At the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), the Heritage Garden demonstrates how cultural heritage and environmental justice can advance climate action. As a hands-on learning initiative of the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC), the Heritage Garden integrates sustainability into the university’s operations through its paid internship program and community engagement efforts. By connecting environmental sustainability, cultural diversity, and social justice, this program prepares students to address climate and environmental challenges.

A Vision Rooted in Research and Equity

The Heritage Garden originated from research conducted by Dr. Rosa Cabrera and Dr. Lori Baptista in 2009 while at the Field Museum. Their work, commissioned by the City of Chicago, identified key community concerns, including immigration, youth development, cultural heritage, and environmental justice, emphasizing the need to incorporate these into climate action. This vision became a reality when they joined UIC as directors of the Latino Cultural Center and Black Cultural Center, utilizing the newly established Sustainability Fund to create the Heritage Garden.

The program recruits interns each summer, providing opportunities to build skills and assume leadership roles. Under the guidance of the Latino Cultural Center staff, students lead initiatives that connect horticulture with environmental justice and cultural narratives. Weekly discussions, research projects, and peer-led activities build knowledge and empower students to develop solutions for climate challenges.

Addressing Climate Challenges Through Urban Gardening

The Heritage Garden includes nine satellite gardens featuring native and culturally significant plants. Sites such as the Shikwaaka Garden, developed in partnership with the American Indian Center of Chicago, and a Monarch Butterfly Habitat illustrate the role of urban gardening in mitigating climate change. These gardens absorb rainwater, improve air quality, sequester carbon, and support biodiversity, providing practical examples of urban climate resilience.

To extend its impact, the program includes mobile resources such as a seed library and tea apothecary, which share knowledge and materials with communities throughout Chicagoland. Annual events such as the Fall Harvest Festival and Spring Seed Swap bring together university and community partners, fostering connections for collaborative action.

Strengthening Community Engagement

On a busy urban campus, the Heritage Garden provides spaces for engagement and reflection. Students and community members often visit these gardens, which promote a sense of belonging that supports academic success and emotional well-being. Alumni frequently share how their involvement with the program informed their career paths in environmental justice, conservation, and cultural work.

During its 10th anniversary, the Heritage Garden launched a tea library created in collaboration with a community artist and student leaders. The event also featured an archive documenting the program’s history to inspire future participants and guide ongoing efforts.

Advancing Climate Justice and Equity

The Heritage Garden is rooted in principles of climate justice, prioritizing equitable pay for student interns and community partners. The program acknowledges the university’s location on the occupied land of the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi peoples and emphasizes the importance of addressing this historical context in its work. By integrating climate justice into its curriculum and practices, the program equips students to lead in policy, land stewardship, and cultural advocacy.

Collaborating to Address Climate Challenges

The Heritage Garden partners with internal groups such as UIC’s cultural centers, the Disability Resource Center, the Biology Department, and the Office of Diversity and Equity. External collaborations include organizations such as the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the American Indian Center of Chicago, and the Chicago Cultural Alliance. These partnerships facilitate access to resources and expand the program’s reach.

Through its curriculum and projects, the Heritage Garden emphasizes peer-to-peer education, resource-sharing, and seed saving, which extend the life of materials and support urban gardening efforts. Students contribute their knowledge as part of decision-making processes, such as serving on the UIC Sustainability Fund advisory board to allocate funding for sustainable campus projects. These contributions ensure that the program aligns with broader institutional and community goals.

The Heritage Garden demonstrates how integrating cultural heritage and environmental justice can address climate challenges. The program supports urban resilience and promotes sustainable practices by focusing on experiential learning and community partnerships. Through its work, the Heritage Garden continues to create opportunities for students and communities to engage in climate action.

To learn more about the Heritage Garden at UIC, visit https://heritagegarden.uic.edu. 

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For the first time since the initial tree inventories began in 2015, we have a campus-wide inventory and health assessment of every single tree on campus, conducted by Bartlett Tree Experts. The data collected from the tree inventory will be used to maintain a healthy tree canopy and help in long term planning. Having current data for each tree specimen will help ensure we properly invest in the reforestation and ongoing maintenance of our urban forest.

Fun Fact! There are 3,678 trees on campus! The most common species of tree you will find at UIC is the Thornless honey locust, representing 18% of the total inventory. Our trees cover 33.7 acres of campus and help sequester over 23 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere –each year!

Read more about the benefits our trees provide in the infographic, “UIC Urban Forest Effects & Values” at go.uic.edu/trees.

Featured Photo Credit: © UIC Creative & Digital Services

The post UIC Celebrates Arbor Day with its 10th straight Tree Campus Higher Education Recognition appeared first on Second Nature.

We used the World Resources Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard to conduct the inventory. While the WRI protocol was used, one of the challenges of this project was having to determine the organizational boundaries of what emissions Second Nature should consider under their control. In our final report, we decided to include the emissions associated with the travel of participants to in-person events hosted by Second Nature with the thinking that these emissions would not have happened without the leading role played by Second Nature. Second Nature provides educational services to campus leaders and just like a college that provides in-person and online educational services, some Second Nature offerings are also given virtually (such as webinars) as well as in-person (such as the annual Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit). When college campuses calculate their carbon footprint, the emissions associated with commuting and bringing the learners to in-person sessions are often counted as Scope 3 emissions. These emissions ended up being the largest contributor to the overall total of organizational emissions followed by staff travel and staff commuting (also a part of Scope 3 emissions). 

The process to collect the data needed to calculate Second Nature’s emissions also proved to be challenging. As this was the organization’s first time in several years taking an inventory of their emissions, the necessary data was not easily available. As part of the report, I made suggestions for how some internal operations and processes could be improved to have this information more easily accessible for future inventory purposes. 

The final report includes a goal for Second Nature to be carbon neutral by 2022 through the purchasing of carbon offsets. Depending on the quality of offsets, it was estimated that about *$1,500 would need to be included in the annual budget to entirely offset their emissions based on the fiscal years we inventoried (2019 and 2020). We would want any offsets purchased to have additionality and be local to the Northeast. 

The data shows that in 2019 the gross emissions for Second Nature was 162 MTCO2e and in 2020 was 140 MTCO2e. In 2019, 160.3 MTCO2e of the 162 MTCO2e were from Scope 3 (pg 3) emissions and just 1.24 MTCO2e were from Scope 2 (pg 2). Very similar distributions were concluded for 2020 as well. Second Nature does not have any Scope 1 (pg 2) emissions. 

As a Junior from the University of Vermont studying Anthropology and Global Studies, this experience was unlike anything I had ever done before. With the help of my mentor and Director of Strategic Partnerships at Second Nature, Eric Howard, and Kevin Laycock from Brailsford and Dunlavey who provided services through an in-kind donation, this project would not have been possible. Throughout this process and my time with Second Nature, I have learned so much about greenhouse gas reporting, higher education, sustainability, and energy. Beyond that, I have been able to form invaluable connections with the staff at Second Nature and build upon my professional skills. Thank you to all those at Second Nature who helped make this experience so meaningful. 

You can read the full report here.

*based on local offset projects that could be purchased at $8/ton

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