Campus Sustainability Day

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:47:18 -0400
community-engagement, events

Today we celebrate the 9th annual Campus Sustainability Day (CSD). Since 2003, CSD has been a time to acknowledge the success of the sustainability movement in higher education. It is also an opportunity to bring different groups on campus together for a united purpose. CSD events and celebrations can be a catalyst for collaborations on campus and help create the combined energy needed to advance sustainability in higher education.

Campus Sustainability Day is a project of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), a consortium of about a dozen higher education associations, listed below. Previously, CSD was hosted by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), a HEASC member. With HEASC as host, CSD can achieve a broad reach into all sectors of higher education.

Campus Sustainability Day is a great opportunity to highlight the accomplishments that staff, faculty and students have achieved on campus and with their communities. It is also a time to announce or start new initiatives and create cross campus partnerships.

This year a working group led by HEASC created a place online where everyone could go to announce the events their campus has planned as well as see which events other campuses have planned that celebrate CSD. See http://www.aashe.org/campus-sustainability-day. The working group included participation from Second Nature, U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools, and NWF’s Campus Ecology Program.

Currently, the CSD list of events shows over 70 events that celebrate Campus Sustainability Day! This is a great accomplishment for all the working group participants and all the campuses and organizations that have shared their planned events.

In addition, today many campuses are participating in Campus Conversations: A Useful Education: Sustainability in Admissions, Retention, and Educational Value, a webcast that will engage the audience in conversation, and inquiry into the concept of sustainability as a core facet of a useful education. Participants will have an opportunity to share opinions and insights, and see feedback from across the country through an interactive dialogue with video responses from students, faculty and staff, and admissions staff.

HEASC Members are:
• American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
• American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU)
• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
• ACPA-College Student Educators International (ACPA)
• Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA)
• Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU)
• National Association of College & University Business Officers (NACUBO)
• National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP)
• National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities (NAICU)
• National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA)
• Society for College & University Planning (SCUP)