April 22, 2008
CTE hosts sustainability forum
From left, Paul Wapner, H. Paul Davis, Chris Palmer, Claire Roby, Kiho Kim, and John Doolittle
(Photo by Adrienne Frank)
With birds chirping overhead and magnolia trees swaying in the cool, April breeze, the Woods-Brown Amphitheater was the perfect setting for last Wednesday’s noontime conversation on environmental sustainability.
Eco-Sense president Claire Roby kicked off the event, sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence, by informing the crowd of about 100 that President Neil Kerwin has committed to signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which marks AU’s move toward carbon neutrality within two years.
“I’m very pleased to announce that President Kerwin will sign the commitment next week,” said Roby of the document, which has 518 signatories to date. “I think this will allow us to [initiate] conversations about what the future of the university is, in terms of sustainability.”
Landscape architect H. Paul Davis echoed Roby’s focus on the future, pointing out the importance of being “good stewards of the land.”
For example, the amphitheater, which is lined with about 40 trees, from dogwoods to sycamores, is “a gift to the next generation” of faculty, staff, and students, said Davis. “These are the things that will be here 80 years from now, long after we’re gone.”
Within the past few years, groundskeepers have planted about 2,000 trees, said Davis, with room for about 4,000 more.
“Landscaping is just shrubbery that’s shoved against a building and you call it a day,” he explained. “What we’re creating here at AU is a garden—something that’s environmentally friendly and seasonably interesting. We are really trying to create a forest within the city.”
The event also featured School of International Service professor Paul Wapner, who framed sustainability as a moral issue, and School of Communication professor Chris Palmer, who discussed all the green initiatives within the Center for Environmental Filmmaking.
After each of the panelists spoke, members of the AU community were invited to share their tips for green living. Stanley Weiss, a professor in the Department of Psychology, said he bikes three miles to work each day and keeps his thermostat set to 64 degrees in the winter.
“My wife doesn’t like it very much, but it works,” Weiss said.
