Students, faculty, and staff are invited to submit proposals to the Idea Lab, Johns Hopkins' online crowdsourcing platform, at http://idealab.jhu.edu. The new site will accept proposals for three challenges related to community, diversity, and sustainability until April 8. Then the Johns Hopkins community will vote online for their favorites from April 18 through 28.
The Office of Sustainability is new to the Idea Lab this year and is calling for "small-scale, big-impact ideas for improving the operational or cultural sustainability of our institution and broadening the community of climate change agents and advocates," according to the challenge description. Proposals may pertain to waste reduction or diversion, energy efficiency, or resource conservation, to name a few examples.
Each challenge offers financial awards for the top vote getters as well as funding for additional projects selected by a committee. Participants will sign on with their JHED ID to submit ideas, comment, and vote when the challenges go live. Additional parameters specific to each of the challenges are outlined on the website.