Sustainability in the Curriculum
Wittenberg receives National Science Foundation grant to expand its curriculum in the area of environmental sustainability: http://serc.carleton.edu/serc/news/integrate_annou.html
Wittenberg aligns its goals for sustainability education with the Brundtland report’s definition of sustainability: meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Addressing sustainability challenges requires interdisciplinary thinking, flexibility, creativity, and ongoing collaboration. Sustainability courses can fall into the following two categories:
- Sustainability-focused courses concentrate on the concept of sustainability, including its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, or examine an issue or topic using sustainability as a lens.
- Sustainability-related courses incorporate sustainability as a distinct course component or module or concentrate on a single sustainability principle or issue.
To help identify if a course incorporates sustainability either as a central focus or as a module, several sample sustainability learning outcomes follow:
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key sustainability challenges.
- Understand interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability including the feedbacks between science, economics, society and/or cultural influences.
- Approach sustainability topics through team activities that encourages multiple disciplinary lenses.
- Critically engage in problem-solving related to sustainability (e.g. case studies, field studies, evaluations of best practices, research).
A course does not need to include all of the above learning outcomes to be considered sustainability-focused or sustainability-related and the above list is far from comprehensive.
- Inventory of sustainability courses 2015-2016
- Inventory of sustainability courses 2014-2015
- Inventory of sustainability courses 2012-2014
- Green Wittenberg magazine feature article
The Wittenberg Eco-House celebrates another year of living sustainably and is home to five Wittenberg students during the 2015-2016 school year: Katherine Paolacci, Alivia K Danhoff, Alexandra Lawwill and Brittany Lynn Garcia. Started up in 2009 by the initiatives of faculty and students combined, with no small dose of vision from past PoWER president David Donofrio (’09), the EcoHouse is a reality at Wittenberg. The house is located at 484 N. Wittenberg Ave.
Wittenberg students living in the Eco-house have each signed an agreement that will guide their living habits for the coming year. The contract states that they will live an earth friendly lifestyle as both a testing ground and beacon for all Wittenberg residence.
- recording and reducing their energy consumption;
- maintaining an on-site garden and a compost bin;
- diligently recycling and avoiding the purchase of non-recyclable materials;
- purchasing organic and/or locally grown food when possible;
- pursuing carpooling options for travel needs; and
- seeking out energy efficient options whenever repairs or replacements of appliances are necessary.
The residents of the EcoHouse also have the duty of providing some educational programming for the campus, so keep your eyes out for opportunities to learn more about this group. In the meantime, if you happen to know any or all of these fine environmentalists, give them your encouragement as they set the standard this year for the future of this timely residence.
Green Senator The office is held by a student who is elected through a campus-wide election on the yearly ballot. The Senator serves as a liason between both PoWER and the Sustainability Task Force, being required to attend weekly meetings, as well as attend Senate-mandated Faculty Meetings. The Green Senator for Jessica Nazareth for 2016-17.