“One thing I am sure, I will need to be an example of change, always within my career, but more importantly, within my citizenry. Long-term, sustainable change comes from the bottom-up...”
Asheville City Sustainability Office: Intern Kesari Fleury For the summer of 2011, I interned with the Office of Sustainability, with the City of Asheville. I took on a plethora of tasks, some for a short period of time and others for the entirety of my internship. My position was stated and my objectives were clear since my first meeting with my supervisor. There was never a day just like another. Each day consisted of a variety of tasks, altering depending on the day. The first two weeks of the internship focused on setting up a guerilla marketing campaign to raise awareness on the city’s LED streetlight project, which had just been implemented in the River Arts District. With the help of local artists a stencil reading “AVL LED” was created. Signs were put up near all the LED streetlights and were displayed during the River Arts Stroll weekend. Another task that was very important to my position was providing support for the Sustainable Advisory Committee on the Environment and Energy (SACEE). This citizen based committee strongly resonated with me. In classes I learned about making policies, but what I experienced this summer demonstrated that the most important aspect is how the community is involved. If the public is involved in the processes and they have incorporated their ideas, then the momentum is much bigger. Only with the collaboration of the citizens can the large scale, game-changing environmental policies be implemented. I am still searching for the best practice of bringing the public and the government into the same conversation. One thing I am sure, I will need to be an example of change, always within my career, but more importantly, within my citizenry. Long-term, sustainable change comes from the bottom-up, and even if I work in the “up” all I need is my citizenry to initiate change at the bottom. This is what the City of Asheville, and more importantly, the Office of Sustainability taught me. With all of the work this office has done to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle for Asheville, most of the accomplishments have come from their efforts to include citizens in the process. 6