Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants
Funded through Sustainability Next and managed by USEC, these awards advance the Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) goal to connect globally and amplify impact by contributing “to global collaborative efforts that advance the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our education, research, and service.” With many of the first and second-round projects featuring high enrollment and core courses, these “seed grants” will significantly expand the reach of Georgia Tech’s sustainability-across-the-curriculum initiatives.
Faculty winning second round awards are invited to join a Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the SDGs, facilitated by Rebecca Watts Hull, Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). More than 30 faculty members participate in the Community of Practice, meeting regularly to present and get peer feedback on works in process, share resources, and develop strategies for engaging more faculty and students in transformative teaching and learning with sustainability and the SDGs.
FY25 Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants Proposals
The Georgia Tech’s Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee (USEC) has just released the third Request for Proposals for Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grants. These grants advance progress toward the ambitious sustainability education goals outlined in the Sustainability Next Plan, part of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan initiatives, and the education portion of the Institute’s new Climate Action Plan. The third group of grantees will have many opportunities to learn from other faculty already engaged in teaching with sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This RFP invites applicants to include at least one of the following four areas within sustainability education:
1) community-engaged teaching & learning;
2) cross-disciplinary and transdisciplinary learning;
3) experiential learning tied to Georgia Tech’s Living Campus initiative; and
4) sustainability education research that evaluates the impact of sustainability education integration on student learning.
Project budgets up to $10,000 will be considered and funds may be used for course release, student support, materials, course or conference travel, and other expenses allowable with state funds.
Click Here for a link to the recording of the April 30th information session
Past Undergraduate Sustainability Education Awards
Sustainability Next and the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee (USEC) are pleased to announce the second set of Sustainability Education Innovation Awards. A total of $81,334 will support nine projects transforming instruction in eight schools (across four colleges) at Georgia Tech. A third Call for Proposals is expected to be announced during Spring Semester 2024.
These awards, together with the first round of 21 awarded last spring, enable faculty to invest time and resources to transform their courses using sustainability challenges and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). When completed, the new and redesigned courses will include core, elective, lab, and capstone offerings in 16 schools and all six colleges at Georgia Tech.
Fall 2023 Winners
- Transforming ChBE 4535: A Sustainable, Frugal Science Approach to Global Challenges – Saad Bhamia (ChBE / CoE)
- Introduction to Sociology and Environmental Sociology through the UN SDGs – Kate Pride Brown (HSOC / IAC)
- Course Redesign of ML 2500: Think Globally, Act Locally: An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Studies & the UN SDGs – Kelly Comfort (ML / IAC)
- Problem-Based Learning of Statistical Models for Undergraduate Economics Students – Roberto Gonzalez (ECON / IAC)
- Teaching Sustainability in the Arabic Language Classroom – Natalie Khazaal (ML / IAC)
- Proposing a New Undergraduate Elective on Creative Reuse of Useless – Hyun Joo Ch (ID, IC / CoD, CoC)
- SDGs for Business Communication – Christopher Peace (LMC / IAC)
- Sustainable Tourism: Engaged Digital Documentation and Interpretation Seminar – Danielle Wilkens (ARCH / CoD)
- Redesigning the “Language and Life in Asia” course and “Intro to Linguistics” course – Hongchen Wu (ML / IAC)
Spring 2023 Winners
- Incorporating Energy Efficiency into the CS Core Curriculum – Rodrigo Borelo (CI / CoC)
- SDG 8 – Speculative Fiction and Work: Histories, Futures, and Resilience – Sagnika Chanda (LMC / IAC)
- Transforming Construction Management and Real Estate Development Education at Georgia Tech for a More Sustainable Built Environment – Ece Ergodmus (BC / CoD)
- Enhancing Place-based Learning in EAS 1600 – Introduction to Environmental Sciences – Jennifer Glass (EAS / IAC)
- Including UN SDGs in Aerospace Education through a Sustainability-focused Urban Air Mobility Module – Kelly Griendling (AE / CoE)
- Creating a New Interdisciplinary Course: Georgia Climate Project – Zachary Handlos (EAS / CoS)
- Project-based Learning for Intensive, Expert-informed Co-design of Technology Targeting Sustainability – Josiah Hester (IC / CoC)
- Incorporating the UN SDGs in Introduction to Sociology – Allen Hyde (HS / IAC)
- Re-designing a Work, Equity, and Wellness Course with the “Three Es” – Tiffany Johnson (Scheller)
- Re-making the Collaborative Design Workshop Course to Incorporate the UN SDGs and Increase Class Size – Sabir Khan (ID / CoD)
- Developing a New Course in Accounting and Reporting for Sustainable Business – Robbie Moon (Scheller)
- SDG-focused Socio-Technical Project-based Learning in a Core Engineering Course – Raghu Pucha (ME / CoE)
- Designing and Nurturing a Sustainable World of Materials: Integration of UN SDGs into the MSE Curriculum – Mary Lynn Realff (MSE / CoE)
- Re-designing an Ibero-American Cities Course: SDGs in Latin American Cities – A Comparative Analysis of the Voluntary Local Reviews – Juan Carlos Rodriguez (ML / IAC)
- Sustaining Ethics in Large AI Classes – Mahdi Roozbahani (CI / CoC)
- Integrating Sustainability Modules Into Software Engineering and Capstone Courses – Nimisha Roy (CI / CoC)
- Course Re-design: Laboratory-based Project on the Chemistry of Alternative Energy Sources – Deborah Santos (ChB / CoS)
- Course Re-design to Implement Project-based Learning for Social Change – Teresa Snow (Bio / CoS)
- Economic Models for Better Polocies on Equity, Economy, and Environment for Economics and Non-economics Courses – Aselia Urmanbetova (Econ / IAC)
- Sustainability Next: Taking a Sustainable Open-Educational Resource and SDG-ing It – Emily Weigel (Bio / CoS)
- Developing and Enhancing Experiential Learning in a New EAS Course – Samantha Wilson (EAS / CoS)
Sustainability Next: Georgia Tech's Sustainability Plan
“Taking its cues from our strategic plan, Sustainability Next provides our community with a blueprint for an Institute that teaches and embodies sustainability in everything we do. Connecting Georgia Tech’s education, research, and operations, Sustainability Next represents a comprehensive collaboration among units and leaders across campus to address and advance the full range of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
– President Ángel Cabrera
Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee
The Undergraduate Sustainability Education Committee is comprised of school representatives and is charged with developing a comprehensive sustainability curriculum and implementation strategy, including cross- and discipline-appropriate approaches in close collaboration with the respective units. The USEC directs the allocation of Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) funds to support curriculum development and to document and share sustainability and SDG education successes. This work is carried out in alignment with other ISP initiatives such as Transformative Teaching and Learning.