This past summer, Lehigh Office of Sustainability held its first Sustainability Leadership and Innovation Institute. This week-long program held in June, allowed high school students to develop their skills as the environmental leaders of tomorrow. Students who participated had the opportunity to for place-based experiences focused on sustainability, creative inquiry, and environmental innovation, all while experiencing Lehigh. Using an entrepreneurial mindset and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, students created solutions to local sustainability challenges within a global context.
During their week at Lehigh, students also experienced off-campus trips, discussions with Lehigh students and professors, and created self-designed capstone projects. Students biked and canoed along the Lehigh River, attended an Iron Pigs baseball game, explored the Bethlehem Farmer's Market, toured Frecon Farms, participated in a zero-waste cooking class, and privately toured the United Nations headquarters in New York City to meet with U.N. Officials.
Students also visited Lehigh’s virtual reality lab, the Baker Institute and Mountaintop Initiative, to learn about entrepreneurship, innovation, and design thinking. They spoke with admission officers from Lehigh regarding the college application process and engaged in discussions about sustainability and aspirations to build a more just world with sustainability professionals, industry experts, and Lehigh students, faculty, and staff.
In the pilot year running, the Sustainability Leadership and Innovation Institute had 14 participants from seven different states across the US. The program is running again next summer! If you are a rising high school freshman, sophomore, junior or senior the pre-application is up on our website, you can click here to access the survey. If you have any questions you can email slii@lehigh.edu.