- This event has passed, but see resources and materials from the retreat at bottom of page. Contact Cindy Thomashow at cindy@aashe.org for more information.

AASHE and the Arbor Day Foundation co-hosted this event, one of the first of its kind designed for and by staff charged with leading institutional transformation for sustainability. The retreat format allowed for the type of creative, intellectually curious, open-ended discussion that emerges best in a relaxed, safe environment.

Through an intensive weekend of presentations, discussions, reflection, sharing, and experiential learning activities, thirty participants explored common issues facing sustainability officers, learned about change management strategies, and developed skills to be more effective sustainability leaders. They came away inspired, renewed, and equipped to grow in their work.

Lied Lodge

The Retreat was held at the Arbor Day Foundation's Lied Lodge & Conference Center, Nebraska City, NE. Activities began Friday, July 15, at 4 pm and ended Sunday, July 17, 2:30 pm. Registration for the 3-day program was $200 ($150 for AASHE members), thanks to generous support from business sponsors Domtar, PortionPac, and Toyota. The fee covered accommodations, meals, and shuttle transportation to and from the Omaha airport.

Organizers, Facilitators, and Contributing Experts*

• Leith Sharp, Consultant, and Former Sustainability Director at Harvard (Invited Expert)
• Jeremy Friedman, Manager, Sustainability Initiatives, New York University
• Aurora Winslade, Sustainability Director, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Judy Walton, Membership and Outreach Director, AASHE
• Mary Widhelm, Program Manager, Arbor Day Foundation

*Click on a name to see a bio.

Participants

• Download the list of participants, affiliations, and bios

Follow-up Resources and Other Materials

Strategic Change Management
- Leadership and Power (ppt)
- Change and Tension (ppt)
- Resources for Campus Sustainability Officers
- Burn-out Rating Scale (from ACLU)
- Awakening, Pioneering, Transforming (pdf)
- Systems Leadership: Understanding Organizational Change (pdf)
- Pathways to Sustainability (pdf)

Social Technologies
- Who's in the Room? (doc)
- Action Learning Sets (doc)
- Open Space Technology (doc)
- Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Approach to Building Cooperative Capacity, Barrett & Fry, Taos Institute, 2005
- Action Learning: Its Origins and Nature, in Action Learning in Practice, Ed. Mike Pedler. UK: Gower Publishing. (1997)
- Mapping Dialogue, Bojer et. al., Taos Institute Publications, 2008
- Encyclopedia of Positive Questions, Whitney et. al., Lakeshore Communications, 2002
- The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter, Juanita Brown et. al., Berrett-Kohler, 2005
- Consensus -Oriented Decision-Making, Hartnett, New Society Publishers, 2010
- Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, Kaner et. al., John Wiley & Sons, 2007
- Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion, Rosenberg, Puddledancer Press, 2001.

Tree Campus USA Materials
- Service Learning Examples (pdf)
- Outdoor Space (pdf)
- Filters of Impact (pdf)
- Filters of Impact for Sustainability (pdf)
- Tree Campus USA - example tree care plans can be found under “Standard 2” of the Standards link.
- Information about i-Tree Tool - tree-benefits calculator for your campus inventories
- National Tree Benefits Calculator
- Comparison of Tree Inventory Tools
- List of State Urban and Community Forestry Coordinators - these individuals review and approve Tree Campus USA applications at the state level. They can recommend grants, tree-inventories, species to plant, etc.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!!

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