CATALYSING INCLUSIVE PATHWAYS FOR CHANGE
Abstract:
UT is at a pivotal moment to catalyse the many sustainability initiatives driven by the researchers, students, and support staff within the community. It is clear that we have the resources and interest to develop a pathway for sustainability at our university. Therefore, we ask the leaders of UT to further operationalise these initiatives with a set of practical steps. These require building structures and dedicating resources to supporting and enabling the sustainability transformation in the three areas of research, education, and operations. We propose the following steps:
a) Adopt a clear guiding definition of sustainability transformation based upon an inclusive and ongoing dialogue with the community and best available science.
b) Structure a dialogue on research, education, and operations with relevant stakeholders in the community to implement transformative change building upon the definition (a.) throughout the institution (co-developing benchmarks and meaningful inclusive indicators such as CO2 emissions reductions and tenure-track sustainability hiring).
c) Based on (b.), dedicate resources to develop UT Green Position Paper and Formulating a Strategic Sustainability Transformation Plan to build infrastructure (e.g., work groups) to facilitate the various bottom-up sustainability initiatives at UT.