University of Missouri-Kansas City Sustainable UMKC Competition
Type: Program
Status: Completed in 2007
Source File: http://cas.umkc.edu/honors/Sustainable/Sustainable.pdf
Text:
A Request for Innovative Ideas
This is Your Chance to Be Published and Have Your Ideas Heard!!
This request for innovative ideas creates an opportunity for UMKC students, faculty, staff, and alumni to share thoughts about how to make our campus, academic programs, and research initiatives more environmentally sustainable. The competition provides a means for collecting ideas into a forum where they can be reviewed, discussed, and, possibly, implemented! The goal is to raise awareness of specific issues that we face within our community, to tap into the immense creative capacity of the people that know our community best, and to stimulate decision makers who can facilitate the implementation.
The issues and solutions can be of any size, from using recycled paper in the university copy center, to research initiatives on biofuels, to building an entirely green student union. This request for innovative ideas seeks to generate community discussion about how our campus and community can become an even better place to live, work, and play. We are NOT requesting detailed and extensive solutions; rather, submissions should be concise and clearly identify the problem(s) and their sustainable solution(s).
What Defines Sustainability?
Simply put, sustainability means acting in a way that improves quality of life for today
and preserves that quality of life for future generations. It is a way of life that recognizes
the importance of making decisions that simultaneously strengthen the economic,
environmental, and social vitality of a place or project. Sustainability requires us to look
past short-sighted benefits and to identify the path toward the best long-term solution.
Unfortunately, many of the decisions we make about where and how we live are reliant on the degradation of natural resources or the compromise of the social system. There has been an awakening about the long-term implications of acting with disregard toward the consequences of our decisions, and today there are many creative solutions that can guide us toward the creation of healthier, more prosperous, and livable communities.
For more information about sustainability, please visit these links:
Eligibility
Open to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of UMKC. Entrants may submit as
individuals or as part of a team. Multiple entries are encouraged.
Jury
Jurors: To be announced
Schedule
Subject to change
April 4
All submittals must be received by this date
April 4 – April 10
Jury will select the top ideas that represent the most sustainable, accessible, feasible,
and innovative ideas. The winning contestants will be notified by April 10.
April 11
The top selected ideas will be displayed at Pierson auditorium for a recognition
celebration. These ideas will be published in a special Sustainability Section edition of
the Honors Program’s scholarly journal Lucerna.
Awards/Recognition
- The top selected ideas will be published in a special issue of the scholarly journal Lucerna!
- On April 11th a recognition celebration of the top ideas will be held in the Pierson Auditorium!
- The top two ideas will each receive $250 to facilitate further exploration of the concept by the entrant!