In a bid to put more action plans into action and maintain momentum for making a Colgate a ‘greener’ campus, dozens of members of the Colgate community will gather next week for the second annual Green Summit.
The session will be held from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, at The Commons.
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More ‘ See the Green Strides website ‘ Read about last year’s summit in The Colgate Scene |
The event’s goals are to build on the strategic plan produced last year to help Colgate better manage its resources and become more environmentally friendly
Molly Baker, co-director of outdoor education and organizer of the event, says it’s now time to wrap a more constructive framework around the great ideas that were produced at last January’s summit.
‘We need to build on what was developed last year, not reinvent the wheel,’ said Baker. ‘This year, we want to hone in certain initiatives that have specific and actionable plans to be implemented.’
Participants in this year’s summit were asked to state a preferred category to focus on, such as air quality, energy, transportation, grounds/land, and water. They will be given information on those topics before next week’s meeting, and they will gather in smaller working groups during the summit to review the action plans created last year and fine-tune them.
‘It’s a collaborative brainstorming from all the participants,’ said Baker. But, she added, members of each group will then be asked to address the summit, detailing how they plan to achieve their specific goals.
The increased emphasis on accountability is important to sustain momentum throughout the coming year and to make sure the initiatives don’t just sit idle until the next summit.
A steering committee ‘ comprised of members from throughout campus ‘ also will be created, providing improved coordination and a better structure for follow-up action, she said.
Some initiatives that sprang from last year’s summit have already been enacted, said Baker.
They include:
‘ The college joined the Clean Air-Cool Planet organization, which is dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming. Several other universities have signed on with the Portsmouth, N.H., nonprofit group.
‘ The campus Students for Environmental Action group has raised funds for NativeEnergy, a Vermont-based group that enables individuals and organizations to help build new wind farms through the purchase and retirement of tradable renewable energy credits.
‘A working relationship has been developed with the Southern Madison Heritage Trust, a land-conservation group based in Hamilton. The university secured a grant that provided funds for David Kim ’05 to work with the group this past summer.
‘ The environmental blueprint for the campus, called Green Strides, was the topic of numerous articles in The Maroon-News. The articles helped keep the blueprint and its goals in the minds of those on campus.
‘ Fair-trade coffee is now served at all campus dining facilities.
Baker said there is no predetermined outcome for next week’s summit, but she hopes the framework for the meeting will allow the working groups to be productive so they can determine which goals they will work toward in the months ahead.
The summit was organize by a host crew that comprises Baker, Jennifer Martin, manager of environmental health and safety, and students Sarah Caban ’07, Bob Filbin ’05, Ellen Frank ’05, Lindsay Mackenzie ’05, Jessi McGowan-Vanderbeck ’06, Doug Park ’05, Beth Weick ’07, and Jess Winans ’06.M
About 90 people from across campus have signed up to attend the session. Baker said others interested in participating can e-mail her at mbaker@mail.colgate.edu.
Tim O’Keeffe
Communications Department
315.228.6634