Post on 15-Jan-2016
Advanced Sustainability Techniques Institute-I: Moving from Rhetoric
to Substance
Members of the ACPA Sustainability Taskforce:Kathleen Gardner
Susan Mendoza-JonesDr. Jeanne S. Steffes
Program 4 of 5- Sustainability Institute
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Program Overview
This session will provide an advanced
discussion of sustainability; offer and invite participants to share suggestions about how college student educators and their students can make perfunctory and intentional changes for a more sustainable world
Session Learning Outcomes: • Be able to define sustainability and discuss the
emerging trends.
• Be able to expand how sustainability can become visible across the university as a viable goal and benchmark for the campus and not just student affairs.
• Be able educate others about sustainability and how sustainability relates to their lives and their values.
• Discuss and be able to talk about and problem solve front edge issues and strategies to overcome barriers to our collective work on sustainability.
Agenda
I. Introduction and Welcome II. Brief Sustainability OverviewIII. Moving from perfunctory change to
and through intentional focus- Cutting Edge Challenges and Successes
IV. Assessing Change on Campus V. Q&A and Wrap-Up
Sustainable Development Defined:
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”
World Commission on Env. and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. England: Oxford
University Press.
StrongEconomy
Strong SocialSystems
Strong Environments
SustainableSociety
Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability
Education for a Sustainable Society:
“Enables people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to
participate in decisions … that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future.”
Economic Aspects of Sustainability
Local first Co-ops Living wage Local currency Examining consumption – The Lorax Sustainable development/
sustainable distribution Green jobs
Intentional Conversations
Sustainability and
Social Justice
Social Justice Aspects of Sustainable Development
Environmental Racism Fair Trade Living Wage Domestic Partnerships Corporate
Responsibility Rights of Indigenous
Peoples Gender Equity Water Rights
• Human Rights• Child Labor Issues• Affirmative Action• Multicultural
Competence• Pollution & Farming
Practices• Worker’s Rights• Sweatshop Labor• Slavery
Global Transition:It is all connected!
From Fossil powered Take, make, waste Living off nature’s
capital Market as master Loss of cultural &
biological diversity Independence Materialism as
goal
To Solar powered Cyclical production Living off nature’s
income Market as servant Increased cultural
& biological diversity
Interdependence Human satisfaction
goal
Challenges and Answers to Sustainability
Challenges Already busy Don’t know this stuff Issues are complex and systematic
Answers Use national resources Learn from other institutions Use students (like YOU) and staff
nationally to help you learn, grow, and implement
Integrating Education for Sustainable Development:
Curricula Research
Operations
Community Outreach and Partnerships Student Life
Professional Development
Mission andPlanning Purchasing
OrientationFirst year Book
Key Places:
Mission Strategic Plan Budget Orientation Campus Map and
Signage Building Policies Operations and
Purchasing Policies
Student Life Residential Living Infused throughout
curricula First Year Experience Gen Ed Core Curricula Review Community
Partnerships Workforce
Development
Convening the Conversation/Front Edge Issues
Front edge Issuesa. Creating Alliesb. Making the Case for the next level of changec. Overcoming Barriersd. Examplese. Resources
Shared Successes and Challenges
Sustainability Assessment/Rating...
The conversation is just beginning.
(Next session)
Sustainability Learning Outcomes(ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006)
1. Each student will be able to define sustainability. (cognitive complexity, knowledge acquisition)
2. Each student will be able to explain how sustainability relates to their lives and their values, and how their actions impact issues of sustainability. (cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition, integration and application; intra and interpersonal competence; practical competence)
Sustainability Learning Outcomes
(ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006)
3. Each student will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality. (knowledge integration and application, humanitarianism, civic engagement, practice competence)
4. Each student will be able to explain how environmental, social and economic systems are interrelated. (knowledge acquisition, integration, intra and inter personal competence, practical competence, persistence and academic achievement)
Sustainability Learning Outcomes(ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006)
5. Each student will learn change agent skills.(cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition; integration and application; intra and inter personal competence; humanitarianism; civic engagement; practical competence; persistence and academic achievement)
6. Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability to their campus and community. (knowledge acquisition, integration, intra and inter personal competence, humanitarianism, civic engagement, practical competence, persistence and academic achievement)
Sustainability Learning Outcomes (ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006)
7. Each student will demonstrate a commitment to sustainability by actively applying their knowledge of sustainability to their lives, professions, and societies.
(cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition, integration and application; intra and inter personal competence; humanitarianism; civic engagement; practical competence; persistence and academic achievement)
AASHE - Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS)
Designed to:
1 Provide a guide for advancing sustainability in all sectors of higher education.
2. Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions by establishing a common standard of measurement for sustainability in higher education.
3. Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.
4. Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance.
5. Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community.
STARS Rating Program Overview
Categories
Education & ResearchOperations
Administration & Finance
Elements of STARS
Checklist of indicators (similar to LEED) Thresholds of achievement Guidance and resources Comprehensive – all campus sectors Transparency (public reporting and access) Outside certification optional Rating good for 3 years Pilot phase begins in 2008; version 1.0 in
2009
Other Assessment Tools
2. ACPA Sustainability Taskforce and Student Voice Instrument – higher education tool (pilot to start this fall)
3. College Sustainability Report Card -(limitations- 100 top endowments) www.greenreportcard.org/
Question & Answers and
Wrap-Up
If we accompany them well, they may grace us all by
becoming citizen leaders …who can both belong and distinguish themselves.
Sharon D. Parks, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams, p. 36
Acknowledgements
Dr. Debra Rowedgrowe@oaklandcc.edu
President U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development; Co-chair Higher
Education Associations Sustainability Consortium;
Dr. Anthony Cortese, President Second Nature; ACPA Presidential Taskforce on Sustainability;
Keith Edwards and Kathleen KerrUSA Today Collegiate Readership Program
Kathleen Gardnerkagardn@suie.edu
Susan Mendoza-Jonesmendozsu@gvsu.edu
Dr. Jeanne S. Steffesjssteffes@gmail.com
http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/
Questions, Comments and Thoughts?