Report Back: University of Buffalo Sustainability Forum
The below guest blog is from Jim Simon, the Associate Environmental Educator in the University at Buffalo's Green Office. As a signatory campus to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, the university held a first of its kind forum to get input from the campus community and brainstorm strategies and plans to become a climate neutral campus. All photos courtesy of Douglas Levere.
As part of its ongoing effort to foster environmental stewardship on campus and achieve climate neutrality, Campus leaders filled the UB Student Union Theatre with over 150 students, faculty and staff interested in establishing campus sustainability priorities as part of the University at Buffalo's first Campus Sustainability Forum on Tuesday, October 21st.
To kick off the half-day event, Bob Shibley, Senior Advisor to the President and chair of the Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) highlighted UB's commitment to environmental stewardship and the importance of the work being done across campus. The ESC, an administrative level group with membership spanning from academics to operations, is responsible for developing UB's plan for climate neutrality. Six sub-committees guide the work of the group:
· Energy
· Transportation
· Information Technology and Human Resources
· Materials
· Research, Teaching and Public service
· Outreach and Communications
A unique addition to the day's events was the use of participant clicker technology to "quiz" participants on
UB's climate impact and gauge interest in the priority issues. One "quiz" question asked about the importance of climate change-45% of respondents believed that climate change is the greatest global challenge of our generation. 31% believed that it is one of our most serious problems (we'll be focusing some of our educational efforts on the other 24% that didn't view it as such a large problem!).
After this introductory session and an environmentally friendly lunch, participants broke into groups based on the committee structure of the ESC. Each group was asked to come back to the large group with three priority issues and did so after an hour of lively discussion and brainstorming.
After returning to the large group, the priority issues from each of the breakout groups were discussed and all participants used the clicker technology to vote for the top priorities going forward-expanding alternative energy purchasing, coordinating UB's transportation system with regional transportation planning efforts and creating an education program for recycling. These priorities are not surprising given that energy and transportation are the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions-both at UB and many other colleges and universities!
The Fall Sustainability Forum introduced the Environmental Stewardship Committee to the campus and generated a list of priorities for future action. Another forum will be held in the spring to highlight and review the campus approach based on the adjustments and suggestions made at the first forum. By September 2009, UB, like hundreds of other colleges across the country, will have to submit a plan for climate neutrality, paving the way for measurable change. UB's climate change planning efforts have been successful so far and can be easily replicable at other campuses. If you have any questions about our process, please feel free to contact me at jrsimon@buffalo.edu.
To kick off the half-day event, Bob Shibley, Senior Advisor to the President and chair of the Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) highlighted UB's commitment to environmental stewardship and the importance of the work being done across campus. The ESC, an administrative level group with membership spanning from academics to operations, is responsible for developing UB's plan for climate neutrality. Six sub-committees guide the work of the group:
· Energy
· Transportation
· Information Technology and Human Resources
· Materials
· Research, Teaching and Public service
· Outreach and Communications
A unique addition to the day's events was the use of participant clicker technology to "quiz" participants on UB's climate impact and gauge interest in the priority issues. One "quiz" question asked about the importance of climate change-45% of respondents believed that climate change is the greatest global challenge of our generation. 31% believed that it is one of our most serious problems (we'll be focusing some of our educational efforts on the other 24% that didn't view it as such a large problem!).
After this introductory session and an environmentally friendly lunch, participants broke into groups based on the committee structure of the ESC. Each group was asked to come back to the large group with three priority issues and did so after an hour of lively discussion and brainstorming.
After returning to the large group, the priority issues from each of the breakout groups were discussed and all participants used the clicker technology to vote for the top priorities going forward-expanding alternative energy purchasing, coordinating UB's transportation system with regional transportation planning efforts and creating an education program for recycling. These priorities are not surprising given that energy and transportation are the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions-both at UB and many other colleges and universities!
The Fall Sustainability Forum introduced the Environmental Stewardship Committee to the campus and generated a list of priorities for future action. Another forum will be held in the spring to highlight and review the campus approach based on the adjustments and suggestions made at the first forum. By September 2009, UB, like hundreds of other colleges across the country, will have to submit a plan for climate neutrality, paving the way for measurable change. UB's climate change planning efforts have been successful so far and can be easily replicable at other campuses. If you have any questions about our process, please feel free to contact me at jrsimon@buffalo.edu.
