ASU Global Futures to lead Student Council Sustainability Officer Program
The city of Phoenix Office of Sustainability and ASU's Sustainability Cities Network awarding scholarship funding as part of an annual sustainability challenge. Photo courtesy of Global Futures
For over 11 years, through the Student Council Sustainability Officers Program, the city of Phoenix has engaged with students from their school districts to increase environmental stewardship.
As of this February, Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, will be taking on management and hosting of the SCSO program.
“It is exciting that the program is expanding statewide where more students can take advantage of the opportunity to grow their leadership skills and get on a fast track to a sustainability career," said Mark Hartman, chief sustainability officer for the city of Phoenix.
“Global Futures is uniquely positioned to partner with K–12 institutions to support student efforts to build vibrant futures for their communities,” said Miki Kittilson, vice dean of the College of Global Futures.
“We are incredibly honored to have the opportunity to work with students who want to make a difference for their communities.”
SCSO was created to develop sustainability leaders, improve civic engagement and embed sustainability on school campuses. These sustainability officers focus on enhancing their campuses through implementing sustainable practices at their schools and hosting green events for their student bodies.
In 2022, the program began expanding to Arizona cities outside of Phoenix. It currently services 30 schools of roughly 40,000 students ranging from K–12 and including public, private and charter schools.
In partnership with ASU’s Sustainable Cities Network, an outreach and education program of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, participating schools develop and participate in an annual sustainability challenge.
“Students and youth voices are vital to furthering sustainability in our schools, as well as in our communities, like Phoenix, and across Arizona,” said Anne Reichman, director of the Sustainable Cities Network.
“Over the past decade, the SCSO program has been the perfect match for the Sustainable Cities Network. Phoenix tapped into students' enthusiasm and creativity, creating an innovative program that empowers students to develop leadership skills and sustainability knowledge, encouraging them to be agents of change.”
The sustainability challenge is an opportunity for high school students to learn and implement sustainable practices in their schools. The program has created a “Greening Events Guide" for schools to help students lower the environmental impacts of school events, earning them points as part of the challenges. To date, over $130,000 of funding has been awarded to schools to embed sustainability on their school campus.
The College of Global Futures will continue to service all schools and students with the aim of expanding to other school districts and developing workshops, scholarship opportunities, coursework, workforce development and pathways to degree programs.
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