This content was published: October 15, 2007. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC hosts Sustainability Day V
Photos and story by Heidi Edwards
The PCC Sustainability Initiative is hosting a special webcast presentation on “Building a Durable Future: Community, the Campus, and Deep Economy.” The webcast is open to students, faculty, and staff – and will begin at 9:00am and run until 10:30am. Stick around after the webcast for discussion about recycling and resource conservation at Sylvania. Coffee and pastries will be provided.
The fifth annual Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) webcast supporting Campus Sustainability Day (CSD) will be held Wednesday, October 24, 2007 in the Sylvania Library room 112.
Presenters:
Norm Christopher, director of sustainability, Grand Valley State University
Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Debra Rowe, president, US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development; co-chair, Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium; senior advisor, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education; and senior fellow, Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future
Moderator:
Terry Calhoun, co-founder of Campus Sustainability Day, Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
Could moving away from a national economy focused on unfettered growth toward local, deep economies provide a lasting and positive impact on our environment?
Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben will address how economics may be the key to a more sustainable future and the role colleges and universities can play to support deep economies.
In 1989, with the publication of his seminal work, The End of Nature, Bill McKibben was our early warning alert for the now widely-recognized problem of human-driven climate change. SCUP’s webcast will, however, accentuate the positive, as does McKibben in his latest book (2007), Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. McKibben’s challenge is clear: “The time has come to move beyond ‘growth’ as the paramount economic ideal and begin pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with cities, suburbs, and regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment.” McKibben will explain how college and university campuses must be key players in a deep economy.
Norm Christopher will describe Grand Valley State University’s unique leadership position in western mid-Michigan’s Community Sustainability Partnership, a coalition of more than 100 regional entities, including the City of Grand Rapids, Aquinas College, and Grand Rapids Community College, as viewed through the lens of Deep Economy.
Debra Rowe will discuss the overall picture of higher education sustainability and provide some vignettes about campus-based work benefitting local communities and economies from a wide range of institutions and areas.
For more information email alliyah.mirza@pcc.edu or call 503-977-8581.