Our University has a diverse and pretty enthusiastic group of people interested in the development of a Sustainable Culture Program. I'm openly hunting for ideas about how to start at the University level. What are the best ways to engage the campus community?
Pretty open ended I know, but I have to start somewhere, right....
Dan Stevenson
Assistant Director - Facilities Services
Montana State University
United States
Getting Started......Ideas?
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Hi Dan,
Great news! Few tips, and pardon if they are nothing new to you, but they are some best practices I've experienced:
1) Establish a staff level and student level group with liasons... In educational institutions, a lot can get lost in the in-betweens, so having students, faculty, staff, and admin who are either interested, or in your case, whose involvement is crucial to make any changes, all involved in really important. Let the whole campus know these groups exist and what their goals are - then they are held accountable.
2) Here at the University of MN, I see their sustainability work broadly as two-fold: 1) facilities and industry level -- this is where they have achieved incredible savings, 2) campus cultural -- via student, staff, faculty initiatives. These add up to small measures, but the true impact is educational and cultural. I'd be happy to put you in touch with some of the folks here leading these efforts.
3) Partner-up: 1) Talk with other universities in Montana - it's surprising how localized some initiatives can be. Reach out to public and private to gather ideas of what's been working among other Montana institutions. 2) Get serious with your utility about changes you want to make and how they can help you. They have a huge incentive to help bigger institutions - because building new generators is very expensive.
Last bit, in terms of sustainable culture, I'd recommend a new book, "The Nature of College" which explores the concept of campus ecology and how the student experience is both a challenge and an opportunity for developing sustainable habits and practices. It's new out of milkweed publications, by James Farrell
Good luck in your endeavors!
Michelle
Michelle Vigen
Campaign and Metrics Coordinator
Clean Energy Resource Teams (University of MN Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships)
http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org