There are two broad trends in green education:
- Traditional science and policy programs, with emphasis on basic science and social science research
- Business programs that address green economic opportunities
Largely missing, especially at the undergraduate level, are programs that focus on training entrepreneurs and environmental change agents. College Eight aims to occupy this niche.
Our goal is to train change agents who provide real world solutions to complex socio-ecological problems, and nurture green entrepreneurs who can build green industries. Here’s how:
Revamped Core Course
Starting Fall 2009, College Eight is rolling out a three quarter interdisciplinary core course, staffed by leading faculty from UCSC’s departments of Environmental Studies, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Electrical Engineering.
This new course builds on an already successful predecessor:
• In 2007 College Eight was honored nationally for outstanding efforts in involving freshmen in entrepreneurial environmentalism.
• Patrick McKercher, Susan Watrous, and other faculty developed College Eight’s core course wiki. Incorporating Web 2.0 technologies and principles, the site had more than 54,000 hits in January 2008, and the trend has continued since.
Mentorship Program
UCSC’s college system has, from the outset, been renowned for its success in creating mentorship opportunities for students. At College Eight, we are building on this tradition by creating opportunities for faculty to offer uniquely focused courses, and to industry, governmental, nonprofit, and community leaders to teach, mentor, and work with our talented undergraduates. The goal is to provide UCSC students with avenues to interact and work together in productive teams.
Entrepreneurship Incubator
Being developed in partnership with industry, Bay Area environmental organizations, and local community leaders, the program will provide hands-on training to UCSC students to think entrepreneurially— both in social and economic sectors. Further, it will provide funding, resources, and mentorship to implement their own green ideas. We hope to launch the incubator and the associated venture fund in the next couple of years.
Green Economic Trends
• New California state laws regulating pollutants have the potential for adding $60 billion and 17,000 new green energy-producing jobs to the California economy by 2020. UC Berkeley Study
• From 2005 to 2006, venture capital investment in clean/green technologies jumped from $1.6 billion to $2.9 billion nationwide. Clean Tech Venture Network
• The greening of non-energyproducing businesses in California will result in 83,000 new jobs and an increase in personal income of $4 billion by 2020. Governor's Climate Action Team
• In 2006, $55.4 billion was spent on green energy nationwide. By 2016, $226.5 billion is projected to be spent on clean energy. Clean Edge, 2007
