By Jeff Julian, Director of Communications and External Relations and Sustainability Initiatives Committee Member, Joliet Junior College

Less than one-third of the 645 colleges and universities that have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) are two-year institutions. It is an interesting number when you consider that according to the American Association of Community Colleges, the nation’s 1,173 two-year community and technical colleges enroll more than 11 million students annually.

One can only speculate as to the reasons why other two-year schools haven’t become signatories. Before Joliet Junior College (JJC) signed on, our college leaders discussed many issues, including the benefits and obligations of the commitment, the economic impact in light of uncertain funding sources, and the role climate change and sustainability will play in future institutional planning.

In the end, college leaders supported the ACUPCC, which is in line with the institution’s current commitment to sustainable practices and recognizes the past work in this area by the college community. For Joliet Junior College, joining the climate commitment wasn’t the beginning; it was a reaffirmation of a responsibility to the environment that students, faculty, staff and alumni have pledged for many decades. From prairie restoration grants to energy usage audits to incorporating LEED in master planning, JJC has always been a good steward of its resources as is the case at many two-year institutions.

When JJC President Gena Proulx signed the commitment in 2009, she wrote, “By signing this commitment, college presidents do more than just bring sustainability issues to the forefront of the campus discussion. They also guide their institutions as they join a group of leaders united in their commitment to minimize the effects of climate change while educating and training the workforce to help achieve this.”

When it comes to climate change and sustainability issues facing our nation and our world, the evidence continues to suggest that our time to make effective and lasting changes is limited. Two-year institutions will play an important role because they are largely responsible for educating and training the nation’s workforce, including those who will be employed in green collar jobs.

Though making a commitment of this magnitude is never easy, America’s community college presidents have 11 million reasons to consider signing the ACUPCC.

By Sally DeLeon, Research Fellow, Rocky Mountain Institute Built Environment Team

In early June, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and AASHE convened a collaborative workshop in Denver, Colorado where twelve schools and external experts worked together to address common obstacles to campus climate-change mitigation. With generous support from an anonymous funder, the event brought together facilities personnel, sustainability staff, students, administrators and faculty from a diverse group of selected colleges and universities with technical-subject experts from RMI, VerdeCapital, LLC, Burns and McDonnell and experienced program directors from AASHE, Second Nature, and National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program.

The central purpose of the workshop was to collaboratively brainstorm realistic solutions to typical problems that come up in the course of campus climate action planning and implementation. The ideas generated through this process will be incorporated into a web-based practical research report,Accelerating Campus Climate-Change Initiatives, that RMI and AASHE will release later this summer. Some of the major topics of discussion at the workshop were: the need for more pervasive energy-end-use metering and related educational opportunities; steps to build the case for non-financial benefits of green buildings and campus renewable energy systems; and organizational structures to support campus-community collaboration on climate change mitigation.

Following the workshop, each of the participating campus teams continued to work on refining their ideas for a model campus climate project that they would propose to RMI at the end of June. The group of twelve includes four public universities (Colorado State University, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Missouri, and University of Vermont), five private colleges and universities (Furman University, Luther College, Tufts University, Unity College, and Yale University) and three publically funded community colleges and technical schools (Harford Community College, Lakeshore Technical College, and Richland College). Both the workshop and the resulting project discussions emphasized the unique needs of each of type of institution as well as opportunities that schools have in common for collaborating, such as regional climate action planning networks.

With some advisory input from experts at the workshop, each school’s team has designed a project that will either make a significant reduction in their campus greenhouse gas emissions, measurably address a significant barrier to campus climate action, or both. Projects range from solar thermal installations with real-time energy kiosks to revolving loan funds for student-driven energy efficiency and conservation measures. RMI’s anonymous funder is enthusiastic about supporting these projects with seed funding and will work with the campuses during the 2009-2010 academic year to learn and disseminate information from the project implementation process.

In the quest to achieve sustainability it is often the most easily-quantifiable of the three pillars of sustainability, those of economic vitality and environmental health and protection, which are invested in on campuses. And initiatives like campus solar installations, fleet changes, and LEED certified buildings are certainly critical components of a sustainable campus. But what about the third pillar, that of social justice? While many of the energy efficiencies and upgrades undoubtedly produce social benefits, they tend to be fortunate side effects rather than the initial goals. Fair trade purchasing, on the other hand, clearly addresses the social justice pillar by ensuring that farmers and craftspeople receive a fair price for their goods.

The Fair Trade Practices & Policies resource will be useful for campuses looking to realize social sustainability goals. There is much to be learned from the large variety in the venues campuses have chosen for promoting and selling fair trade products and in the kinds of goods that can be certified fair trade. Though coffee is by far the most common “fairly-traded” product, some campuses have expanded their offerings to include fair trade tea, bananas, sugar, chocolate, crafts, and even ice cream. Additionally, fairly traded products are often produced with environmental sustainability in mind – many fair trade coffee brands, for example, offer organic and shade grown varieties, thereby reducing dangerous chemical use and deforestation threats –and are economically sustainable for the famers and craftspeople, ensuring a fair selling price, and for the end users, by ensuring an ongoing source for those products.

Fair trade offerings should be a widely-available staple on college and university campuses looking to achieve sustainability and do their part for social justice, and we hope this resource will help you achieve that goal.
 

Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has passed, there are many opportunites for two-year funding and awards for a variety of special projects.

I recently had a question from an AASHE member instution regarding what fellow campuses were doing with the federal economic stimulus money in regards to energy efficency upgrades. In particular the member asked, "What we could really use is a list of energy saving projects that other campuses are going to fund with stimulus money. We are having trouble coming up with ideas because we have been proactive over the years. We really have taken care of most of the low hanging fruit. We need ideas!"

Some campuses have set up websites (see Harvard and Kansas State University as examples) that outline plans and gives information regarding the money and the different areas it will fund.

But, I want to ask you, readers of the this blog and others, what plans does your campus have? Post up!

Robert Provine, professor of psychology, was quoted in media across the globe recently regarding a new study on the evolution of laughter in apes.

Provine, an expert on and an international expert on the neuroscience of laughter, yawning and other contagious behaviors, has long studied the distinctive, panting laughter made by apes and other primates when they are tickled.

He was quoted in print and online media across the US and Europe regarding a new study led by Marina Davila Ross, a primatologist at the University of Portsmouth, UK. Davila Ross and her colleagues tickled juvenile apes and human babies, and recorded the sounds produced. The study concluded that the similar sound patterns due to ticklish laughing in humans and apes are likely based on a common ancestor that lived 10 to 16 million years ago.

"I think that it's about time we get out there, start tickling the dogs and the cats, and the pigs, the rats, as well as the chimpanzees," Provine said in a National Public Radio feature on the research. "I think we'll learn a lot about what we have in common, as well as our differences."

Provine’s thoughts on the study were featured in hundreds of media articles and broadcasts, including, NPR’s "All Things Considered,” the Associated Press, Nature, New Scientist, AAAS Science Now, The Guardian (UK) and Wired.

In an effort to help our members learn from campus sustainability leaders across the globe, AASHE is startingAASHE Bulletin: Global Edition, a semi-annual newsletter that will cover sustainability stories from higher education institutions locatedoutsideof the U.S. and Canada. This new publication will supplement our weeklyAASHE Bulletin, which focuses on campus sustainability in the US and Canada.

We are inviting press release and news article suggestions for inclusion in the first issue, which we hope to release this summer. Topics will include green buildings; climate and energy initiatives, new educational programs, waste reduction efforts, and more. To submit an item for consideration, email a hyperlink to the news story or press release that is posted online to bulletin@aashe.org with the subject line, "global edition." The deadline for submissions for the first issue is July 15, 2009.

**
AASHE Bulletin: Global Edition Submission Guidelines**

• We will only include items that take place outside of the U.S. and or Canada. We cover stories from within U.S. and Canada in the regularAASHE Bulletin, which is produced weekly.
• Submitted items must be directly relevant to the campus sustainability community. We are unable to post general sustainability items.
• Submitted items must be in English.
• Press releases and news stories must have a 2009 publication date.
• Items may be submitted by members and non-members alike.
• We generally focus on news items that announce new efforts rather than coverage of ongoing initiatives. For instance, the receipt of LEED certification on a new building would fit, but a general article about a campus' green building efforts would not.
• AASHE Bulletin: Global Editionwill include news stories and press releases from the previous six months.
• Awards: Only those with a national or international scope will be included.
• New buildings: We will include either the completion/dedication of a green building OR the receipt of LEED certification/other formal green building award (but not both).
• Dorm competitions: We only include dorm v. dorm energy/water competitions once they have been completed.
• We cannot include stories on educational events that take place on and within a single institution.
• We cannot include stories on the participation of an individual campus in national or world-wide sustainability events that include multiple campuses (such as Earth Hour and Campus Sustainability Day). Instead, we generally post one story on the entire event. For an example, please see our coverage of Campus Sustainability Day. 

For ideas on the types of items we will include, please visit the AASHE Bulletin Archives.
 

Two impressive milestones occurred at the end of the 2008-2009 academic year – Arizona State University graduated its first class of students from the nation's first degree-granting sustainability school, and Prescott College graduated its first set of Ph.D.'s in Sustainability Education. It's so inspiring to see students graduate well equipped to help create the change needed to steer the world in the right direction – not that sustainability program graduates alone will be able to accomplish this. My hope is that graduates from programs that specialize in sustainability will then spread their knowledge to others, teaching their fellow professors how to integrate sustainability into their courses and leading a community and its individual members into a sustainable future.

These graduations certainly represent the beginning of a greater knowledge of sustainability principles and practices, and students will continue to graduate in the many sustainability-focused programs available. But where will we go next? If we tread carefully, we should be able to make sustainability a common theme in every course that students take. We need to teach students to always consider the externalities of their decisions and to plan for the future rather than for their day to day needs.

Sustainability program grads, sustainability professionals, and youth that will someday have a greater understanding of the principles of sustainability – we're looking to you to lead us to the day when we will all realize the consequences of our actions and will be willing to modify them for the prosperity of our successors.

-Andrea Webster,Publications and Education Coordinator