FUS Green Office Overview

I am proud of our GO Scholars, who work tirelessly to transform Franklin into a more sustainable and just University. I am proud of our administration for their support of sustainability and the Franklin values. And I am proud of our faculty and staff, who inspire with their innovation, passion and kindness. On behalf of the Green Office: thank you Franklin community.

Working in sustainability and facing the depths of climate change isn’t a light task. But the community and passion the Green Office provides have proven that there are so many ideas and solutions out there, we just need to work together and build on others’ ideas!

My name is Skylar, and I am a third-year student at Franklin University Switzerland. I am an Environmental Science major and I am the Event Coordinator for the Green Office. I have been working in the Green Office since it began in the spring of 2022. My favorite part of being a GO scholar is having the resources to take what I am learning in the classroom and using them to create change in our community. It is so nice to be actively working towards improving our school and our local community. I have been learning a lot about how intersectional environmentalism really is and how important it is to collect different perspectives. One of my favorite memories from the Green Office is our Earth Day garden party. It’s so much fun to come together as a group to celebrate our work and our beautiful planet. It makes me so proud to be the first Green Office in Switzerland and to be a leader in our community as we address issues that affect all of us.

Being a sustainable garden intern has been a great learning experience and it is very important to me. I think gardens are a beautiful way to bring a community together and promote a more sustainable way of living through the composting initiative and planting produce we can use ourselves.

Something I learned this year working with the GO is that no idea is too ambitious when you are working with a team equally as ambitious and passionate as you are.

Being in the garden and at the Green Office, I have learned the importance of having a clear strategy and common goal. Working alongside a small team and with limited resources has helped me practice adaptability and creativity. I have been able to practice working with people that I might not interact with on a daily basis, and have gotten some insight into the amount of work and energy it takes to build an effective campaign from the ground up, and put systems in place so that it can be passed on to future leaders.

Working at the Green Office has shown me that change is much more feasible when you work with people who are passionate about their cause.

Working in the garden has taught me the importance of connecting with others through a mutual love and appreciation for the natural world. It’s always so exciting to eat something you grew from a seed with other amazing students.