A member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Bemidji State University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and educator.
Including Wellness in the
Sustainability Model: A 5-year case
study
By Erika Bailey-Johnson
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y D I R E C T O R
October 25-28, 2014, AASHE Conference
A member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Bemidji State
University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and educator.
Bemidji, MN
•
Population: 13,431
•
Area: 14.14 sq. miles
•
Bemidji State University,
Northwest Technical College,
and Oak Hill Christian College
•
Median income: $36,681
•
Mayor’s Climate Protection
Agreement signatory (2007)
•
Bemidji Sustainability Committee
(2009)
•
Minnesota GreenStep Cities
(2011)
Bemidji State University
• Member of the Minnesota State College and
University System (54 campuses; 430,000
students)
• Public liberal arts institution
o ~5000 students
o ~1200 students living on campus
• Environmental Advisory Committee (1992)
• Talloires Declaration signatory (2005)
• ACUPCC signatory (2008, 2050 target date)
• Green Fee ($5 per semester, started in the
Fall of 2008)
• Sustainability Office (started in the Fall of
2008)
• Students for the Environment Club
Integrated sustainability model
Nested sustainability model
Why
would
you
bike to
work?
Why should we encourage
students to get outside?
Sustainability, our definition
Ojibwe influence
The elders say that Gichi Manidoo
(the Creator) created the world in a
certain order; first, the physical
world of sun, moon, earth, and
stars; second, the plant-beings, then
animal beings (two-legged, fourlegged, winged, and swimmers).
Last of all, Gichi-Manidoo made
human beings. Last in the order of
dependence, humans cannot exist
without the other three.
The pieces
• Economy: our system of exchanging goods
and services
• Society: humans interacting with each
other
• Wellness: individual mental and physical
health
The overlaps
• Social and economic issues: worker’s rights
and other social justice issues
• Wellness and the economy: affordable
health care and active transportation
• Wellness and society: community education
classes, community theatre, and community
gardens
The advantages
• More folks engaged
o Art community, health and sports sciences, indigenous
culture, everyone!
• Can more easily justify supporting certain
projects
o tobacco-free campus policy, suicide prevention activities,
concert performances, Ojibwe pipe ceremonies
• We want to create a campus that encourages
healthy eating habits, physical activity, mentally
enriching activities, and psychological health.
Recap
• Ideally, choices an individual makes would
be based on the answers to the following
questions:
o Does this decision impact our use of resources in an
unsustainable way or produce waste that the Earth
cannot recycle?
o Will other people be negatively impacted by this
decision?
o How will this decision financially impact me and
society?
o How does this decision impact my physical and
mental wellbeing?
Pretty model
I’d love your feedback!
Thank you! Miigwech!
• Erika Bailey-Johnson, Sustainability
Director
o ebaileyjohnson@bemidjistate.edu
o 218-755-2560
I realized that if I had to
choose, I would rather
have birds than
airplanes.
-Charles Lindbergh