Teach-in Focuses on Sustainability Curricula Across Campus

Across the globe, people strive for sustainable development, which the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development famously defined as a way of living that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” How can the University of Iowa campus address the great environmental challenges that face our planet and all the beings on it? 

One way is by making sustainability central to our educational mission. No matter what classes you teach or what discipline you are in, you can find ways to include sustainability. Join teachers from across campus who are weaving environmental issues into their teaching—designing everything from single assignments to innovative classes to exciting new team-taught Big Ideas courses. We welcome fellow teachers as we plan the next steps to put sustainability front and center at the University of Iowa.

Teaching Sustainability is a one-day teach-in held on February 5 at the Iowa City Public Library that will highlight existing examples of how sustainability is being threaded into UI courses, often in unexpected ways. We’ll hear from Jerry Schnoor, a professor in the College of Engineering and Co-Director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, about his firsthand experience of the United Nation’s recent conference on climate change in Paris. The evening prior to the teach-in, Tim McCollow, project manager for Milwaukee’s HOME GR/OWN initiative, will discuss that city’s urban food movement (February 4 / 100 Phillips Hall / 7:00 pm). And during the teach-in, there will be plenty of time for people from across campus to meet, talk, and share notes. 

To learn more about the teach-in, including a full schedule of events and speakers, and registration information, visit: https://environmentalissuesteachin.wordpress.com/

Print courtesy of Andrew Haley.