Student-led groups plan campuswide, community sustainability workshop

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University doctoral students Aaron Goldner and Lindsey Payne are committed to making a lasting difference for sustainability - and how the university embraces this global challenge for tomorrow's leaders.

Goldner and Payne have organized the Student Sustainability Summit, a campuswide event from 2-6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in Discovery Park's Hall for Discovery and Learning Research. Timothy Sands, Purdue's executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, will provide remarks during the event's student showcase, which begins at 5 p.m. 

Free and open to the general public, the summit is designed to introduce students, faculty and staff and leaders throughout the Lafayette-West Lafayette community to the array of activities, programs, partnerships and research focused on sustainability at Purdue.

"Our goal is to elevate the sustainability discourse and connections on campus resulting in improved sustainability decision-making using the triple bottom line - learning, discovery and engagement," Goldner said.

"We hope to further Purdue's mission by increasing engagement opportunities for developing partnerships between our Global Sustainability Institute centers, the Office of Sustainability and other campus sustainability groups with faculty, students, staff and surrounding community."

Participating units include Discovery Park research centers, Purdue's Office of University Sustainability, Purdue Global Policy Research Institute, Purdue Undergraduate Student Government, Purdue Graduate Student Government and other student-led sustainability groups. 

For a complete schedule, go to: http://studentsustainabilitysummit.eventbrite.com

Payne said breakout discussions and an envisioning session with faculty, students, staff and community partners are planned to develop future partnerships and projects. Examples of student-led sustainability initiatives, projects and activities also will be highlighted in a student showcase.

"We hope to collect student voices from across campus and get more cohesion in the structures that control sustainability - linking knowledge to action," Payne said. "We want to advance the role that students can play in these efforts to increase collaboration between centers, faculty, students and staff along with the Lafayette-West Lafayette community." 

The summit will begin at 2 p.m. with an introduction by the directors from the Global Sustainability Institute, Office of Sustainability and Global Policy Research Institute. 

An interactive, student-led envisioning session will begin at 3 p.m., where students will be joined by faculty, staff and community partners to discuss avenues for applying substantive, integrated solutions of sustainability on Purdue's campus.

Professional graphic-artist facilitators will capture the discussion from the envisioning session, which begins at 4 p.m. A reception and student showcase is at 5 p.m.

Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Sources: Aaron Goldner, agoldner@purdue.edu, 503-544-7170