Overview of the UCSF CNI Engagement Fellows programs to increase environmentally focused community engagement
Lessons Learned
Engagement activities were more effective when held during the lunch hour. Those that minimize participation time to 5-10 minutes held attention and had more attendance than longer events.
Engagement events should fit within work-flow of the audience.
Food and prizes (especially those that promote sustainable lifestyles) are excellent ways to draw in crowds and create a lasting memories.
UCSF Engagement
Resource Fair
CCC Tabling
Film Screening
Ice Cream Social
Special Thanks
Daniel Chau – UCSF Facility Services
Gail Lee – UCSF Sustainability Director
Carson Kerger - UCSF Office of Sustainability Fellow
UCSF Office of Sustainability staff: Rowena Eng, Isabel Jauregui
University of California Office of the President Carbon Neutrality Initiative
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
UCSF Office of transportation services
All of the individuals who provided permission to be photographed
Image 4 (Left): CNI Fellow Jerry Liu, and Nursing student Jocelyn Ho talk about decreasing dental waste
Image 4 (Right): PHD student Ida Shaffer, dental student Kate Lovell, and UCSF’s Gail Lee scoop ice cream for attendees