2023 has a great lineup of educational opportunities for you, including:
Jan. 5: Building a Curriculum Development Program for Your Institution
Feb. 21 - May 9: Localizing the UN SDGs through Education, Training and Regional Collaboration
Feb. 28 - May 16: Sustainability Change Leadership Development Program
Mar. 16: Assessing Impact: Are Your Sustainability Communications Working?
May 4: Introduction to STARS: Chart your Course and Complete your First STARS Journey
May 18: Integrating Sustainability Literacy Across Your Curricula-Best Practices
This is your opportunity to gather with other sustainability professionals to learn curriculum development strategies, advance your impact as a sustainability leader and aid your institution through its STARS reporting.
In addition to these exciting professional learning opportunities, we also have many free webinars available to you!
The upcoming events include:
Putting an Award-Winning Climate Action Plan into Action - Jan. 11 @ 2:00 pm EST
Introduction to the Regional Center of Expertise as a Model for ESD Integration - Jan. 18 @ 2:00 pm EST
Is the Word “Net” Compromising True De-Carbonization? - Jan. 25 @ 2:00 pm EST
Imagining the Future of Campus Food Service and Measuring Success - Feb. 1 @ 2:00 pm EST
AASHE announced the first round of educational opportunities for next year, including:
This is your opportunity to gather with other sustainability professionals to learn curriculum development strategies, advance your impact as a sustainability leader and aid your institution through its STARS reporting.
]]>UMBC has been recognized as a top performer in the 2022 Sustainable Campus Index, tying for second in the area of Water overall. This is UMBC's third year in a row in a top spot for this category.
A publication from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 17 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).
UMBC achieved top performer status by earning a high score overall and in the STARS Water related categories. The 2022 SCI is based on UMBC's 2020 AASHE STARS Report and Silver rating. It is important to note that in August 2022, UMBC recieved an AASHE STARS rating of Gold for the first time in the university's history! The 2023 SCI will utilize that report when considering UMBC for any rankings.
“Congratulations to Institution Name for their incredible sustainability accomplishments,” said AASHE’s Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Upon reading the innovative and high-impact initiatives within this report, I’m encouraged that the global sustainability transformation that we desperately need is, in fact, happening.”
UMBC's STARS reports are publicly available on the STARS website:
https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-maryland-baltimore-county-md/report/Water conservation and reuse, as well as effective rainwater management practices, maintain and protect finite groundwater supplies. Pumping, delivering and treating water is also a major driver of energy consumption. institutions reduce energy usage and the emissions associated with energy generation by conserving water. Water conservation and effective rainwater and wastewater management diminish the need for effluent discharge into local surface water supplies, which consequently improves the health of local water ecosystems. This section covers water use reduction and rainwater management.
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS was developed by AASHE with broad participation from the higher education community. The credits included in STARS span the breadth of higher education sustainability and are organized into four categories: Academics, Engagement, Operations, and Planning & Administration. All reports are publicly accessible on the STARS website. For more information, visit stars.aashe.org.
AASHE empowers higher education administrators, faculty, staff and students to be effective change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. AASHE enables members to translate information into action by offering essential resources and professional development to a diverse, engaged community of sustainability leaders. We work with and for higher education to ensure that our world's future leaders are motivated and equipped to solve sustainability challenges. For more information, visit www.aashe.org. Follow AASHE on Facebook and Twitter.
]]>The continental United States is experiencing an increase in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events which often lead to flooding. In the state of Maryland, between 2006 and 2020, 78% of state highways reported nuisance flooding incidents occurred outside of FEMA’s 500 and 100 year floodplains. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County applied the same analysis to its campus transportation system – UMBC Transit. UMBC Transit covers over 88 miles of roadways and serves around 1,000 individuals daily. The study found that nearly every transit route was vulnerable to experiencing a flooding disruption with 72.5% of the flooding events occurring outside of FEMA flood zones. This session is designed to engage the audience, on the effective use of environmental intelligence, and provide an example methodology for others to utilize and deploy at their home campus. The session will review how to obtain the information, analyze the data, and use the results to catalyze climate action on one’s campus.
UMBC has earned a STARS Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. UMBC previously held a STARS Silver rating (02/2020 - 07/2022).
UMBC’s STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website:
https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-maryland-baltimore-county-md/report/2022-07-26/
With more than 900 participants in 40 countries, AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas:
1) Academics
2) Engagement
3) Operations
4) Planning and Administration
5) Innovation and Leadership.
“STARS was developed by the campus sustainability community to provide high standards for recognizing campus sustainability efforts,” said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “UMBC has demonstrated a substantial commitment to sustainability by achieving a STARS Gold Rating and is to be congratulated for their efforts.”
Unlike other rating or ranking systems, this program is open to all institutions of higher education, and the criteria that determine a STARS rating are transparent and accessible to anyone. Because STARS is a program based on credits earned, it allows for both internal comparisons as well as comparisons with similar institutions.
About AASHE:
AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. AASHE’s mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation. It provides resources, professional development and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research. For more information about AASHE, visit www.aashe.org.
For more information about the STARS program, visit stars.aashe.org.
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Critical Energy Literacy: Intersectional Approaches to Research, Pedagogy, and Activism
Manuscript submission deadline: January 31st, 2023
Amidst the growing climate crisis, critically informed understanding of energy sources and associated socioenvironmental impacts is more important than ever. The theory of critical energy literacy was developed in response to such dynamics (Lowan-Trudeau and Fowler, 2022). Critical energy literacy employs an intersectional lens in drawing upon critical and decolonizing approaches to STEM (Bang and Medin 2010; Bullock 2017); considerations for collaborative multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary pedagogy (Bernstein 2015; Choi and Pak 2006); critical place-based inquiry and pedagogy (Gruenewald 2003; Tuck and McKenzie 2015); critical gender perspectives (Gough and Whitehouse 2020; Lloro 2021; Maina-Okori et al. 2018); and critical media literacy and engagement (Kellner and Share 2007; Milstein et al. 2017; Takahashi and Rosenthal 2018) to foster understanding of the social, environmental, political, and economic challenges, benefits, and impacts of various energy sources, developments, and technologies.
For this special issue of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (JESS), we seek submissions related to a range of energy sources (e.g., oil and gas, wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, nuclear) and socioenvironmental contexts from other scholar-educator-activists that will expand and deepen our collective understanding of critical energy literacy. We welcome original manuscript submissions from early career and established scholars from a range of disciplinary and sociocultural perspectives that incorporate research, theory, practice, case, and/or community-based insights through conventional prose as well as visual representations such as maps, diagrams, and other illuminating imagery.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of critical energy literacy, obliquely related works may be identified in a number of fields such as critical environmental studies (Black et al. 2014), environmental humanities (Szeman and Boyer 2017), media studies (Parks 2015; Starosielski and Walker 2018), gender studies (Pulé and Hultman 2021), (renewable) energy studies and education (Henderson 2014; Hoicka and MacArthur 2018; Jennings 2009), and geography (Delgado 2016; Dow and Downing 2016). The aim of this collection is to bring together such fields for the first time.
Similarly, this special issue will serve as a new pedagogical resource that will provide detailed discussions of critical energy literacy in multiple contexts upon which educators may draw to facilitate more critically informed understanding of various energy sources in their course work and graduate supervision. Strong examples of critical energy theory, pedagogy, activism, and creative practice will be provided in relation to the sciences, humanities, social studies/sciences, teacher education, geography, and environmental studies. This approach is unique as most energy research and education initiatives focus on either the scientific or technical aspects of a given source or the sociocultural benefits and impacts, but they are rarely collectively addressed (Delgado 2016; Jennings 2009). As such, this special issue will be of interest to researchers, educators, and students in a variety of disciplines.
Timeline & Review Process
January 31st, 2023: Manuscript submission deadline
February 2023: Guest editors vet submissions
February-March 2023: Potential manuscripts sent out for anonymous peer review
April-May 2023: Reviewers submit assessments
May-June 2023: Guest editors assess reviews and decide on next steps for authors
June-August 2023: Accepted authors revise manuscripts based on editor and peer feedback
August 31st, 2023: Revised manuscripts submitted
September 2023: Guest editors review revised manuscripts and provide final feedback to authors
October-November 2023: Authors complete final revisions
December 1st, 2023: Authors submit final manuscripts
December 2023-January 2024: Final copy editing and proofing
January-February 2024: Anticipated publication
Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Please submit manuscripts via the JESS submission portal(link is external), noting the special issue.
Manuscripts should align with all relevant JESS policies(link is external) and submission guidelines(link is external).
Contact
Special Issue Guest Editors:
Greg Lowan-Trudeau, University of Calgary: gelowan@ucalgary.ca(link sends e-mail)
Teresa Anne Fowler, Concordia University of Edmonton: teresa.fowler@concordia.ab.ca(link sends e-mail)
JESS Editor-in-Chief:
Teresa Lloro, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona: jesseic@aessonline.org(link sends e-mail)
References
Bang, M, Medin, D (2010) Cultural processes in science education: Supporting the navigation of multiple epistemologies. Sci. Educ. 94(6):1008-1026. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20392(link is external)
Bernstein, JH (2015) Transdisciplinarity: A review of its origins, development, and current issues. J Res. Practice 11(1): 1-20.
Black, T, D’Arcy, S, Weis, T, Kahn Russell, J (Eds.)(2014) A line in the tar sands. Between the Lines, Toronto.
Bullock, EC (2017) Only STEM can save us? Examining race, place, and STEM education as property. Educ. Stud. 53(6): 628-641. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2017.1369082(link is external)
Choi, BCK, Pak, AWP (2006) Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 1. Definitions, objectives, and evidence of effectiveness. Clinical and Investigative Med., 29(6): 351–364.
Delgado, E (2016) Energy geographies: Thinking critically about energy issues in the classroom. J of Geog. in High. Ed., 40(1): 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2015.1089475(link is external)
Dow, K, Downing, TE (2016) The atlas of climate change. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Gough, A, Whitehouse, H (2020) Challenging amnesias: Re-collecting feminist new materialism/ecofeminism/climate/education. Env. Educ. Res., 26(9-10): 1420-1434. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1727858(link is external)
Gruenewald, DA (2003) The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32(4): 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032004003(link is external)
Henderson, M (2014) Solar-powered learning: Educating for an ecological literacy. In: Deer F, Falkenberg, McMillan, B, Sims, L (eds.) Sustainable well-being: Concepts, issues, and educational practices, ESWB Press, Winnipeg, pp 95-104.
Hoicka, CE, MacArthur, JL (2018) From tip to toes: Mapping community energy models in Canada and New Zealand. Energy Policy, 121:162–174.
Jennings, P (2009) New directions in renewable energy education. Renewable Energy, 34(2): 435–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2008.05.005(link is external)
Kellner, D, Share, J (2007) Critical media literacy, democracy, and the reconstruction of education. In: Steinberg, S, Macedo, D (eds.) Media literacy: A reader, Peter Lang, New York, pp 3-23.
Lloro, TK (2021). An intersectional feminist food studies praxis: Activism and care in the COVID-19 context. J of Env. Educ., 52(5): 303-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2021.1981209(link is external)
Lowan-Trudeau, G, Fowler, TA (2021) Towards a theory of critical energy literacy: The Youth Strike for Climate, renewable energy, and beyond. Aust. J of Env. Educ., 38(1): 58-68. https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2021.15(link is external)
Maina-Okori, NM, Koushik, JR, Wilson, A (2018) Reimagining intersectionality in environmental and sustainability education: A critical literature review. The Journal of Environmental Education, 49(4): 286-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2017.1364215(link is external)
Milstein, T, Pileggi, M, & Morgan, EL (eds.) (2017). Environmental communication pedagogy and practice. Routledge, New York.
Parks, L (2015) Signal traffic: Critical studies of media infrastructures. University of Illinois Press, Champaign.
Pulé, PM, Hultman, M (eds.) (2021) Men, masculinities, and earth: Contending with the (m)Anthropocene. Springer Nature, New York.
Starosielski, N, & Walker, J (eds.) (2016). Sustainable media: Critical approaches to media and environment. Routledge, New York.
Szeman, I, & Boyer, D (eds.) (2017) Energy humanities: An anthology. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Takahashi, B, Rosenthal, S (eds.) (2018) Environmental communication among minority populations. Routledge, New York.
Tuck, E, & McKenzie, M (2015) Relational validity and the ‘where’ of inquiry: Place and Land in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(7): 633–638. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414563809
]]>UMBC is proud to participate in Campus Sustainability Month throughout October. This annual event, hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), celebrates higher education sustainability achievements while raising awareness of the value of sustainability in higher education. To celebrate and kickoff a new year of sustainability advancements, we are hosting several special hybrid events this month.
Look out for special sustainability event announcements every Tuesday all month long!
Check out what other institutions are doing to celebrate and raise awareness of the value of sustainability in higher education by visiting AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Month website and searching #CampusSustainabilityMonth on social media. We hope you will join as we celebrate our sustainability successes! Also, don’t forget to submit your photos and videos to AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Hub for a chance to be featured in a blog post!
]]>This train the trainer workshop is for faculty to explore practices from eco-therapy and The Work that Reconnects modified for an academic environment. Participants will learn to a) manage their own complex emotions about the climate crisis and b) learn to hold space for students to engage with these topics. The workshop gives immediately applicable classroom activities appropriate in any academic discipline and, for those who are interested, empowers faculty to lead a similar workshop for colleagues on their campus.
Participants are asked to participate for the entire workshop, and to have both video and audio connection.
Ten spots are available to AASHE members. Questions or RSVP to hiser@hawaii.edu by December 20 to hold your spot.
For more information about UMBC's AASHE membership please contact Ryan Kmetz rkmetz@umbc.edu
UMBC has been highlighted for its sustainability efforts in the 2020 Sustainable Campus Index (SCI). UMBC was specifically highlighted for our efforts related to water use reduction and stormwater management. The SCI is publication from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the SCI highlights innovative and high-impact initiatives from colleges and universities that submitted a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) report in the most recent calendar year.