AFS International has invited a wide range of AFS stakeholders to apply to become a member of a task force that will work to develop plans for offsetting our carbon impact (among other things related to sustainability). We would like to invite AFS-USA Volunteers to apply!
We expect that a number of volunteers, staff, and others from around the world will want to be a part of this task force. In other words, there will be competition and, in all likelihood, an effort to represent all regions of the AFS world.
As such, AFS-USA will select an applicant (or applicants) that we believe will best represent the needs and responsibilities of AFS in the United States.
AFS Volunteers are encouraged to send their applications directly to marketing@afsusa.org.
In order to meet the AFS International deadline of January 15th, we ask that all volunteers submit their applications no later than January 8th. Here are the application components required for submission:
- Detail your previous experience developing successful organizational sustainability plans (in a professional or volunteer capacity)
- Your CV
- any other qualifications you consider relevant.
Below you’ll find a more thorough description of the project framework and expectations. We look forward to receiving applications from AFS-USA Volunteers!
Sustainability is not a new topic within the AFS Network but is now one that urgently demands our attention and, more importantly, our action. As an organization that both builds and is made up of active global citizens, we must model our values when it comes to what is widely acknowledged as the single most pressing issue of our lifetime.
In October 2019, AFS confirmed that we will offset our flagship exchange program travel emissions as a standard practice effective in 2021. This is an important element of the Upgrading the Flagship Program strategy project and a necessary part of a larger One AFS Sustainability Initiative that addresses AFS’s climate impact.
To move both the 2021 flagship travel offset and the larger One AFS Sustainability Initiative forward, we invite AFS stakeholders with demonstrated experience developing successful organizational sustainability plans to apply to join the One AFS Sustainability Task Force.
This group is mandated to use a “best known practices”-driven approach to draft:
- By April 2020, a plan to offset the carbon impact of student travel on flagship exchange programs for implementation by AFS Organizations in 2021.
- By December 2020, a larger plan outlining additional meaningful and achievable sustainability initiatives that AFS can implement in the near and midterm.
including how both of these can be financed, rolled out, measured, promoted, and iteratively improved to become standard parts of the AFS Network.
All Task Force work will be conducted via Zoom conferencing and is expected to require around 5-8 hours per month beginning in January 2020.
You can learn more about what carbon offsetting is and how it works in this Guardian article which takes a balanced look at the practice. It is important to remember that carbon offsetting is only one part of a sustainability plan. A true One AFS Network Sustainability Plan will be a multilayered, multi step undertaking that involves AFS organizations working together to develop a carbon footprint assessment then reduction, replacement, and neutralization (offset) targets and strategies.