Vision

The Green Campus Initiative, founded in 2007, is a student run organisation whose mission is to campaign for and create institutional change within the University of Cape Town (UCT) towards a greener and more sustainable campus. We are committed to bringing about awareness to the greater UCT community (and beyond) about climate change and the ways in which it can be combatted. Through awareness, education and outreach we hope to illicit involvement by students to contribute to greening our campus as well as bringing about individual behavioural changes towards greener living. This is all done through our various projects and events, each with specific focuses to tackle the many-pronged causes and solutions to climate change.

Philosophy (Preamble & Constitution)

We, the Green Campus Initiative at the University of Cape Town:

• Acknowledge that we are intrinsically connected to and a part of the environment, that it is not something separate to us, but is always part of our own lives and survival;
• Are aware of and are concerned by the destruction of biodiversity, climate change and depletion of resources caused by humans;
• Are concerned that many humans have forgotten the connection to the natural environment and each other, which is perpetuated through loss of the environmental commons;
• Are troubled by the social inequalities that plague our society and recognise their connection to environmental sustainability;
• Realise that as university students and staff we have a responsibility toward addressing the challenges that face our society, and this primarily needs to start at home.

We therefore aim to address these challenges in our country and consequently the world, through leading by example and undertaking activities that promote and facilitate environmental sustainability and social justice.

In our activities, we hope not only to transform our current conditions but to inspire future leaders who will continue to make change, recognising that institutional changes come from a conscious effort from all the actors within a community. As the Green Campus Initiative at UCT, we hope that through our activities students, as well as ourselves and the broader UCT community, will recognise themselves as part of the shared environment, and live in hope of a socially and ecologically sustainable future.