Volunteer

Description

Student Leadership for Sustainable Development (SLSD) is a seven-week extracurricular initiative designed to engage both international and domestic students in discussions about a global issue: sustainability.  

Purpose  

The programme aims to foster engagement within a diverse group, broadening students' understanding of sustainability from various perspectives and its global impact. Students will explore the relation of the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to university student goals. We will explore mission-based proposals from the University of Limerick’s Sustainability Mission Lab and aim for innovation while designing solutions toward a more sustainable campus.   

Why You Should Apply:  

• Meet students from interdisciplinary backgrounds.  

• Develop knowledge and a greater understanding of sustainability.  

• Engage in critical thinking.  

• Receive PVA hours. 

Is training provided?: Yes

Tasks that the volunteer(s) will be expected to undertake:

Tasks that the volunteer(s) will be expected to undertake: 

•  Workshop A: Covers the course goals, providing a peek into the past, present, and future of sustainability while addressing important topics such as the pillars of sustainability and SDGs. Students will reflect on what they personally know about sustainability and what resources they could use to delve deeper into the topic.  

• Workshop B: Students go from learning about the SDGs to learning about UL’s Sustainability Mission Lab’s take on sustainability. One of the themes covered this week is understanding why the university created missions to tackle sustainability issues. In groups, students will start to examine the 21 missions and connect them to SDGs, what fields/backgrounds the missions apply to, if they have any personal interests to the missions, etc...  

• Workshop C: The Sustainability Mission Labs projects begin. Students choose a mission that they want to know more about/have interest in and form new groups to start their mission project proposals. As a team, they will create a group understanding of their mission and then work individually in exercises to develop project ideas. They will regroup to discuss and come up with a project together, which they will then work on for the rest of the programme.  

• Workshop D: The programme will introduce the Collaboration Model tool to break down the students mission project proposals into finer components, considering its purpose, implementation, and resource requirements as a group. This process will transform project ideas into tangible considerations and actionable steps for the future. During this week, students will also explore sustainability from an entrepreneurial perspective, providing another approach to their group proposals.  

• Workshop E: Dilemma Cafe. This workshop is a chance for students to talk about specific challenges in sustainability, reflect meaningfully, and enable them to discuss comfortably, promoting careful listening and questioning. As students move from topic to topic and engage with various people, they will stimulate their learning by hearing a range of recommendations and perspectives on addressing different issues. Climate activism, climate anxiety, climate change, Climate Justice.  

• Workshop F: Using all the content developed over the previous weeks, students will be given dedicated time to outline a presentation on their proposals. The presentations will piece together the concepts that they learned and show their project idea’s connection to one of the 21 UL Sustainability Mission Lab missions. 

• Workshop G: Students will present in front of a panel and showcase their work to one another as a wrap-up for the programme. 

Skills required for this role:

Good time management

Details of time commitment needed for role:
February 13th-March 27th Meetings: On UL campus, every Thursday evenings 6-7:30pm

Minimum time commitment per week:
2 hour p/week

Additional screening required for this role:
You must have already applied and received an email confirming that you are taking part in the program this semester.