Six teams of University of Kentucky students, faculty and staff are beginning work on sustainability projects after being selected to receive Sustainability Challenge Grants totaling more than $200,000.
The Sustainability Challenge Grant program is designed to engage multidisciplinary teams from the university community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability on campus and in the local community!
This year’s call for proposals placed a focus not only on sustainability, but on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts as well as COVID-19 recovery. 15 interdisciplinary proposals requesting almost $650,000 were submitted. These teams were composed of 99 faculty, staff and student members representing 34 academic programs across 24 colleges and University units, and multiple institutes and centers.
The 2021 Sustainability Challenge Grant winners are:
- Turning Plastic Waste into Fuel for Operating Campus Grounds Equipment: Engineering and Designing Sustainable Solutions to UK’s Plastic Waste Issue ($43,045)
- Climate Resilience through Community Resilience ($42,705)
- Re-Visioning Huntertown: From African American Freetown to Interpretive Public Place ($42,000)
- Diverse Landscapes for Nature Rx on the UK Medical Campus ($38,572)
- Stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Kentucky ($22,670)
- Planning Global Gardens at UK: Cultivating Inclusive Spaces with Nutritional Sciences ($14,593)
The Sustainability Challenge Grant program is a collaborative effort of the President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment, and the Office of Sustainability. Funding support for the program was provided by the offices of the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost, the Vice President for Research and the Student Sustainability Council.
