Related Blog Posts - Community Engagement

AASHE Interview Series: Angela Halfacre, Director of the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability and Professor of Political Science, Furman University

Submitted by Niles Barnes on January 14, 2010 - 4:35pm

This week’s interview is with Angela Halfacre, Director of the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability and Professor of Political Science at Furman University. At Furman, Dr. Halfacre teaches environmental policy and sustainability courses and directs the Shi Center for Sustainability, especially its curricular programs and community based research efforts. In her interview, Dr. Halfacre discusses the many ways she is involved in advancing sustainability on Furman’s campus and surrounding community, advice she has for others in similar positions, and the area she views as having the largest potential for growth in the field.

If you are interested in participating in the AASHE Interview Series or wish to nominate someone to participate please email me. To read past interviews, click here.

AASHE's Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums are here!

Submitted by Seann Sweeney on October 23, 2009 - 11:29am

The AASHE Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums are here!

If you have an interest in joining in on interactive campus sustainability discussions, you will want to visit and participate in the forums. The forums provide a central place where those interested in campus sustainability can ask and answer questions, share knowledge and expertise, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on campus sustainability.

Open Thread on College Sustainability Report Card

Submitted by Niles Barnes on October 7, 2009 - 4:13pm

The Sustainable Endowments Institute released its College Sustainability Report Card today. There often seems to be a desire within the campus sustainability community to discuss the Report Card so please use this space to share your thoughts. How is your campus reacting to the Report Card? Are you able to use the Report Card to advance sustainability on your campus? What do you like about it and what do you dislike about it? Are there things that you'd like to see changed?

STARS 1.0 Early Release has launched!

Submitted by Jillian Buckholz on September 17, 2009 - 6:01pm

Since the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) first called for a campus sustainability rating system in 2006, AASHE has been creating STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, & Rating System, for colleges and universities. After three years of collaboration with numerous higher education professionals, sustainability experts, and professional organizations, AASHE has launched the STARS 1.0 Early Release at the Greening of the Campus VIII: Embracing Change.

Block Grants for Energy Efficiency and Conservation

Submitted by Anonymous on January 2, 2009 - 8:03pm

This is a guest post by Amy Hattan, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Second Nature.

Earlier this year, the ACUPCC supporting orgainzations initiated a new collaboration between The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and the ACUPCC to examine ways to work together cooperatively to advance our shared climate and sustainability goals. The ACUPCC staff are working with USCM leaders and staff to explore ways we can support these shared efforts, including encouraging your mayor or others in your region who may not yet have signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to do so. There is now high likelihood that the new Obama Administration will propose and Congress will enact a national economic recovery plan that will include new federal funding commitments aimed at reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The USCM has made funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program a key element of its MainStreet Economic Recovery Plan. Specifically, the Conference is urging a $5 - $10 billion funding commitment to this program, a USCM-led initiative that was adopted as part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.

New Recognition Program for Campus Trees

Submitted by Laura Matson on November 26, 2008 - 10:09pm

This post was written by Addie Davis, an intern for AASHE's STARS Program

Tree Campus USA, the Arbor Day Foundation's latest addition to a lineup of tree management certification programs including Tree City USA and Tree Line USA, is a great resource for colleges and universities interested in creating a healthy campus tree culture.

Institutions that apply for the certification are expected to exhibit superior campus tree management practices, have a strong commitment to helping local communities foster healthy urban forests, and have an exemplary commitment to and record of engaging their student populations in service learning projects focused on campus, community and forestry efforts.

Van Jones Releases First Book - "The Green Collar Economy"

Submitted by Laura Matson on October 7, 2008 - 2:09am

Green For All founder and AASHE 2008 Conference keynote speaker Van Jones' first book, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems will be released tomorrow, October 7. Green For All organizers are encouraging folks to order the book soon in an effort to make it the first environmental best-seller from an African-American author (!), so please order your copy today!

Corporate Citizenship and Civic Virtue

Submitted by John Johnson on December 24, 2007 - 5:38pm

I've recently finished reading Daniel Kemmis' Community and the Politics of Place. He offers a very good discussion of civic virtue and how our society has wandered away from being an engaged public, promoting, defending and being stewards of the places in which we live. (This whole issue of civic virtue seems to be conspicuously absent from many conversations within the sustainability community - perhaps a topic for another post.) Kemmis writes shortly but effectively about the role of corporations in communities and how we should expect corporations to be good citizens in their communities.

Big Blue Goes Green: U of K Sustainability Showcase

Submitted by Niles Barnes on October 19, 2007 - 3:47pm

This past Wednesday AASHE participated in the first "Sustainability Showcase" at the University of Kentucky. UK, as the flagship public institution in the state is also a recent AASHE member.