Social, Economic, and Environmental Development Program (SEEDS)

What is the SEEDS Program?

In 2005, the Western Washington University created the WWU Sustainability Committee to implement a sustainable development policy. Our goal: To create a socially, economically and ecologically balanced community with the grassroots involvement and support of the entire campus. This drive toward "greening the campus" is occurring on a number of fronts coordinated by WWU's Office of Sustainability. But many of the critical blueprints for change and future action are emerging from the teamwork, brainstorming and research inherent in WWU SEEDS, aka Social, Ecological, Economic Development Studies. Under the SEEDS banner, students, staff and faculty come together to work on ground-breaking, progressive and often visionary projects. WWU SEEDS coordinates internships or applied research opportunities relating to sustainability. WWU students earn academic credit for their work. Instructors become more fully involved in the community. Staff gain research pertinent to their area of operation.

Participants

Participants WWU SEEDS draws visionary, passionate individuals who value partnership, innovation, community and openness. Projects involve three key segments of the campus population:

• STUDENTS with the skills, commitment and professionalism needed to fulfill the SEEDS project criteria.
• FACULTY whose research or student projects will contribute in a practical way to campus sustainability. Rewards include the opportunity to better understand and assist with the work of staff.
• STAFF members interested in academic research or field studies related to sustainability. Projects succeed when staff provide mentoring and support to students while engaging with instructors.

Project Examples

WWU Building Monitoring System
Two Western seniors in the electronics engineering department are building an energy monitoring system that will measure energy use on a floor-by-floor basis in buildings on campus and send the data to a student-accessible Web site. The goal of the system is for students to see how much energy they're using compared to students on other floors, said designers David Hay and Sebastian Scheiff.

Request a SEEDS Project

If you are staff, faculty or a student who would like to initiate a SEEDS project or have an idea for a SEEDS project at WWU, please email the Office of Sustainability with your name, department affiliation and project description. We will contact you shortly.

Email the Office of Sustainability with your SEEDS project idea.

Program Contact: Seth Vidaña, Coordinator, Office of Sustainability
Email: Seth.Vidana@wwu.edu