Connecting Campus Sustainability at Macalester College with the United Nations

At Macalester College, internationalism remains a long-standing part of our college mission. More recently, sustainability rose as another strong commitment. These two areas have been parallel, but separate, activities. In 2012, the Sustainability Office is proactively using the UN Conference on Sustainable Development and the World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities as springboards to bridge this gap.

Suzanne Savanick HansenSustainability Manager

Sustainability Officeshansen2@macalester.edu

www.macalester.edu/sustainability.

Internationalism

Sustainability

Macalester College’s mission includes a …”special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society. The college was among the first colleges in the nation and the first in Minnesota to fly the flag of the United Nations.

Macalester College has a long-standing tradition of promoting sustainability through its teaching, programming, and encouragement of student initiatives. Macalester College is a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and of the Talloires Declaration. The college started a sustainability office in 2008 and developed a comprehensive sustainability plan in 2009.

New Sustainability Office theme, taken from the World Sustainable Development Teach-In Day theme, “Sustainable Development: towards local solutions to a global challenge” Theme also picked up by the Institute For Global Citizenship at Macalester.

Critical issues identified by the United Nations Rio + 20 event as the Sustainability Office monthly themes

• September - Cities• October - Food• November - Water/Oceans• December - Disasters• February - Energy• March - Waste* (only non-UN

theme) • April – Jobs

Staff and students presented information about the Rio +20 conference and WSSD-U-2012 through talks, a website, and material for interested faculty to include in classes.

World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2012), official parallel conference to the larger Rio+20

Two representatives to WSSD-U-2012, Sustainability Manger and student Maria Langholz

ConnectionsFuture Plans• Participate in the World

Sustainable Development Teach-In Day (February 8, 2013),

• Develop student, and possibly staff, Skype conversations related to campus sustainability with international colleagues.

• Reinvigorating sustainable development education on campus, taking into account our commitment to the Tailloires Declaration, ACUPCC, bringing in key Rio+20 outcomes and gaps, while aligning this effort with the theme of global citizenship and the college mission

Abstract

A way to connect campus

sustainability and internationalism

June, 2012