The University of California, Irvine (UCI) Campuswide Honors Collegium (CHC) is looking for Project Partners to participate in the Sustainable Societies Capstone Project. Sustainable Societies is a six-quarter course sequence offered through the CHC. This year, the title and theme of the final course in the sequence is Cities: Focal Point for Sustainability Problems and Solutions. It will culminate in a Capstone Project that asks students to apply the theories they have learned and develop actionable solutions to real-life environmental, health, or social problems.
To support this effort, the CHC is calling for Capstone Project Partners to propose project topics and work with an interdisciplinary group of honors undergraduates as they develop potential solutions. Proposed topics should relate to real-world problems that a city, county, or local region is currently facing. Project themes and potential project topics include:
| Theme | Potential Project Topics* |
| Healthcare | Access, Education, Equity |
| Technology | Accessibility, Equity, Infrastructure, Usability |
| Transportation | Equity, Pollution, Decarbonization, Environmental Impact, EV Charging |
| Waste (All Types) | Pollution, Public Health, Environment, Food Insecurity, Recycling |
| Pollution | Air, Water, Ground, Health Impacts, Environmental Impacts |
| Water | Waste, Conservation, Pollution, Environment, Reclamation, Desalinization |
| Weather | Extreme Storms, Fire, Flood, Drought |
| Energy | Electrical Outages, Alternatives to Fossil Fuels, Conservation |
| Housing | City Planning, Equity, Accessibility, Homelessness, Public Health |
*This is not an exhaustive list of topics. Your ideas are welcome.
“Sustainable Societies Capstone Projects provide students an opportunity to work together and apply the knowledge and skills that they have obtained over the previous five courses in the sequence,“ explains Charles (Ted) Wright, CHC Associate Dean. “Working with outside partners adds verisimilitude to the projects and helps elevate the resulting papers and videos beyond the level of another easily forgotten class project.”
This call is open to government entities, non-profit organizations, and corporations. Project Partners are expected to meet with their assigned group online a minimum of four times over the course of the project, which runs from January to June 2023. In-person attendance is requested at final presentations in June. Becoming a Project Partner is a great way to connect with some of UCI’s top students, and empower them to see themselves as valuable contributors that can make a meaningful difference to their communities.
To volunteer as a Project Partner, please fill out the form here. To learn more about Sustainable Societies or other opportunities to partner with the CHC, contact Michelle Foley at avilesm@uci.edu.
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