Penn State U Students Initiate Community Projects
Projects selected through the university's Sustainable Communities Collaborative include an exploration of net-zero energy strategies from an engineering and a human resources perspective, stormwater mitigation tools for residential neighborhoods, composting evaluation and marketing studies, communication strategies to increase participation in recycling, and marketing strategies for a farmer’s market. Sustainable Communities partnerships are formed through agreements developed between local governments and the university's Sustainability Institute to link community-based sustainability projects with existing courses across the university.
Carnegie Foundation Designates 'Community Engagement' Schools
(U.S.): The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected 240 U.S. colleges and universities to receive its 2015 Community Engagement Classification. Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. Of this number, 83 institutions are receiving the classification for the first time, while 157 are now re-classified. These 240 institutions join the 121 institutions that earned the classification during the 2010 selection process.
Eastern Connecticut State U Partners to Offer Solar to Community
In an effort to make solar affordable and accessible, the university recently brought the Solar U program online. Part of the Solarize Connecticut program, Solar U offers faculty, staff and students' families the opportunity to compare online competitive bids from pre-screened installers of solar energy systems.
Delta College Offers Urban Gardening Class to Community
The college recently introduced the new series about practical and easy-on-the-earth methods of modern day urban agriculture including six topics: soil health and amendments, starting seeds and companion plants, growing in small spaces, raising chickens, building farm equipment, and sharing goods.
U Colorado Boulder Salvages Computers for Low Income Communities
The university's Computers for Youth program, now ongoing and year-round, provides middle and high school students from low-income communities around Colorado with upgraded computers and basic computing programs. Surplus computer equipment is gathered, tested and re-furbished to original specifications and loaded with the latest software to assist students' academic achievement.
Emory U Students Combat Community Food Insecurity
After nearly two years of planning, students from the newly formed Campus Kitchens Project, a Washington, D.C.-based community service program, recover food from university dining venues that otherwise would be wasted and prepare and deliver meals to several community organizations fighting hunger.
U California Santa Cruz Hosts Land Management Program
A collaboration between the university arboretum and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the relearning program taught the importance of traditional resource management and uses of native plants to Tribal members and the public.
Clarkson U Partners on Electricity Reliability and Resiliency
(U.S.): Funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Energy Department's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and $300,000 from General Electric, the newly formed partnership will conduct research and implement solutions to improve the reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York.
Black Hills State U Requires Projects for Scholarships
A recent $1 million gift will enable the university's Make a Difference Initiative, which requires scholarship recipients, in exchange for scholarship funding, to lead sustainable community projects designed to make a difference in the lives of others.
Indiana State U Hosts Community Sustainability Poster Competition
In an effort to encourage sustainability within the community, the university recently announced the Terre Haute Sustainability Championship 2014 in which participating students from kindergarten through college will be given a question related to sustainability that they will have to answer using a poster.
U Bristol Partners for Year as Green Capital 2015
(U.K.): The city in which the university resides is set to become the European Green Capital 2015, and as such, the university has committed to ensuring the legacy of the year by aiming to become a net carbon neutral campus by 2030, decreasing the university’s transport footprint, and ensuring that its students have the opportunity to undertake education for sustainable development. The university will host or co-host over 100 public events across the city including major conferences, seminars, debates and art installations.
Colorado State U Donates to Local Food Bank
Landscaped campus beds this year provided vegetables and herbs that were donated to the community in addition to food from the university's community-supplied agriculture horticulture farm.
Loyola U Chicago Promotes Healthy Communities
The university recently collaborated with the City of Chicago, Cook County Department of Public Health, and Great Lakes Centers at the University of Illinois at Chicago to host a multidisciplinary summit to raise awareness about the burdens of unhealthy housing and begin the work of developing a blueprint for the city and county to address indoor environmental toxins, especially as they relate to children.
U Central Oklahoma Partners for Community Sustainability
Overlapping sustainability goals helped form the new partnership between the university and Sustainable Oklahoma City bringing the city's grassroots sustainability campaign under the university's foundation nonprofit umbrella.
Portland State U Hosts Sustainability Accelerator Program
The university's Urban Sustainability Accelerator program is hosting a 2014 cohort of partners, including the University of Minnesota Duluth, New Mexico State University and Auburn University, in a five-day workshop to guide participants through implementation of sustainability projects. The 2014 theme is city-university sustainable redevelopment projects.
Two Universities to Lead U.S. Contribution in Global Initiative
The University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University have been selected as the U.S. hub for Future Earth, an ambitious 10-year research initiative to address global environmental change solutions and actions by linking scientists, decision makers and private sector for change at local and regional levels. Other global hubs are located in Canada, France, Japan and Sweden.
Auburn U Partners on Urban Sustainability
The university and the City of Auburn recently began working to implement a downtown master plan that includes pedestrian safety enhancements, rain gardens, transportation efforts and a feasibility study of daylighting local streams.
AASHE Executive Director Attends MomentUs Leadership Summit
AASHE Executive Director Stephanie A. Herrera attended MomentUs last month to develop actionable solutions to climate change with over 140 other leaders from faith, business, health, higher education and communities. Herrera said, "At AASHE we take the issue of climate change very seriously. We believe the MomentUs initiative is in line with our goals, vision and mission. This is why we provide the inspiration and resources to help create a cleaner, greener and environmentally sustainable transformation, one college campus at a time."
Governors State U Opens Organic Community Garden
The newly opened 52-plot garden gives area residents a chance to use organic methods to grow the vegetables of their choice while building a sense of community with fellow gardeners. A subset of the garden area will be designated for a student food pantry and the on campus childcare facility.
Portland State U Bolsters Community Sustainability Goals
The university's Institute for Sustainable Solutions recently announced the Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative work with three Portland communities to match classes, researchers and interns with neighborhood partners to work on a range of sustainability-related issues, such as district-scale waste reduction, neighborhood livability, energy efficiency and transportation alternatives.
Iowa Lakes CC to Host Wind Company Test Facility
Windtest recently announced that it will house its North American headquarters at the community college's new Sustainable Energy Resource and Technology building. The German company will be a provider for wind energy services, including testing, measuring, and trouble shooting for developers and grid operators.
Indiana U Partners on Public Gardens
The university's Office of Sustainability recently partnered with a nature center and garden to offer gardening workdays to the public for free as part of its Campus Green Initiative, which fosters sustainability through interactive work spaces.
Purdue U Partners with Navy
(U.S.): Researchers at the university are in the early stages of collaborating with the Navy in an effort to help the armed forces shift to alternative sources of energy, specifically liquid transportation fuels.
U Winnipeg Selected for Climate Change Project
The university's Richardson College for the Environment has been selected by Natural Resources Canada to co-ordinate a $500,000, three-year project on climate change called the Prairies Regional Adaptation Collaborative. The collaborative project will focus on agriculture, energy, mining, forestry and water as they relate to climate change.
Georgetown U $5M National Energy Competition Goes Live
The Georgetown University Energy Prize will offer $5 million in 2017 to one eligible community develop and implement plans for replicable, scalable and continual reductions in the per-capita energy consumed from local natural gas and electric utilities.
North Carolina State U Launches Sustainable Business Initiative
The university's Poole College of Management launched the North Carolina Sustainability Connection, which will showcase the innovation and impact of sustainable businesses across North Carolina and to connect entrepreneurs, business people, communities and citizens.
U Utah Offers Community Solar Program
(U.S.): Called U Solar Program, the university is now sponsoring the community solar program, offering a 25 percent discount on installation of rooftop solar panels for students and other university associated residents.
Springfield College Students Clean Local Zoo
As part of a 735-acre city park, the zoo recently hosted students from the college's Project for Sustainability club to volunteer their time with clean-up to prepare it for its opening.
U Maryland Procures Solar Panels Jointly
Partnering with a local renewable energy-based nonprofit, seventeen university faculty and staff have recently signed up for a bulk purchase of photovoltaic panels.
U Maryland to Help Community Overcome Challenges
A new university program to begin in fall of 2014 called Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability will offer students the opportunity to engage with specific sustainability-related community challenges with coursework tailored to reflect those challenges.
Syracuse U Holds Green Chemistry Workshop for Teachers
The recent teacher workshop with labs and hands-on activities targeted 24 area high schools to inspire students to pursue scientific careers and to encourage teachers to purchase more environmentally benign chemicals.
U Maryland Partners for Expansion of Regional Public Transit
The university has partnered with local groups to create the Purple Line Corridor Coalition to tackle the economic and community development challenges and benefits of the first light rail line. The goal of the group is to guide expertise in active planning to ensure that the investment creates vibrant neighborhoods while preserving existing community assets.
Portland State U Tackles Urban Environmental Issues
(U.S.): Now in partnership with The Intertwine Alliance, the university has a paid student internship and a seat at the table with other organizations working together to secure funding, leverage existing investments and engage residents with the outdoors and nature. The Intertwine Alliance is a coalition of more than 100 organizations working to protect and improve the Portland region’s network of outdoor places and trails.
Portland State U Stages Climate Change Storytelling
In an attempt to reach people in a new way on the topic of climate change, the university, along with five community partners, put a human face on climate change by bringing average people to the stage to tell the story about how they became engaged on the topic.
Memorial U Educates Public on Local Food Options
(Canada): The event, Food for Thought, in partnership with the corner grocery store, explored connections between the community and university by focusing on educating shoppers toward sustainable and local food and the university-community connection.
Arizona State U Hosts Emirati Engineers for Solar Program
In an effort to help Dubai meet their 2030 energy strategy, the university will host 15 engineers for a 15-day workshop focused on enhancing their solar energy skills. Three engineers will be shortlisted to attend a six-month academic intensive.
U Utah Exhibits Environmental Art Installation
The soon-to-begin living art gallery about air pollution will feature three artists from Beijing, China who will install the pieces over a three week period encouraging visitors to engage in dialogue and contribute to the art stations.
Green Mountain College Announces Results of Alumni Survey
As a baseline for measuring future progress, preliminary data from 12 questions on a 2012 class survey indicate that 43 percent of graduates spend more than 10 hours per week deliberately enhancing the social fabric of their communities and 72 percent report that their lives reflect the college's environmental mission.
Middlebury College & Orion Magazine Partner for Conference
(U.S.): Growing the college's own environmental writing conference, the college and the magazine are collaborating for The Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers' Conference taking place at Middlebury College from June 9 through 15.
U Vermont Partners on Climate Education
The university's recent memorandum of understanding with the local power utility indicates that the university will have a presence in the power company's Energy Innovation Center and will work collaboratively to advance climate science and understanding of how weather affects energy use.
Portland State U Defends Nature to Washington D.C.
A coalition of partners led by the university conducted briefings about a new set of principles designed to guide more comprehensive assessments of ecosystem services, such as natural watershed management and the multiple benefits of healthy forests and wildlife habitats.
