An article recently published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlights work being done by the UrbanHeatATL project, a cross-disciplinary collaboration empowering students and the Atlanta community through mapping extreme heat in underserved communities. The initiative aims to use this data, collected by community members, to further environmental and climate justice in Atlanta. This summer, multiple SLS interns are participating in the project through Georgia Tech's Global Change Program. Read more about this exciting initiative HERE.
"I feel the UN SDGs should be used as a teaching tool in higher education to encourage critical thinking and provide opportunities for students to build meaningful connections between local issues in their own communities and global-scale goals. When you know better, you do better, and incorporating SDGs into coursework allows students to engage with culturally relevant pedagogy that champions our identities and teaches us how to solve problems that resonate with our communities and the world around us."
- Margaret (Meg) Sanders, MSEEM graduate student, School of Public Policy
As this student illustrates, connecting your course content to the UN SDGs provides a powerful framework for students to see how what they are learning can help set them up for a career that makes a positive impact on their communities.
…From a young age, I have been taught that I have the responsibility and ability to make a positive impact in my community. Coming from Arizona I was unsure about the volunteer opportunities I could take part in while living in Atlanta. Upon hearing about the two field trips to Truly Living Well Center for Natural urban Agriculture and Grove Park Foundation through the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS), I was intrigued. These organizations seemed to be making a big difference in areas I am genuinely interested in. I registered for the event immediately.
Our first stop was Truly Living Well. The farm was lush and peaceful, tucked in the middle of the busy city, near the Atlanta University Center. We stepped out of our bus and were greeted by an outgoing and informative tour guide, Naimah Abdullah, the Engagement Manager. Not only did she tour us around the farm while teaching us about the crops grown, but she also mentioned the many volunteer, research, and internship…
This Spring I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in an Undoing Racism Community Organizing Workshop appetizer through the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. The session was donated to the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) with whom I am working this Summer through the Serve-Learn-Sustain Summer Internship Program.
A born New Orleanian, I recognize the trailblazing efforts and challenges faced by racial justice organizers in New Orleans, so participation in this seminar was especially important to me. Raised in Buffalo, I found myself using the knowledge and skills gained through this training following the tragic racially motivated mass shooting in May to inform family members and members of my community of systemic racism. This training taught me how to best steward and maintain conversations about race and privilege that can be emotional and uncomfortable but integral to achieve progress and cultivate understanding.
The session was…
SLS summer interns Juliette Goff and Jennie Baker write about their experience attending the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot's 20th Annual Family Food Fest, held in celebration of Juneteenth and Father's Day, through their work with Garry Harris, director of Center for Sustainable Communities, a signature partner of SLS.
This past Sunday, the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot hosted its 20th Annual Family Food Fest for Father’s Day. As Father’s Day landed on Juneteenth this year, there was lots of extra celebration and appreciation for African-American culture and experiences. The event began with a procession of the cooks and chefs to the music of African drums. …
The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (“Center”) and the Scheller College of Business have selected Kayley Beard as the 2022 recipient of the Vivian Nora Lukens Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship was established to support undergraduate students who are pursuing the Certificate in Sustainable Business. Kayley is passionate about sustainability and how it is implemented in the built environment, businesses, and cities. In May, Kayley graduated from Georgia Tech with a…
The partnerships that SLS staff support between Georgia Tech faculty and community-based organizations get started in a variety of ways. Sometimes, a faculty member gets in touch with us about a great idea for a partnership, requesting some help identifying the right match. At other times, community-based groups find SLS through networks of sustainability and equity professionals such as the RCE Greater Atlanta. About a year ago, we were fortunate to have a new partner find us thanks to the recommendation of our friends at Park Pride. Mary Fernandez, Director of Special Events, Special Projects & Volunteers with Historic Oakland Foundation, reached out to SLS to see if we might help her identify faculty or students at Georgia Tech who could help the historic cemetery better understand and serve the diverse kinds of visitors that enjoy this fascinating park every day. Together, we developed several research…
Several months ago, long-time SLS community partner West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, or WAWA, reached out to SLS to see if we might help identify students with the skills to assist with a project WAWA was engaged in to assess the feasibility of tree planting to mitigate flooding in the Atlanta University Center (AUC) area, home to Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. WAWA was partnering with Eco-Action (one of SLS’ Greater Atlanta Community Science Collaboratory partners) on a “citizen science,” now often called “community science,” project to determine how many large trees could be planted in the study area. When Darryl Haddock, WAWA’s Education Director, described the project’s need for a student who could photoshop out power lines and photoshop in mature trees, for use evaluating the project’s benefits, we immediately thought of Bits of Good. Bits of Good is a Georgia Tech student organization that connects students with…
Once a marker for the new, industrialized South, at one point home to Georgia’s National Championship winning football team, and more recently a research powerhouse, Georgia Tech has had many identities since its inception following the Civil War. It grew alongside the city of Atlanta — one becoming a pillar in American higher education and one becoming the cultural capital of the South. Recent efforts by a number of Georgia Tech departments, administrators, and community partners are looking to magnify each other’s strengths for mutual benefit by establishing the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Anchor Institution in the Atlanta region.
Anchor Institutions are defined as “place-based (unlikely to move) [institutions] that have a strong self interest in ensuring that the place where they are located thrive… grounded in long-term partnerships with their own local communities… that reduce disparities and advance the the public interest along with institutional interests…
Atticus Lemahieu is a graduating 5th year Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Student. He has worked with SLS as a student fellow since his second semester at Tech. Now, as he prepares to graduate, Atticus reflects on his time with the Center and how it shaped his college path.
Over the last four and a half years, I have had the incredible opportunity to work closely with SLS as a student fellow. In my second semester as a student, I began working with SLS after learning about the work they did while I was a senior in highschool. At the time, I was stepping into my curriculum as an environmental engineering student, making connections with the campus and surrounding community, and just starting out my college career. Now, as I am looking at “Graduation” circled in red on my calendar with less than a week away, I can do nothing but be amazed at the impact SLS has had both on the Institute and its community partners, but also my personal and professional…