Sustainability in Higher Education: The Next Frontier

Posted by on January 23, 2012

Sustainability in Higher Education: The Next Frontier

West Chester University

Public Talk & Curriculum Integration Workshop
with Dr. Peter Bardaglio

Description:

Thursday, February 9th
7:00 pm Free Public Talk by Dr. Peter Bardaglio
“Leadership by Example: Campus-Community Collaboration on Sustainability and Climate Protection”
Gates Recital Hall-Swope Music Building
8:30 pm – Dessert Reception
(more details below)

Friday, February 10th
9:00 am – 4:00 PM Regional Higher Education Faculty Workshop
“Engaging Students by Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum”
Philips Autograph Library – Breakfast & Lunch Included
Registration Required: $50 (Free for WCU Faculty)

Register Now!
http://www.wcupa.edu/sustainability/events.asp

Why participate?
– Learn from an international scholar and sustainability leader
– Enrich your students’ understanding by incorporating Thursday evening’s public talk into your Spring 2012 course syllabi
– Hear what colleagues are doing at WCU and in the region
– Spend a full day collaborating and developing ideas for the courses you teach
– Enjoy a dessert reception, breakfast, lunch, and post-workshop socializing!

Dr. Peter Bardaglio is the co-author of Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change (2009) and coordinator of the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI), a multi-sector effort in the Ithaca, NY area to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Dr. Bardaglio is a member of the Senior Council of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and a Senior Advisor to Second Nature. He is also the former Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Ithaca College, where he helped launch the college’s nationally recognized sustainability initiative.

Leadership by Example: Campus-Community Collaboration on Sustainability & Climate Protection
Thursday, February 9th
7:00pm Free Public Talk by Dr. Peter Bardaglio
West Chester University

Learn about the Tompkins County (NY) Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI) and how it might serve as a model of campus-community collaboration in our own region.

Dr. Bardaglio writes that “Embedded in the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) is the notion of leadership by example. By committing their institutions to the goal of carbon neutrality, the presidents who are signatories to the ACUPCC underscore the critical role of higher education in meeting the challenge of climate change and building a more sustainable future.

Universities and colleges in the United States have historically been crucibles of social change and laboratories for new ideas and creative solutions to some of society’s toughest problems. In this sense, the ACUPCC is part of a long tradition in our country. What is new, however, is the scale of the problem and the threat it poses to human civilization. Simply providing a model of sustainability will not suffice this time around. Campuses can only truly become sustainable if the communities around them are sustainable. In this sense, implicit in the ACUPCC is the commitment to not only dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the university or college, but also collaborate with the larger community in doing so.”

Read more here: http://secondnaturebos.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/leadership-by-example-campus-community-collaboration-on-climate-protection/

This public talk is appropriate for all campus and community members who are concerned about climate change and who want to learn how to be involved in creating local and regional solutions.

Gates Recital Hall – Swope Music Building & Performing Arts Center
817 South High Street, West Chester, PA 19383

Campus Map: http://www.wcupa.edu/campusmap/

8:30 pm – Dessert Reception

The Workshop is made possible in part by a WCU Pedagogy for Engagement Grant and is co-sponsored by WCU’s Office of Sustainability, the Joint Sustainability Task, Group, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC).  These events are intended to help WCU meet its commitment to make climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experience for all students.  Learn more about the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment here: http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/

For updates and more information, visit the Event Page
http://www.wcupa.edu/sustainability/events.asp