When Emmanuel Mayani was attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan last November, he became inspired. The Harris student—one of 25 UChicago students attending the conference as part of a delegation hosted by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth and Career Advancement—was having enriching conversations with other students on the trip and conference participants from a wide variety of backgrounds. How could he bring those conversations back to campus? Some of his fellow UChicago peers wondered the same.
“Coming back, we recognized the gap in how sustainability issues are discussed here on campus,” says Mayani. “How can we create a dynamic, student-led space that connects global sustainability challenges to everyday life?”
Mayani partnered with fellow delegate Paul Salach, and the two created an initiative they dubbed the UChicago Sustainability Dialogue. The idea: to provide students with insights on a range of climate-related topics, spark discussion and drive action.
“The goal is to provide students with an outlet to be able to say what’s on their mind with respect to sustainability, and also bring diverse perspectives on things that are in the news, but from students themselves,” says Salach, who attends Booth as an Evening/Weekend student.
Mayani and Salach began to assemble a team, with several of their fellow COP29 delegates eager to join. Fast forward to today, and what started as an idea is now up and running with its first news pieces out and a group of writers ready to start work. Along with Mayani and Salach from Harris and Booth, the UChicago Sustainability Dialogue includes writers from the College and Law School.
The co-founders aim for each school to be represented to create a multi-dimensional analysis on each climate topic. They’re getting started by pulling from their own backgrounds. Salach works full time as a product leader for Owens Corning, a fiberglass company, where he leads the launch of sustainable products. At UChicago, he helped found the Booth Corporate Sustainability Club for Evening/Weekend students. Mayani has a background in electrical engineering. Before joining Harris, he designed microgrids to electrify rural communities in East Africa; he is now developing sustainable alternatives to charcoal in Rwanda.
Though both Mayani and Salach are on track to graduate this year, they hope the Dialogue will create an enduring change in the campus conversation on climate. Inspired by the University’s historic commitment to free speech and inquiry, the co-founders hope to create a long-lasting forum where students — and the greater UChicago community — can gather to exchange ideas.
“We’re giving the reader a chance to debate with the fellow student, and in the end, drive change by recommending a few action steps they can take to contribute to reducing harm or contributing something positive about the global sustainability challenge, starting with where they are or the communities they belong to,” says Mayani.
Join in! Visit the UChicago Sustainability Dialogue here. Sign up to be a writer here. You can also join the conversation on Slack here.