Our Commitment to Action
Washington University is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 22% by 2020. To advance this goal, the university has established an Energy Conservation Investment of $30 million.
CGI U 2013 was at Washington University in St. Louis from April 5-7, 2013, bringing together nearly 1,200 attendees to make a difference in CGI U’s five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health.
WUSTL volunteers pave the way for CGI U large-scale service project
More than 250 students, faculty, staff and friends from across the university gathered at Gateway STEM High School last Saturday, March 30, to help lay the groundwork for this weekend’s… Keep reading →
Photos
To download hi-res images please visit the WUSTL Flickr account.
Why Washington University?
Public service and global leadership are at the heart of the mission of Washington University in St. Louis. Our students, faculty and staff are leading the way to address urgent global challenges in the CGI’s five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.
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Student Commitments
Commitments to Action are new, specific, and measurable initiatives that address social or environmental challenges on campuses, in communities, or in different parts of the world. Proposed by an individual or a group, commitments translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. WUSTL is proud of all 200 of our students who have made a commitment to action through CGI U. Here is a sample of the projects our students are working on.
Promoting Sustainable Health Education in the Provincial Regions of Kathmandu Nepal
This plan seeks to address the issue of both over- and under-nutrition in Nepalese youth by teaching children and adults living on the periphery of the Kathmandu Valley Region of Nepal, the importance of basic health and physiology.
Collaboration through education: Bridging our classrooms, environment, and communities
Using the connecting classrooms model from UNICEF, this project hopes to connect high school youth (ages 14-18) in St. Louis, Missouri, Andavadoaka, Madagascar, and Indonesia through an online platform to build international collaboration on environmental issues.
Team LumaCure
Team LumaCure has identified one of the most significant factors that contribute towards neonatal deaths — hyperbilirubinemia, or jaundice. The team’s goal is to make a low cost and portable phototherapeutic treatment device that will help treat neonatal jaundice using Electroluminescence instead of the existing LED / halogen lamp phototherapy solutions. The team has been researching and thinking about this problem, and feels it has come up with a better, cheaper solution that is not currently available.
My Name is Strong: A community anti-violence initiative and awareness campaign
This project seeks to turn a single room in St. Louis into an overpowering art exhibit of human strength and courage. Beginning with a social media campaign, the project is asking for stories, artwork, photographs, and other creative expressions by all individuals impacted by gender-based violence – not just the survivors themselves.
Development of Systems Thinking Curriculum in Schools
Madeleine Polk is developing a means of replicating and implementing Systems Thinking curriculum in schools to better equip the next generation of students to address the local, national, and global issues they face. Because of its broad applicability, Polk anticipates the designing of new materials will allow for more teachers to see the relevance of Systems Thinking for their students and consequently begin to use it to aid students in problem solving processes.
Interactive Living Landscape
In cities throughout the world, years of contamination have rendered large swaths of land unfit for habitation, development or food production. Interactive Living Landscape aims to demonstrate that vacant urban lots can be productively landscaped in ways that not only heal the soil, but also help improve the health of the wider community.
Making Vegetables Fun: The St. Louis City Healthy Eating Initiative
"Making Vegetables Fun: The St. Louis City Healthy Eating Initiative," addresses childhood obesity in St. Louis. School children will learn about and practice healthy eating in the classroom, and the program will teach an appreciation for healthy eating, as well as provide assistance to low-income families with ideas for healthy foods the children enjoy.
Bringing Sight to Villa El Salvador
This plan aims to outfit a community health clinic in Villa El Salvador, Peru with a basic eye-care unit as a solution to the community's unaddressed visual health needs. To ensure the sustainability of the program, the clinic will be provided with 500 adjustable-prescription glasses and several of the clinic's nurses will be trained in performing eye exams.
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Join the Conversation
We are using Storify to curate the preparations, applications, and energy leading up to CGI U at Washington University in April, 2013. Be a part of the conversation! Tweet, post to Facebook and Tumblr, or send us links to blogs. Help us build the story for Washington University and CGI U.
Find Us Online
Participate
While CGI U sessions are not open to the public, everyone has the opportunity to engage in a number of ways. You can:
- Watch sessions live at cgiu.org,
- Follow us on Tumblr to get the the WUSTL Eye View of CGI U,
- Share your thoughts by using #CGIU on Twitter and Tumblr, and
- Participate in WUSTL sustainability efforts.
Campus Viewing Parties
Everyone is welcome to attend a live feed of the CGI U sessions featuring President Bill Clinton and TV personality Stephen Colbert in Tisch Commons on the DUC movie screen. Additional sessions will be presented in the DUC Fun Room.
April 5, 6:30 p.m.
Opening Session by President Bill Clinton
April 6, 3:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks by Stephen Colbert
Media Access
Press registration is now open to members of the media. To apply, please complete the press access form on the CGI U website.
Schedule of Events
CGI U 2013 Meeting Agenda
For the complete participant details and meeting agenda, including plenary sessions, skill and working sessions, and the service project, visit cgiu.org.
