Campus Engagement
GOAL: Sustainability engagement score (SES) of 85.
Goal update
Baseline: 45
November 2022: 58
2030 Goal: 85
The Medical Center seeks to foster a culture of sustainability. To gauge the health and development of this culture, the Medical Center conducted a Sustainability Engagement Survey. The survey combines metrics on knowledge and perceived behavior to determine a single score between 0-100.
In 2019, the SES was updated to reflect changes in the understanding of sustainability. This had the effect of making the SES “harder” and resulted in a lower score. If the survey had remained the same, in 2019 the SES score would have been 61, a 2 point improvement from 2017.
The Medical Center recently conducted this survey again, which resulted in a one point increase from 57 to 58. Individuals reported practicing more sustainable behaviors and viewing their community doing the same. Overall awareness of sustainability at the Med Center also increased from 2019 to 2022.
Recent Efforts
Earth Day.
Each April, we celebrate Earth Month (our month-long celebration of International Earth Day) in a variety of ways, helping individuals be more sustainable both at work and at home. Activities include a tree planting on campus, educational sessions on sustainability related topics, litter cleanups in partnership with Keep Omaha Beautiful Park, an online personal behavior challenge, and our ever-popular personal recycling/paper shredding event. In 2023, that recycling event diverted almost 8,000 pounds of materials while creating an impressive community benefit:
- 200 cans of food and $612 to the UNO Maverick Food Pantry
- 43 eyeglasses donated to the Truhlsen Eye Institute clinic
- 24 lbs of pop tabs to Ronald McDonald House
LiveGreen Ambassadors.
The LiveGreen Ambassadors support the Medical Center’s mission to lead the world in creating a healthy future for all by fostering a culture of sustainability on campus. With training and support from the Office of Sustainability, the LiveGreen Ambassadors continue to integrate sustainability into the culture of the Medical Center by modeling behaviors, providing colleagues with information, and helping to implement sustainability initiatives.
The number of LiveGreen Ambassadors continues to grow and two training sessions were held last year, as well as several campaigns throughout the year to move forward on sustainability goals. To learn more, go to https://livegreennebraska.com/livegreen-ambassador/
Upcoming Projects
LiveGreen Ambassadors.
Training sessions will provide LiveGreen Ambassadors an opportunity to learn more about sustainability at the Medical Center, deepen knowledge of key sustainability topics, and plan LiveGreen campaigns to engage colleagues across campus in sustainable actions.