Global ChangeIntersection of Nature and Culture

This week’s good ideas in campus sustainability: 10/26/09

Monday, October 26th, 2009

This is the first post of a new feature at globalchangeblog.com.  The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) publishes a weekly bulletin listing many of the things that campuses across the country (and Canada) are doing to become more sustainable.

Each week, I will pull a few of the best examples of interesting projects and weave them into a broader discussion about sustainability.

This week’s featured projects:

(1) Aspen Institute Beyond Gray Pinstripes Green MBA Ranking

• As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s time for higher education to start thinking about what it means to train people to be successful in a world that is ecologically unsustainable and socially unjust.  If we expect the world to change, part of what we need to do is to start producing leaders who can help drive that change.  This project ranks business schools according to how well they are achieving these goals.

In the words of the Aspen Institute, “While many MBA rankings exist, only one looks beyond reputation and test scores to measure something much more important: how well schools are preparing their students for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.”

(2) University of Missouri, Columbia begins peer-to-peer sustainability outreach program.

• It’s one thing for colleges to get committed to sustainability, but these kinds of commitments reach a whole new level once students buy in and take some ownership in the process, turning what is often a top-down process into a bottom-up community driven effort.

(3) Antioch New England reduces energy by 19% since 2007

• 657 schools have signed the President’s Climate Commitment, an effort to move campuses towards carbon neutrality.  As most of us who are working on these projects knows, it’s hard to turn the corner and get our institutions on an emission reduction path.  It’s impressive when schools are already making significant, meaningful reductions.

(4) U Illinois to Offer Grad Option in Energy & Sustainability Engineering

and College of the Desert to Train Students for Solar Farms

• Environmental Studies students are excited about green jobs.  Efforts by universities to develop innovative ways of training students for the future are exciting.

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For more information:

• AASHE bulletin 10/26/09