The University of Rhode Island’s first annual Sustainability Summit will take place this coming Saturday, April 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Galanti Lounge of the Robert L. Carothers Library. This student-run event seeks to bring together great ideas to make URI more sustainable.
The summit has one main goal: to foster sustainable changes on the URI campuses. It will begin with a presentation from a panel of experts discussing sustainability issues facing the world today. Leaders from the Sustainable Innovative Solutions (SIS) Laboratory at URI, the Ocean State Clean Cities Coalition and the URI President’s Council for Sustainability will be there to share their stories and the projects and initiatives that currently ongoing on campus.
“It’s going to be four speakers, they’re going to talk a little bit about their experiences creating sustainable designs, sustainable lifestyles, and doing what they can in their industries, and just in their home and lifestyle,” said Jennifer Jackson, one of the student coordinators of the summit and a senior industrial engineering student.
Speakers include Professor Gretchen Macht, architect Kyle Macht, Wendy Lucht and sustainability officer Marsha Garcia.
The importance of incorporating sustainable solutions into our lives cannot be overstressed.
“Sustainability is going to be an issue in everyone’s career,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be something you can get involved with for the rest of your life. We really want to see students extending those real-world problem-solving skills.”
All students are encouraged to sign up, as this is a free event. More information can be found on the Sustainability Summit’s official student-run website, www.urisustainabilitysummit.com.
“There will also be free food all day and it’s going to be super lit. So come through and bring all your friends,” Cara Liberati said, founder of the Sustainability Summit.