2022 - Green Programs in UQ Sustainability Week

Sustainability week this year was jam-packed full of events! With a different theme each day, UQ staff and students enjoyed many differing workshops, seminars, tours, and activities.

The five themes of the week, meat free Monday, Trash free Tuesday, Sustainable Living Wednesday, Green Transport Thursday, and Fresh Food Friday, allowed participants to find events that they were invested in more easily!

Some highlights throughout this week included:

• Vegan food trucks in Campbell place for Meat Free Monday
• Plogging with the Social Runners Club and GEMS
• ‘CoralWatch, Citizen Science, and Sustainability: what can I do?’ with the Marine Society and CoralWatch.

Students and staff also enjoyed an opportunity to learn about UQ’s extensive range of solar technology as a part of the rooftop solar tour at the Advanced Engineering building.

Two standout events during Sustainability week were collaborations, one with Greens clubs across Australia, and one with the UQ Marine Society and CoralWatch.

The event run with Greens clubs entailed bringing together several Greens MPs and members of parliament, in order to help young people gain a better idea of what the future of Australia now looks like under a new Labour Government.

The politicians which attended included Greens MP for Ryan, Elizabeth Watson Brown was very successful with about 40 students in attendance on zoom to engage with MPs. Read more about the event here.

Another feature event, “CoralWatch, Citizen Science, and Sustainability: What can I do?” run in collaboration with the UQ Marine Society and CoralWatch was incredibly popular!

The aim was to equip the UQ community with the information and tools they need to stay informed on how their carbon footprint can impact reefs, how they can get involved with citizen science in coral research, and how COP26 links back to all of this.

With over 40 attendees and a very engaged Q&A session, students and staff then had the opportunity to take part in coral identification activities, with our friends at the Marine Society and CoralWatch there to lend a hand. Attendees then enjoyed dinner and the opportunity to network with fellow staff and students.

Read about the program for Sustainability Week 2022.