Climate-conscious innovation is happening at each site throughout NYU’s global network. Diverse initiatives reflect NYU’s commitment to creating a greener future, from campus bike shares and community service projects to sustainability-focused courses and LEED-certified facilities. Below, discover how community members at NYU Sydney, NYU Washington, DC, and NYU Accra are contributing to a more sustainable world.
A Community Bike Share at NYU Sydney
Students, faculty, and staff at NYU Sydney have been trading four wheels for two after the implementation of a community bike share. Mark Eels, assistant director of NYU Sydney, partnered with student Anna Danowitz to spearhead the creation of the program through an NYU Green Microgrant.
“Sydney is such an active, outdoor city with a wonderful climate, so a bike share program seemed like a logical way for our site to contribute to the University’s goals of reducing its carbon footprint while fostering a sense of well-being for our students,” says Eels. “I was excited to work with Anna, who identified the need for a more cost-effective and accessible way to explore our beautiful campus and the surrounding area.”
NYU’s Office of Sustainability awards green grants and microgrants to projects that seek to advance campus sustainability initiatives or enact social entrepreneurship. In their application, Eels and Anna described the bike share’s potential environmental benefits. For example, biking the 10-mile round trip to and from Coogee Beach in Sydney saves approximately two and a half pounds of carbon per person. Additionally, packaging waste and shipping emissions would be avoided by purchasing the bikes from a local store.
“The bike share program grants students an opportunity to explore new areas of the city sustainably, while also providing a healthy and fun means for socializing,” Eels shares. “Sydney is a very bike-friendly city with many designated bike lanes and maps. Having bikes on campus will simply add to the outdoor- and exploring-centered culture.”
Sustainability-Focused Internships at NYU DC
One of the most compelling reasons students choose to study away at NYU Washington, DC, is the superb internship opportunities available in the US capital. DeVoni Gale, a senior majoring in Public Policy and minoring in Africana Studies, was drawn to NYU Washington, DC, for this reason. After graduation, she plans to work on Capitol Hill and later attend law school to focus on policy work, making the District the ideal study away location.
Site staff at NYU Washington, DC, helped DeVoni land an internship at the Environmental Law Institute, which works to strengthen environmental protection by improving law and governance worldwide. There, she assisted research staff, summarizing communications written by various groups within and outside the organization. “I was really excited to learn about the solutions communities around the world are coming up with to solve environmental problems,” shares DeVoni. “Stepping into the environmental policy world was refreshing.”
Sustainability-focused internships are abundant in Washington, DC. In addition to the Environmental Law Institute, NYU students have interned at Earth Day Network, Energy Futures Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund, Green America, the National Park Service, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and many others.
Local Collaboration and Environmental Education at NYU Accra
During her semester away at NYU Accra, Global Equity Fellow Kelechi Nwokoma strove to bring her cohort together through a community outreach activity with a meaningful impact. She voiced her desires to Gifty Affreh, community engagement coordinator at NYU Accra. Affreh suggested a collaboration with United Way Ghana, which had established an environmental sustainability club at La Yahoshua Primary School.
“I thought it was an interesting and meaningful idea, so I reached out to them,” Kelechi says. “United Way organized a tree planting event, while we, as NYU volunteers, taught pupils about the importance of environmental sustainability while guiding them through the planting process.”
NYU students began with a brief lecture on climate change and environmental sustainability before working with 70 upper primary students to plant approximately 20 trees on the school grounds.
“The most meaningful part was seeing how knowledge could turn into action right before our eyes,” shares Kelechi. “The students were so happy to participate, knowing they were contributing to the improvement and beautification of their school. Seeing their smiles and hearing them ask us to come back again made me feel that we had genuinely made an impact in their community.”