University of Nevada Las Vegas
ER-2: Student Sustainability Outreach Campaign

Focus the Nation (FTN) is a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting clean energy solutions through youth leadership development. Every year college students working with FTN host Clean Energy Forums on college campuses across the country. These forums educate the community on energy issues and discuss clean energy solutions for that community and their state. This year, the theme was ‘energy literacy’ and UNLV hosted a Clean Energy Forum. The campaign was split into two portions: education and discussion. It reached a diverse audience. During the day, environmental groups teamed up with community representatives and displayed various informational booths. This gave the students and campus spectators the opportunity to discuss with local utility companies, clean energy advocates, and student demonstrators information about residential energy usage. This educational open house had partners from: NV Energy, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Sierra Club, Environment Nevada, Rebel Recycling Center, REPurpose America, BEC Environmental, WES group, USGBC Nevada/Student Chapter, UNLV Solar & Renewable Energy Minor, Bombard Electric, and Toyota Prius. Students also displayed their own research into energy usage including the journey our food takes prior to reaching our tables, water usage in southern Nevada, electricity/home power usage, and a renewable energy technology display. Later in the evening, UNLV hosted a discussion panel focused on Nevada's energy use and needs. This panel included individuals from various Focus the Nation categories: 'innovator; politico; technician; or story teller.' This panel was able to answer questions from attendees including local residents, business owners, and students. The panel participants included: Moderator: Patricia Mynster- Doctoral Student in Environmental Studies and Public Affairs Dr. Bob Boehm- Distinguished Mechanical Engineering Professor & Director of the Energy Research Center Dina Titus- former Congresswoman for Nevada's 3rd District and Professor in Political Science at UNLV David Sims- NV Energy's Director of Project Development Lydia Ball- Executive Director of the Clean Energy Project Nevada David Stahl- Associate Executive Director for Nuclear Technology Programs at the Harry Reid Center.

While campaigns such as Focus The Nation regularly take place at UNLV, quantitative measures of pre-and post achievement were not obtained. This was an important lesson learned from STARS; the need to quantitatively emphasis impact of activities on sustainability. Besides key qualitative dimensions such as media coverage and increased awareness, measurable positive impacts remain an integral part of measuring a campaign's success. We have learned an important lesson for future sustainability outreach campaigns.