Youth Voices for Climate Action
Impact the Greater Cincinnati Area with your voice!
We want young people's opinions on environmental issues and potential solutions to create a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan for our communities. After collaborating with you, we will see how we can incorporate your ideas into the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.
Phases
Workshop Results
Workshop Results
The team at Thrive Together has been meeting with students and young people across the region. Through these in-person workshops, young people are voice their opinions on Climate Action. We gather their thoughts on the environmental issues they see and how they would like the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan to address those issues.
Below are summaries of the results from each of the workshops!
University of Cincinnati - Leaders for Environmental Awareness and Protection
Most Popular Idea:
Fixing Combined Sewage Overflow
University of Cincinnati students most frequently cited combined sewage overflow as a problem. They recommended constructing a new system with separate flows for sewage and storm water.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Expanding Public Transit in Cincinnati and for Students.
University of Cincinnati students expressed the importance in connecting areas to downtown, using new modes of transportation like trains, and offering discounts for students to use public transportation.
Public transportation upgrades were ranked as some of the highest impact ideas by students.
Honorable Mention:
Composting for Students
University of Cincinnati students shared their difficulties with food waste on campus. To solve this, the students wanted better education on food waste and a curb-side composting program.
Miami University
Most Popular Idea:
Reducing fertilizer run-off from farms
Lots of University of Miami students mentioned eutrophication as a problem and credited the issue to fertilizer run-off on farms.
To solve this idea, students wanted to use alternatives to nitrogen-based fertilizers, minimize tilling fields, cut back on fertilizer use.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Expanding Public Transit
University of Miami students enjoy their campus bus-system, felt it would be impactful for busses to extend into surrounding areas. They would like to connect suburban areas with an expanded bus system.
Honorable Mention:
Energy Efficiency Upgrades of Renters
University of Miami students noticed problems related to inefficient energy use in their college apartments caused by old appliances. To solve these issues, students suggested education on energy efficiency for landlords and regular upgrades.
World Affairs Council - International Education Summit
Most Popular Idea:
Increasing Recycling Bins at School
Students frequently talked about the lack of recycling bins on school campuses. They said this contributed to the large amount of trash generated by the school. To help fix this problem, students said they would like to see more recycling bins at school.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Organizing Groups to Clean our Streets
Students cited litter as a common issue. To alleviate the litter problem, students suggested organizing groups to pick up litter.
Honorable Mention:
Fight Invasive Species
Students were passionate about reducing the amount of invasive species in the region. They would like to see government policy regarding introducing new species into ecosystems and greater removal of existing invasive species.
Sierra Club - Young Professionals Network
Most Popular Idea:
Improving Education on Environmental Issues
Participants saw a lack of education contributing to multiple issues, like the visibility of green jobs, fertilizer over-use, overconsumption, and poor air quality. Education and engagement on these topics was seen as an important factor in fighting environmental problems.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Promoting Local Food Systems
Participants saw food insecurity as a problem in the region. To help more residents access affordable, local food, participants wanted to see more community-owned grocery stores supplied by local producers.
Honorable Mention:
Infrastructure for Multi-Modal Transit
Participants felt the region is not safe or easy to travel in without a car. To encourage public transit use or pedestrian travel, participants wanted to see more bike lanes, street car lines, and spaces designed for walkability.
Covington Classical Academy
Most Popular Idea:
Introducing more vegetation
Covington Classical Academy students saw increased tree canopy and vegetation cover as a solution to multiple issues like erosion, urban heat island, lack of greenspaces, and limited biodiversity.
They recommended planting along levees, in rooftop gardens, in neighborhoods with limited greenspace, and on vacant land.
Students acknowledged that lack of information on the benefits of tree and vegetation cover may be a barrier to introducing more greenery.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Increasing walking, biking, and public transportation opportunities
Students noted the high rates of emissions caused by individual car use. Alternative modes of transportation were suggested to reduce emissions.
Honorable Mention:
Trash Bounty
Seeing high levels of litter in Covington, students suggested creating a "Trash Bounty" program.
The Trash Bounty would pay residents for every bag they fill with road-side litter, incentivizing the community to improve the looks and environmental quality of their streets.
Cincinnati State
Most Popular Idea:
Incentivizing Public Transit and Disincentivizing Private Cars
Students felt that improving public transportation and disincentivizing private driving are crucial to climate action in the region.
These proposals both work to address the underlying issue of emissions caused by private car-use. Some ways to drive these emissions down include improving public transportation reliability and introducing congestion pricing in high-traffic areas.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Improving Public Infrastructure
Cincinnati State students felt that outdated infrastructure prevented the wide-spread adoption of green technology, like clean energy installations and electric-vehicle charging stations.
To remedy this, students wanted to see sustained investment in improving our power grid to handle new energy needs.
Honorable Mention:
Students felt that proper development and maintenance in vulnerable areas like hillsides and flood zones are important to the region.
Cincinnati State participants noted that landslides and flooding plague the region. To address these issues, students wanted to change zoning regulations to limit development in flood zones and along steep hillsides. They also wished to see the creation of a hotline people can use if they are concerned about these issues impacting their homes.
Thomas More University
Most Popular Idea:
Restoring Wild Landscapes
TMU students repeatedly mentioned the threat humans pose to native species, pollinator populations, and riparian zones.
To increase biodiversity and fight habitat loss, students proposed becoming better stewards of our natural spaces. They suggested reducing mowing, reusing developed land, maintaining natural tracts of land during subdivision development, and improved maintenance of greenspaces on campus.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Connecting People to the Local Food System
TMU participants felt disconnected from where their food comes from and saw others in their community struggling to access affordable, healthy food.
To remedy this, participants suggested incorporating more agricultural land or community gardens into new development. They also wished to see more mobile food pantries to bring fresh food to those in need.
Honorable Mention:
Raising Student Awareness
Participants felt that the student body at TMU was confused about or apathetic towards environmental issues. This limits the students' engagement in sustainability initiatives and makes it difficult to advocate for change.
To get more students on board, participants suggested increasing educational efforts, informational signage, promoting events like Meatless Mondays, and coordinating with school administrators.
St. Xavier High School
Most Popular Idea:
Cafeteria Composting
St. Xavier students see large amounts of food waste in their school cafeteria.
To address the waste, students suggested introducing composting bins in the cafeteria to encourage students to compost when they can.
Idea with the Biggest Impact:
Restore Ecosystem Balance
St. Xavier students said that local ecosystems have been deteriorated by habitat fragmentation, the loss of apex predators, and invasive species.
To restore our ecosystems' functioning and biodiversity, student proposed stronger protections for native species and apex predators, the removal of invasive species, and rewilding land.
Honorable Mention:
Reusing Goods and Shopping Second-Hand
Students felt that overconsumption and waste were big issues created by everyday consumers.
To combat these issues, students want to promote the creative reuse of goods and shopping second-hand stores. They felt it is important to educate consumers on the benefits of these practices.
From the team at Thrive Together, THANK YOU to all that contributed their ideas during our workshops!
Your ideas will be invaluable as we begin to plan the future of environmental work for the region.