Second Round of Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Will Expand Transformative Teaching with the SDGs
Sustainability Next and the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee (USEC) are pleased to announce the second set of Sustainability Education Innovation Awards. A total of $81,334 will support nine projects transforming instruction in eight schools (across four colleges) at Georgia Tech. A third Call for Proposals is expected to be announced during Spring Semester 2024.
These awards, together with the first round of 21 awarded last spring, enable faculty to invest time and resources to transform their courses using sustainability challenges and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). When completed, the new and redesigned courses will include core, elective, lab, and capstone offerings in 16 schools and all six colleges at Georgia Tech.
Funded through Sustainability Next and managed by USEC, these awards advance the Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) goal to connect globally and amplify impact by contributing “to global collaborative efforts that advance the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our education, research, and service.” With many of the first and second-round projects featuring high enrollment and core courses, these “seed grants” will significantly expand the reach of Georgia Tech’s sustainability-across-the-curriculum initiatives.
Faculty winning second round awards are invited to join a Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the SDGs, facilitated by Rebecca Watts Hull, Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). More than 30 faculty members participate in the Community of Practice, meeting regularly to present and get peer feedback on works in process, share resources, and develop strategies for engaging more faculty and students in transformative teaching and learning with sustainability and the SDGs.
Please see below for a list of the second-round Sustainability Education Innovation Award winners:
Dr. Danielle Willkens (Architecture) is excited to use her award to support field studies to the historic Penn Center, SC to conduct essential digital documentation during the spring 2024 seminar ARCH 4823/6160 Race, Space, and Architecture in the US. “Experiential learning at this unique coastal site, threatened by development and climate change, will place the only two National Historic Landmark Districts (NHLD) focused on African American history and culture in conversation: the Penn Center in St. Helena Island, SC (NHLD est.2017) and Sweet Auburn (NHLD est.1976) in Atlanta, GA. Students will explore how preservation can be a catalyst for resiliency through sustainable heritage tourism and expanded educational programming. I’m very excited to see how our students will interact with these sites, directly engaging with community members as well as the generational legacies of pioneers and advocates.”
Learn more about sustainability education at Georgia Tech through the Sustainability Next Plan. Contact Ingeborg Rocker, Chair, for more information about the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee. Reach out to Rebecca Watts Hull (CTL) for support with sustainability and SDG course design or redesign.
