Sustainability in the Curriculum:
Fall Line Project V
May 9-10, 2012
What is sustainability:
How do we connect?
Nanette Chadwick
Director of Academic Sustainability Programs
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
“From whence I came….”

History of faculty workshops:
1995 Northern Arizona University – Ponderosa Project (Chase & Rowland)
2001 Emory University – Piedmont Project (Bartlett)
2006 Auburn University – Fall Line Project (Biggs & Williams)
Local names, sense of place
Organizers now trained at >175 institutions in 6 countries
Workshop concepts:
-- Faculty as experts: contribute to each other’s growth and perspectives
-- Gift of stimulation, excitement of getting outside your discipline
-- Unity of personal and professional: connect values & duties
Satisfaction and challenges – what are yours?
-- Enjoyment of group and place, sense of fun in teaching
Achieving sustainability requires major, transformational social and cultural change: Huge, complex problem
But small pieces are manageable
Reasons to hope?

Group introductions
Name
Department/position: From whence do you come?
Sustainability-related issues in your field

University mission: tripartite
Sustainable
University:
4-fold mission
Research/C reative scholarship
Teaching/
Curriculum
Facilities/
Operations
Outreach/
Community

History of sustainability movement and definitions
Origins:
Environmental disasters (DDT, Amazon forest, ozone hole)
Unsustainable global development programs
1987 World Commission on Environment and Development
Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Brundtland
Our Common Future
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
Idea of intergenerational equity: future generations have the same rights as the present ones
1987 Edward Barbier (Economics faculty, U Wyoming)
Triple Bottom Line: Interlinkage of 3 major systems

[your reading has one version of this diagram]
Economic capital = everything produced by individuals, goods & services
Human /social capital = value of each individual as part of society
Natural capital = ecosystem services, natural resources
World Bank requires TBL on all projects
Easiest to teach and understand each system separately
But: Only connected systems lead to sustainable framework
TBL: Core components for courses

1990’s: More accurate view as concentric circles
Social and economic systems exist inside of and depend upon environmental systems

1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio: Earth Summit
Climate change convention, Kyoto Protocol, biodiversity
1998 Alan AtKisson: Sustainability is an ideal end state, like democracy
-- a goal that eludes us, is not perfect
2009 Frank Rhodes (Cornell president):
New foundation for arts and sciences -- broad, cohesive framework
New kind of global map, hope for meeting global challenges
2012 FAO
Ensuring human rights and well-being without depleting or diminishing the capacity of the earth's ecosystems to support life, or at the expense of others well-being
Multi-dimensional concept encompassing environmental integrity, social wellbeing, economic resilience and good governance
Ambitious objective that can be reached through different pathways
>50 definitions to date! Favorites?

9 ways to engage sustainability in courses:
“Not more to do, but ways to do what you already do.”
(1) Hidden curriculum: use as examples/subject matter for class exercises
(2) New readings: update/alter to reflect new, integrated sustainability issues
(3) Change or add assignments – get students outdoors, on-campus field trips, show a film, youtube videos, TED lectures
(4) New unit or module within an existing course – new aspect of subject that relates to sustainability
(5) New student project – relevance to student’s lives, current issues (ie: ecological footprint, behavior change challenge)

(6) Invite a guest speaker/add a co-instructor – don’t try to be the expert on all things sustainable! Invite faculty/staff from outside your department – use resources of the office
(7) Develop a whole new course – put together ideas from several faculty for an interdisciplinary course. Ie: water, food, or energy course that examines ecology, sociology, and politics.
(8) Change the world view of your course: same course, different strategy and goals -- paradigm shift
(9) Engaged learning / community experience: link to a local or campus issue – service learning

Ecological Footprint Exercise: Small group discussions
What major factors contribute to the size of your footprint?
How might they vary with where you have lived?
What barriers prevent you from reducing your footprint?
Are they technological, economic, or behavioral?
Are they within or beyond your control?
What are some barriers to wanting to change?
What is needed to overcome barriers for you and for society?
Anything that surprised you about the results of this exercise?
How might you adapt/vary this type of exercise for your students?
How tailor it to relate to subjects in class?

Systems thinking tools
[these were discussed in Dr. Kensler’s presentation, and also during a group exercise]
Iceberg model [flip chart / handout]
(1) Behavior/Actions
What trends relate to an event or issue?
Behavior over time graphs (BOT)
Example: Walkability of Auburn (flipchart)
(2) Underlying causes
What causal structures explain these trends?
What are the long-term effects of these trends?
Any feedback loops? Positive or negative?
Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD)
(3) Mental models
What beliefs/assumptions/mental models perpetuate these trends?

Small Group Exercise: Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
Identify small groups of 4-6 faculty within major disciplines (45 mins):
(1) 3-5 broad learning outcomes related to sustainability in your fields:
What do students need to know?
What should they be able to do?
(2) Mechanisms to measure outcomes:
How do we know what students have achieved, what they now know and can do?
(3) How to use or disseminate the evidence:
How to use these measures to improve and revise course goals?
[If time] Individual work (10 mins):
Identify 1-2 outcomes in the course you are revising, that will help students achieve broader outcomes determined by the group.
Whole-group reflection: Present SLO’s from each discipline to the group.

Campus resources for course development
Justifying change / reasons to teach sustainability
Nanette Chadwick

Campus resources:
Minor in Sustainability Studies:
Notices to ~50 minor students in >30 majors, about your course
42 currently-approved electives in 24 departments
Your course as an elective, attract students from outside your dept
Guest lectures / activities in your course / departmental seminars http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/undergrad_studies/aca demic_sustainability/student_minor.html
Inventories of faculty expertise/research areas http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/undergrad_studies/aca demic_sustainability/activities.html
Other
Scienc e &
Math
Agriculture
Architecture
Liberal Arts
Human
Sciences
All sustainability-related courses on campus http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/undergrad_studies/aca demic_sustainability/inventory.html
Business
Engineering

Sustainability Librarian: Greg Schmidt
Order books, course materials, get student help for projects/research http://libguides.auburn.edu/sustainability
Student Affairs: SGA student groups
Real Food Challenge: community garden, food co-op, awards http://auburn.collegiatelink.net/organization/realfoodchallenge/about
Environmental Awareness Organization: Earthfest, plant sales, etc. http://auburn.collegiatelink.net/organization/eao/about
Service learning/community projects: IMPACT program https://cws.auburn.edu/studentAffairs/communityService/impact/

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
(AASHE)
Course syllabi, case studies, reference resources, annual conference http://www.aashe.org/resources/curriculum-resources/
Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS)
Auburn’s Silver rating; campus facilities and academic report https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/auburn-university-al/report/2013-01-15/
Office of Sustainability
Campus operations, Climate Action Plan,
Waste Reduction and Recycling, speakers, etc.
http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability

Campus as a living laboratory
Use campus & city systems to give students hands-on, local experience with real-world sustainability issues:
Water – Arboretum cell phone tour, stream, rain gardens, new
Dudley Hall tank

Food – Old Rotation, food gardens, campus dining, head chef Emil Topel

Transportation – solar panels to electric cars, solar cars, pedestrian/bike campus

Buildings and energy – LEED buildings: Gorie Center, OIT Bldg, Solar House

Consumption and waste – follow the waste stream; Student Center, Recycling

Walkability – downtown/neighborhoods (public health, social systems, urbanism)
Community programs: food bank, day care centers, churches, city government

How to incorporate hands-on experiences (minimal to maximal):
-- extra credit assignment/opportunity – do on their own, turn in proof
-- required course homework assignment – do on own, graded
-- class field trip or group exercise – guided, on class time
-- focus for class project or term paper – intensive involvement of instructor
Example: Zanzot course and “Landscape interventions” PM Creek, Bike path

Justifying change: Why teach sustainability?
Importance = ever-increasing
(world economics, climate change, social issues, health)
Long ago
Human History
Understanding
= increasing but low
Now
Leadership capacity to address
= even lower

9 reasons to teach sustainability:
Explaining changes to upper admin, peers, students
-- Peer inst. are doing (GA Tech, U Georgia, Emory, U Florida, etc.)
-- enhances PR and recruitment to AU
-- student and employer demand (training for green jobs)
-- increases program prestige to upper admin, positive feedback
-- increases chances for external funding and awards
(Gogue and Univ. presidents climate change award – interested!)
-- saves $$ over the long run (millions to utilities & disposal by AU)
-- engages the local community and alumni
-- enhances interdisciplinary connections and opportunities
-- increases depth of understanding by students & quality of education