Key Strategies for Green and Sustainability Programs
The following strategies have been used at community colleges throughout the nation to help green and sustainable development concepts come alive in the classroom, in the campus environment, and in the broader community.
Of course, as educational leaders and sustainability project champions, you will adapt these suggestions to your organizations. We hope you will contribute your own strategies to help build the quality of this resource center and the accompanying online learning community over time.
These strategies go beyond the elements normally included in quality technology programs. They are 15 specific practices that will energize green and sustainability programs on your campus and strengthen your college’s position as a sustainability leader in your community.
First Steps
- Form a Sustainability or Green Committee.
- Include representatives from the following parts of the campus: students, faculty, business office, purchasing, facilities, bookstore, community partnerships and strategic planning.Make an institutional commitment to focus on sustainability and green policies and behavior in curricula, facilities, purchasing, community partnerships, student life and strategic planning.Hundreds of sustainability committees already exist on community college campuses. Many have Sustainability Directors reporting to Presidents or Vice Presidents who catalyze a culture of sustainability on campus.
- Assess your existing academic programs, practices, and policies on sustainability and green education.
- Use the results to create and implement a sustainability plan that helps the college be environmentally, economically and socially responsible while modeling for the larger community. See the AASHE Sustainability Tracking and Rating System at www.aashe.org/stars for a useful assessment tool.
- Create signage and a communication plan to educate students and the public.
- Highlight campus sustainability efforts in facilities, purchasing, job training, and other areas. For example, signage in a renovated building can provide educational touchpoints for energy efficient lighting, recoverable water systems and green building materials.
Core Strategies – Establishing Program Fundamentals
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- Utilize the resources of the SEED center to learn about promising curricula, job predictions, competencies and certifications, and more.
- The SEED Center resources are a curated collection of information designed to help educators develop and advance quality green job training programs and courses. They include the most up-to-date resources and have been vetted for quality.
- Encourage use of the SEED and other online learning communities by your faculty and staff.
- Participate in real-time discussions and get instantaneous answers to questions about a variety of related topics, from lab equipment to assessment tools, new curricula to market information. The time to build the green economy and the green workforce is now. The more we work collaboratively across the country, the more productive our work will be.
- Develop new technical programs based on regional industry demand.
- Given the uncertain renewable energy and efficiency industry outlook, and rapidly changing technologies, access to the most up-to-date employment projections – and strong partnerships with industry on the ground – will be critical. See “SEED Center: Components of a Quality Program” for more information on designing new green job training programs. See also the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent efforts toward classifying green occupations which will help colleges define and track local green jobs and potential demand.
- Utilize the resources of the SEED center to learn about promising curricula, job predictions, competencies and certifications, and more.
Core Strategies – Strengthen Program Depth, Reach, and Effectiveness
- Create staff and faculty development opportunities in green and sustainability education.
- Get your instructors and your curricula approved by industry recognized accrediting bodies (e.g., NABCEP for solar, AWEA for wind)
- Include targeted professional development for your technical faculty – Have your technical instructors participate in the online learning community for instructors
- Involve all faculty in professional development (webinars, conferences, peer networks, faculty grants to convert courses, etc.)
Leadership Strategies
- Be aware of changes that will dramatically affect the marketplace and take action to overcome barriers to energy efficiency and clean energy production.
- Changes to regulations and policies, in areas such as carbon pollution, state renewable portfolio standards or utility regulation quickly change the outlook for renewable energy, finance and certainly workforce demands.
For example, the Recovery Through Retrofits program will require many residential energy auditors and weatherization workers to undergo additional training and certification.
Include these issues in curricula and in your governmental relations efforts to inform legislation for a cleaner and greener and more robust green economy. Stronger, and for some colleges, new strategic relationships will need to be formed (with state energy offices, state departments of commerce, Public Service Commission, etc.) where funding, like the Recovery Through Retrofits initiative, will flow.
- Changes to regulations and policies, in areas such as carbon pollution, state renewable portfolio standards or utility regulation quickly change the outlook for renewable energy, finance and certainly workforce demands.
- Educate the public.
- Offering courses and seminars to the local community (both credit and non-credit) on sustainable practices and green technology will spread the word on new technologies and build market demand for both new technologies and the basics, such as energy audits and weatherization. Work with community stakeholders to help educate the public about these and other possibilities.
- Use the campus and the community as a living lab for sustainability to engage both students and the public in sustainable solutions.
- Many of the best community college programs create assignments and activities that engage in real world sustainability projects in the local government, business and non-profit sectors.
Such activities can impact facilities, purchasing and strategic planning, as well as energy production and consumption, and drive the level of environmental and social responsibility in policies and practices.
Students, staff and faculty learn how to work systemically with the broader community to support the development of a stronger, greener economy.
How to do it:
Convene: Community members from business, non-profit, government and education sectors.
Analyze: Ask them to evaluate their goals and priorities based on the triple bottom line.
Plan: Identify the actions they would take if they had more assistance.
Act: These ideas become sustainability projects that students can participate in for credit or as volunteer or paid work.
- Many of the best community college programs create assignments and activities that engage in real world sustainability projects in the local government, business and non-profit sectors.
For an example of a state-wide network implementing many of the above strategies see the Article: The Community College Perspective in the Emerging Green Economy
Conclusion
In the realm of higher education, community colleges are best able to quickly implement these strategies and to educate the workforce and citizenry needed for a sustainable future. If we wait for employers to show up at the door, we risk adapting too slowly to meet rapidly changing workforce needs.
Successful sustainability education and economic development programs will accelerate the transition to a green economy by catalyzing partnerships, identifying opportunities, and raising awareness among contractors, government agencies, community planners, nonprofits, and all consumers.