At the University of Colorado Boulder, a powerful student-driven initiative is reshaping the university’s approach to climate action—and it’s catching the attention of campus leadership.
On April 22, 2025, undergraduate students at CU Boulder will present original climate mitigation strategies to university administrators, offering research-based recommendations to improve CU’s official Climate Action Plan (CAP), released last year. Their work stems from a first-of-its-kind course, co-developed and taught by five interdisciplinary graduate students, that puts students at the center of climate policy development. Four undergraduate student groups will present on how CU can reduce its waste, transportation, business flights and student flights emissions.
Frustrated by a lack of student input in the university’s climate planning process, a group of graduate students from sociology, law, engineering, geography, and atmospheric science designed and launched an undergraduate course that connects academic expertise, real campus emissions data, and advocacy. The course is a first-of-its-kind class that uses CU’s campus and emissions as a living laboratory for teaching students how to think both practically and creatively about climate solutions.
“This class started as a small group of graduate students asking more from CU’s climate action plan and blossomed into a collaborative effort between campus administrators, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students. These are the cross-cutting relationships we need to tackle climate change, and I’m so immensely proud to be a part of this effort,” said PhD candidate Jonah Shaw.
“As a student and a school employee, I am always pushing for us to have seats at the table when decisions are being made that affect us. This class is a really tangible step in that direction,” said undergraduate student Rachel Cohen.
“This class is the most meaningful thing I’ve been involved with during my time at CU. I’ve learned so much from my co-teachers and my students. This experience has made me more hopeful about the future of human beings on the planet,” said law student Mariah Bowman.
The presentations will occur on April 22, 2025, at 3:30-4:45 p.m. in UMC 235 during the campus Sustainability Summit.
In collaboration with campus partners, CU Environmental Center has produced a Campus Sustainability Summit annually or semi-annually since 1994 for the campus community. The Summit is open to all CU Boulder students, faculty and staff and community members.
