Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and Equity Considerations for the Office for Sustainability (OFS)

Based on the findings from a series of interviews with students and responses to a student survey, this report outlines how UVA students perceive sustainability and environmental justice and the role of UVA’s Office for Sustainability (OFS). The report aims to address the question: How can the Office for Sustainability better support and engage with UVA students while keeping environmental justice and equity in mind?

As student consultants working with OFS through PLAN 3813/6813, we devised a plan to guide our research and outreach throughout the Fall 2021 semester. First, we researched current UVA sustainability goals and got a better understanding as to what OFS does at the university. Furthermore, we also looked at the activities of other universities and their initiatives to prioritize environmental justice and equity. Second, we identified important stakeholders, consisting of students from different contracted independent organizations (CIOs) from across UVA, both environmentally and non-environmentally focused. With our better comprehension of the sustainability programs at UVA, we developed survey and interview questions that asked respondents about sustainability, OFS, and environmental justice. After testing the survey and editing interview questions, we distributed the survey among a variety of CIOs across grounds that we identified earlier.

Through this research and outreach we found that many students hope for more open dialogue related to environmental justice issues with the administration. They also support land acknowledgments and statements of solidarity, but find that they should be paired with meaningful action. The survey and interview processes serve as a launching point for further community engagement and discovery in the future.