Higher Education
Higher Education Associations’ Sustainability Consortium (HEASC)
Updates from HEASC
ACUPCC Update
The ACUPCC continues to grow; currently, we stand at 558 institutions! The ACUPCC now represents more than 4.5 million students in all 50 Statesand the District of Columbia!
The ACUPCC recently completed its 2008 Climate Leadership Summit in Grand Rapids, MI. About 150 representatives of the ACUPCC institutions, potential signatory institutions, and partner organizations convened for this two-day event. Participants heard from inspirational speakers such as Ray Anderson, Founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., T. M. Franklin Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines Iowa, and Peter Wege, Founder of The Wege Foundation. They also engaged in panel sessions featuring signatories to the ACUPCC in an effort to share success stories and learn from each other's challenges. Follow
the links below to watch videos of Ray Anderson’s keynote and some of the sessions, as well as listen to interviews from some attendees talking about why they signed and what they’ve done on campus since signing. Thanks to Grand Rapids Community College for volunteering to film the panel sessions and for posting them to YouTube!
Video: Presidents Climate Commitment Leadership Summit
http://www.aashe.net/blog/posts-by/niles/pcc-leadership-summit-live-video-presentations
PCC Summit: Presidential Voices Project
http://www.aashe.net/blog/posts-by/niles/pcc-summit-live-presidential-voices-project
AASHE Releases Annual Review of Sustainability in Higher Education
A new publication from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) documents the continued growth in campus sustainability efforts across the US and Canada.
AASHE Digest 2007 offers a comprehensive review of campus sustainability efforts from 2007. The 230-page report includes over 800 stories about higher education institutions leading the way to a sustainable future. It is organized into 24 chapters spanning education, research, campus operations, administration, and finance.
"By any yardstick, sustainability in higher education hit new milestones of success in 2007," said Judy Walton, AASHE's Executive Director. "We hope that the stories in the Digest inspire others and catalyze even greater accomplishments in 2008."
The Digest offers ample evidence of a broadening and deepening of campus sustainability efforts, with more institutions of all types getting involved and campuses undertaking more significant measures than ever before to improve their sustainability performance. Of particular note is the fact that over the course of 2007, 452 presidents and chancellors committed to climate neutrality by signing the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment and at least 35 other colleges and universities announced their own climate commitments and energy conservation plans
Digest stories also document the emergence of ranking and rating systems that compare campuses on sustainability criteria. There were at least six separate attempts to evaluate campus sustainability performance in 2007, ranging from the Sustainable Endowments Institute's College Sustainability Report Card to Grist magazine's "15 Green Colleges and Universities." AASHE entered the field as well with the release of the first draft of its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).
AASHE Digest is comprised of news stories and resources from AASHE's weekly newsletter, AASHE Bulletin. http://www.aashe.org/highlights/digest07.php
Call for Papers on Climate Action Planning and the ACUPCC
The International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education and AASHE have issued a call for papers for a special issue of the Journal on climate action planning at campuses in the United States. This is an excellent opportunity for ACUPCC institutions to highlight their plans and activities to date – a great way to bring positive attention to your efforts, and the initiative as a whole. The issue will be published in January 2009, and the closing date for submissions is August 29, 2008. More information http://www.aashe.org/highlights/ijshe.php
Special Report: The greening of universities
Higher education institutions and researchers are making major contributions to advancing knowledge on local, national and global environmental and sustainability issues. But how ‘green’ are universities themselves? Read the complete article http://www.universityworldnews.com/
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Related Files
HEASC Statement of Shared Principles & Activities (Adobe PDF File)
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