Guest Post: SUSTAINABILITY BOARD GATHERS IDEAS, DATA, NEW ACQUAINTANCES AT GEORGIA COLLEGES CONFERENCE

(Originally posted on October 2, 2013 on Brenau University's Sustainability Center Website. All rights reserved.)

Have you ever considered getting an electric car, but  thought they’re too expensive?  According  to Hannah Solar Corporation, if you use the tax credit, a lease for a Nissan  Leaf can be had for as little as $75 per month.  This was just one bit of information among many gathered by a Brenau group  who attended the statewide conference of the Georgia College Sustainability  Network, held in Macon on Sept. 20. 

This partial listing of sustainability activities, presented by Michael Chang of Ga. Tech, seemed intimidatingly large.

“The round table session helped open my eyes on what needs to happen  before a campus can claim a ‘sustainability’ effort at any level of earnestness”,  said Robert Cuttino.  Together with Rudi Kiefer, who serves on the Steering Committee of GCSN, and Karen  Henman, he participated in the sessions that included topics as diverse as  curriculum-building, water conservation on campus, promoting sustainability  efforts among students, and a round-table discussion about what’s happening at the various public and private colleges in Georgia.  The variety of themes was also apparent among  the presenters, ranging from students attending Georgia College & State  University and Emory University to faculty from UGA, Emory, GCSU, and Georgia  Southern, as well as industry representatives.

As is often the case, student-led presentations were among the most stimulating. Here, Emory College junior Rachel Cogbill is shown presenting her group’s findings about a sustainable food coalition.

“The presentation about Zero Waste Events at Emory has got  me interested in investigating how to institute Zero Waste Events on our campus, and developing greater buy-in to sustainability”, said Henman. As the three members of Brenau’s  Sustainability Advisory & Action Board (SAAB) attended different concurrent  session, a whole list of projects and priorities evolved, including more  recycling efforts, studying the tree canopy on campus, energy efficiency and  more, which Henman put to paper and summarized for the committee.  A busy agenda for the SAAB seems assured.

“It was great to meet the people in person that I’ve been teleconferencing with during the summer as we were building the conference agenda in the steering committee,” Kiefer said.  “Eriqah Foreman-Williams of the National Wildlife Federation, who oversees the GCSN activities, was already on my ‘old friends’ list because she did such a marvelous job with the Farm-to-Table Conference in Statesboro last spring. 

Eriqah Foreman-Williams, who spearheads the Georgia College Sustainability Network and organized the conference, gave the concluding remarks.

And as a UGA graduate, I was delighted to exchange views with the people from Athens, and learn what they are doing on the state’s flagship campus over there.” 

Henman’s suggestions about a tree inventory and the campus  canopy are certain to be followed up in the SAAB, together with other  vegetation-related projects that are on the burner this year.  A first step is a guest lecture by Joan  Maloof, author of “Teaching the Trees” and “Among the Ancients”, scheduled for  Wednesday, Oct.9 at 5 p.m. in Thurmond McRae Auditorium (still being  finalized).  More rounds of weeds removal  and clean-up are also slated in the Bamboo Forest area of the Bioscience Field  Station.  With a design being prepared by  Teri Nye, and plant selections by Jessi Shrout (both of the Science Dept.), a  new teaching and research venue is emerging in the back of the Brenau Campus.

“Jessi and Teri had class responsibilities, so unfortunately  they couldn’t come along to the Macon conference,” Kiefer said.   “But the three of us – Karen, Robert and  myself – brought back so many notes and ideas that we can stay busy for the  entire academic year.  The key to it all, agreed to by every participant, is student involvement in these projects.  Just like last year, it’ll be a priority at  Brenau.”

(Written by Rudi Kiefer, Directory of Sustainability, Brenau University)

Southeastern Faculty Build Capacity for Infusing Sustainability Across the Curriculum

On May 17-18, 2011, 25 faculty members from 16 campuses across the Southeast participated in the Sustainability and Curriculum for Campus Leaders "train the trainer" workshop, hosted by the Georgia Campus Sustainability Network, Agnes Scott College’s Office of Sustainability, the National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology program and Emory University’s Dr. Peggy Barlett.  Participants came from campuses in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama  that ranged from small liberal arts colleges, such as Warren Wilson College and Georgia Highlands College, to community colleges, like Georgia Perimeter College and Tallahassee Community College, to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, to major land-grant universities, like Auburn University and the University of Georgia.

Dr. Lissa Leege of Georgia Southern University poses a question to Dr. Barlett and other workshop participants.

Dr. Barlett has been hosting “train the trainer” workshops for faculty leaders who wish to develop curriculum change programs, with a focus on infusing sustainability into the courses and curricula offered on their campus, for the last six years.  She has worked with over 300 faculty leaders from more than 200 schools in nine different countries to teach them about creating their own version of the very successful Piedmont Project at Emory University, which annually brings Emory faculty members from many different disciplines together to share and develop strategies for infusing sustainability into their courses and curricula.

This workshop was specifically designed and promoted to engage faculty leaders from a variety of institutions throughout the Southeast, especially those who may not have had access to this type of professional development opportunity in the past, due to highly competitive application processes and a lack of financial resources or campus support for sustainability initiatives.  Over the course of the two day workshop, Dr. Barlett created a space for participants to learn not only about her successes and struggles with the Piedmont Project, but also to learn with and from each other when it comes to strategies for integrating sustainability into their campuses' diverse course offerings and convening faculty summits to help accelerate this process across campus.

The workshop began with introductions to several concepts related to environmental, social and economic sustainability, including several definitions, teaching using the campus as a learning laboratory, the impacts of unsustainable growth on public health, nine ways to change a course, and more.  In some ways Day 1 was framed as an example of what a faculty summit might look like on a participant's campus.  Day 1 ended with individual reflection and then a group reception in Agnes Scott College's LEED certified Alumnae House.  Day 2 focused in on the Piedmont Project model itself, with an overview of the model including tips for success and several exercises aimed at developing learning outcomes and strategies for infusing sustainability across the curriculum campus-wide.

Feedback received from workshop participants was overwhelmingly positive.  Here is a sampling of the anonymous feedback we received:

"We do not have a sustainability program yet.  I feel that insights gained here will help me jump-start a program and perhaps avoid some potential pitfalls.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to have participated."

"Initially I perceived my role as an educator looking for tools to improve my course.  Now I perceive my role as an agent of change."

"I feel inspired and empowered to now spearhead a sustainability workshop at my college."

We look forward to following up with everyone who attended in the years to come to see how this event helped them to catalyze a movement for sustainability across the curriculum on their campuses and how National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology program can continue to support their work!