As you all know, I'm a huge nerd. So one of my favorite experiences this year has been travelling to Portland, Oregon, for the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE is a membership organization that brings together sustainability practitioners, provides resources, and catalyzes action in college and university communities across the globe. Their conference is THE place to meet brilliant, dedicated, problem-solvers who care about the future of our planet and the coming generations that will inhabit it. And I'm not just saying that because I was there...
Seriously though, I learned so much this year and just found myself in awe of all the great work being done in my field! The AASHE conference is definitely a great place to get inspired. The general schedule lasts a few days with hundreds of overlapping presentations, panel discussions, networking opportunities, community tours, poster sessions, and keynote speakers. In addition, there is an exhibition hall with dozens and dozens of booths with resources for campus sustainability leaders, there is FOOD, and there are all kinds of people who share a very specific common interest just getting to know each other and sharing ideas. This year, the theme was "Innovation for Sustainable Economies and Communities," but this in no way limits the conference content to these spheres. Now, this won't even begin to give you an idea of the wide variety of topics covered, but here are some of the sessions I attended:
- Big Ten and Friends workshop
- Student sustainability grants for campus projects at Ohio State
- Beyond eco-reps: Deepening engagement through an effective residential life partnership
- Southeast Sustainability Network (SSN) Lunch
- Building a living-learning community: Big problems and big success
- Studying sustainability studies: A comparative analysis of 42 US degree programs
- Developing an effective peer education program **MY session!**
- Accomplish more, work less
- Greeks think green: Greening Greek row
- Sustainability on a grand scale: Large university networking
My favorite was the one called "Accomplish more, work less." I couldn't believe that there weren't 500 people in the room for this one, because who doesn't want to know how to accomplish more while working less? Surprisingly, the session was delivered by two undergraduate students from the University of Denver who made streamlining sustainability efforts across campus sound easier than tying my shoe. I was surprised because I know that this very task is what many high-level sustainability professionals struggle with more than anything else. The fact is that there is so much to be done, and when you are passionate, you want to do all you can at all times forever. For this reason, I think, many people in higher ed sustainability get burnt out. These students from Denver were the opposite of burnt out, though...and it sounds like they are spearheading some pretty astonishing initiatives for their campus. Very cool stuff!
I also enjoyed having the opportunity to present my own work for the first time this year. I gave a 20-minute briefing of what I had been up to for the past year and half (HA!), and I hope my experiences might help a good number of my colleagues doing similar work at other schools. I shared some of the "steps" that I've helped IU's Office of Sustainability take to set up our Sustainability Peer Educator Program (SPEP). I explained some of our challenges as well as our advantages in this process, and I asked my audience of 30ish people to contribute their thoughts on what the "steps" might look like on their campuses.
Though I attended some amazing sessions this year and enjoyed the formal programming, this was the first year I felt relaxed and confident enough to just hang out and interact with folks more casually. It could be that this was the first year I felt like a real member of the community, and not just a wide-eyed student. I attribute my confidence boost to two factors: 1) Business cards and 2) Emilie Rex. Honestly, I doubt that having my own business cards even did anything, but I was so grateful to be reunited with one of my favorite folks I've met since coming to IU. Emilie was my mentor at IUOS for my first year, and her confidence in me has been contagious since about this time last year. Her warm encouragement was a huge blessing when we were setting up the Peer Educator Program, and her welcoming nature meant EVERYTHING to me when we met up in Portland. Emilie, thanks for being amazing as always :)
Next year's AASHE conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota...give me a shout if you'll be there!
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