Ideas from Monday's Event

Hey everyone,

Here are all the incredible ideas that were generated on Monday night. Thanks to everyone who contributed!! Please feel free to add more by commenting on this post

Session #1: Why is the Promise needed?
What is your impression of the Promise
o It is essential to take responsibility for our actions now
o A way of staying collectively socially responsible
o Makes us evaluate our own beliefs and begin to think about these issues therefore it benefits us as a people by giving us a broader perspective, and a purpose
o A concrete reminder of an engineer’s responsibility
o Get people in the right mindset, there’s more to life than money
o Declare our ideals
o Engineers must take a leading role
Why are we taking these actions?
o For the general well-being of our own and everyone else’s future generations.
o Makes us more conscious of waste in the final stages of our design
o Reminds us of what’s important
o Makes us think long term
o Helps protect our natural resources (animals, water, air quality)
o Adds value to the environment in the decision making process
o It’s an alternative while we experience a lack of policy governing such things (carbon tax)
Who will benefit from the implementation of such an oath?
o We have an obligation to those less fortunate
o needed for our children and all who come after them
What are your favourite/most powerful clauses?
o Article II
Name some places in the world you want your grandchildren to experience and places you believe are in danger of severe changes/destruction in the next 10years, 25 years, 50 years
How will future generations be affected by these types of changes?

Session #2: How can the values of the Promise be upheld in society?
What some examples of the abuse of rights of future generations?
o Disposable everything
o Unnecessary use of natural resources, fossil fuels
o Thinking in terms of initial capital vs. future impacts
How can we change current practices to reflect the values of the Promise?
o Make sustainable engineering mainstream
o Rethink the concept of waste
o Integrated design
What can you do personally to implement the Promise in your life at school, work and at home?
What challenges do you think you will come across implementing the principles of this Promise and how can you overcome them?

Session #3: How can we apply the Promise HERE and NOW?
What activities can we do at school as a group?
o Reach out to other disciplines (economics/policy)
o Create a website (WE NEED HELP WITH THIS!) have both intro and breadth for layman and depth for the technically proficient
o Influence facilities and services on campus
o Promote engineering environmental aspects to high school students
o The Promise can be used to promote the school/department in terms of admissions
o Educate student body in making responsible decisions
o Get professors on board
o Reach out to other student groups who have a similar vision, as a medium for publicity and ideas
o Reach out to other universities
What type of future events do you want to see?
o Projects for each year
o Show success stories – have industry speakers/case studies presented, include these on website (video or summary)
o Rick Mercer
o TED talks
o Promotion of the Promise with “Hot Yam” in the atrium
o Design competition in 1st and 4th year, make topics related to sustainability on campus
o Learning skills
o Fundraiser for non-profit
o Inter-university competitions
o Develop questions to ask OPG and government etc.
o Promote competition e.g. best poster design or best way to engage students, artistic
o End of oil party – exercise bikes to light, funeral for oil
How can we raise funds to ensure this is a sustainable initiative?
o Bake sales
o Money that we save the university (e.g. achieving a certain percentage of energy savings through our actions)
o Business case for sustainability