Education for Action in the Age of Climate Change
How Higher Education Can Lead Restoration -- In and Out of the Classroom
PRE-CONFERENCE INTENSIVE
Education for Action in the Age of Climate Change: How Higher Education Can Lead Restoration In and Out of the Classroom
Embassy Suite Hotel - Ballroom
Thursday, October 15, 2009
9:00am – 5:30pm
Cost: $150 members / $175 non-members
(Limited scholarships available)
Join three champion organizations in the realm of sustainability higher education for this landmark gathering:
- Second Nature, which has worked at more than 500 colleges and universities to help make sustainability fundamental to every aspect of higher education
- California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC), which unites students, campuses, and campaigns across California to transform the state's educational systems into models of sustainability
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future
Thursday, October 15, 2009 |
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Plenary Sessions
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Host/MC: Julian Keniry, Senior Director of Campus and Community Leadership at the National Wildlife Federation The forthcoming sessions frame the gravity and urgency of the challenges we face and ask us to face some tough questions as university stakeholders -- setting the stage for the afternoon's brainstorming sessions. DAVID ORREco-literacy pioneer; Senior Adviser to the President, Oberlin; author of Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse JESSY TOLKAN Executive Director for the Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of 50 leading youth organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada ANTHONY CORTESE Founder and president of Second Nature KARI FULTON National Campus Campaign Coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative JAMES BUIZER Global leader in climate change science; Science Policy Advisor to the President, ASU, and Executive Director for Strategic Institutional Advancement, Office of the President |
11:00am – 11:15am |
COFFEE BREAK |
Morning Plenary Panel
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This panel will showcase groundbreaking, game-changing, transformative solutions emerging in a university setting that can help us deal with the enormous collective challenges we face as a society. CRYSTAL DURHAM MICHELLE DYER LARRY EISENBERG MATTHEW ST. CLAIR |
12:30pm - 2:00pm
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LUNCH |
Breakout Sessions
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Four simultaneous, separate groups will each tackle a distinct thematic area. These highly participatory sessions will allow us to discuss existing solutions, promising models, and new ideas for meeting our challenges in more depth.
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A Report Back
3:30pm - 3:50pm
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This session involves snapshot summaries of the 4 discussions, with one representative from each of the discussion groups (5 minutes each). |
Peer-to-Peer Sessions
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Break-out sessions -- smaller groups (based on university affiliations: students, staff, faculty, community members, alumni) talk about what we can do in particular roles (as students, as staff, as alumni, as faculty, as administrators) to support the necessary work universities must now undertake. |
5:10pm - 5:30pm
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Closing Comments: Julian Keniry |
Description
As the world faces the rapid onset of escalating climate change and overall ecological and social collapse, what is the most powerfully effective role our institutions of higher learning can play in educating students, society and the world? How can higher education become a singular leader by also applying this knowledge in practical service of making the successful shift to a sustainable civilization?
This one-day intensive is designed for students, faculty, staff, administrators and the general public. It will ask the tough questions that challenge us to rethink the purpose of formal education related to solving the complex problems we face, while demonstrating breakthrough examples of leadership and successful innovations. A blend of presentations and discussion groups, it will offer leading-edge solutions while providing space to connect with others to build ongoing relationships.
The day will begin with a reality check, including climate science, the state of the market economy and “un-discussables” regarding the scale and urgency of addressing climate disruption. It will examine the role higher education has played in producing the knowledge and leaders that have created our unsustainable industrial and social systems, and explore its role in and responsibility for fostering a just, ethical and healthy society.
The day will also probe examples of leadership processes and
innovative strategies in research, teaching and service that are
fostering cross-campus, cross-institution and cross-sector
collaborations to reduce the effects of climate change. From community
college green workforce development programs, to project-based learning
models and community service learning projects, higher education is
melding theory and practice, connecting head, heart and hand in a
culture of collective learning and action.
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