Campus Green Week

A week of awareness

The Green Campus Week was organized by the Sustainable Development Pole of the Students’ Association. The project was submitted to the Foundation by Carl Guignon, a 2nd year engineering student and former head of the Student Association’s Solidarity Pole.

“This week has done much more than raise awareness
students to environmental issues
since it has generated in them a real willingness
to change the way of life on campus
by developing various associative projects
or even professional.”

Carl Guignon
(2nd from the left in the picture)

The objectives were several: to raise awareness of environmental issues among students and staff, to demonstrate that it is possible to reconcile a rich student life with an eco-responsible lifestyle, but also and above all to intensify the ecological transition at the campus level. As for the genesis of the project, it was born from the observation of a lack of concrete actions carried out at the campus level in favor of the environment. Although both students and staff are aware of and sensitive to these issues, few manage to take the plunge. There are several reasons for this: the difficulty of changing one’s consumption habits, the lack of knowledge of eco-responsible consumption methods, or simply the lack of motivation. Realizing this, a group of students, composed of Léo Feliers, Martin Badoil, Victor Carré-Poussin, Quentin Decroix, Tom Hauser, Damien Geoffré and myself, decided to organize a “Green Campus Week” that would be punctuated by several events on campus.

• Meeting with “Pour un Réveil Ecologique
• Conference by Aurélien Barreau, astrophysicist and ecologist, which gathered 500 students and staff of the Institute
• Viewing of the film “Ruptures
• Do It Yourself workshops (organized by SUPAERO For Earth)
• Establishment of a Recyclery
• Information booths and foyers organized by various campus associations, other association activities related to ecology
• Discoveries of organic and local products

We are delighted that Campus Green Week was a success. The objectives were all reached, especially for the videoconference of Aurélien Barrau which gathered more than 500 people! 22 campus associations volunteered to organize an activity and be present.

WHAT ARE YOUR SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM PROJECTS?

The success of Green Campus Week demonstrated an ability to change (at least at the student level) but also, and more importantly, a real desire to intensify the ecological transition at the campus level. Indeed, before, during and after this week, many students shared with us ideas for projects that would promote this transition. Also, recognizing this success and taking advantage of this student enthusiasm, the Institute’s Sustainable Development Unit wanted to work more closely with our team and our successors in order to multiply the concrete actions in favor of this transition. The various meetings highlighted several opportunities for improvement. In the short term, it is necessary to rigorously structure the student actions, in particular by dissociating those carried out by SUPAERO For Earth and those carried out by the Sustainable Development Pole of the Students’ Association. In the medium term, it is a question of setting up new projects promoting this ecological transition such as the provision of cargo bikes, the regularization of DIY workshops, the multiplication of conferences organized by students, the regularization of vegetarian meals at the university restaurant, the resumption of the Grocery Store, the setting up of a thrift store and many others including the repetition of the Green Campus Week.

A WORD TO OUR DONORS?

Thank you so much for helping to fund this large-scale project, which, because of its success, marks a campus-wide change. This week did much more than raise students’ awareness of environmental issues; it gave them a real desire to change the way of life on campus by developing various associative and professional projects. After a successful first edition, the Green Campus Week will be organized at least once a year by the Sustainable Development Pole of the Students’ Association, thus becoming a tradition, an unavoidable event in the student life of ISAE-SUPAERO.

Thank you again!