Meeting to help plan the future of sustainability curriculum at Western

Since the Sustainability Academy formed in 2009 at Western Washington University, much has changed. The campus now has a course offering in sustainability literacy that introduces first- and second-year students to the multidisciplinary aspects of systems and integrative thinking. In addition, Provost Catherine Riordan has committed funds to furthering development of ideas. But more is happening.

A meeting May 20 will explain the academy's process since 2009 and allow attendees to report their own contributions to sustainability on campus and in the community, followed by a brainstorming session about moving forward.

The two-hour session will follow this agenda:

• 3 to 3:15 p.m. - Introduction and overview
• 3:15 to 4 p.m. - Break-out sessions
  • Emerging opportunities
  • Progress with literacy and curricular efforts
  • Applied project efforts
  • The future of sustainability at WWU
• 4:05 to 4:45 p.m. - Reports from break-out sessions (roughly 7 to 10 minutes per group)
• 4:45 to 5 p.m. - Next steps

Please contact grace.wang@wwu.edu by May 14 if you’d like to register or if you are unable to attend, but are still interested.

The Sustainability Academy Steering Committee comprises Gary Bornzin , Nicole Brown, Craig Dunn, Rebekah Green, James Loucky, Lauren McClanahan, Gene Myers, Victor Nolet, Grace Wang and Nicholas Zaferatos.

WWU’s Sustainability Academy is an informal association of faculty and staff interested in furthering sustainability studies at WWU. This invitation has been sent to all faculty who self-identified as having interest in sustainability issues on campus and beyond.