The Office of Sustainability is hosting the College’s third annual Sustainability Week from April 7-April 12, 2014. Lectures and workshops planned throughout the week focus around the Week’s keynote speaker, world-renowned author and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva.
“Sustainability Week represents an effort to collaborate across campus and to build a culture for sustainability,” states Brain Fisher, Director of the Office of Sustainability. “It is an attempt to connect across a wide array of campus and community corridors to generate and integrate knowledge in a pragmatic, socially conscious way. We are honored to bring Dr. Shiva to campus as her work embodies what we strive for in our Office and hopefully through our communities.”
The Week’s events start with Monday night’s kickoff party, which serves as the opening for both Sustainability Week and Greek Week. The event will feature games, a sustainable photo booth sponsored by Lowcountry Local First, and cook-off competition between the Greek organizations. Throughout the week, the Office is collaborating with campus offices Dining Services and Master of Environmental Studies program, to host a Local Food Pop Up Restaurant and a discussion on sustainable city patterns by Larry Band.
The Office has collaborated with the Center of Civic Engagement to add a service component to this year’s events – students can help with an oyster restoration program initiated by South Carolina’s DNR. The Office is also sponsoring a team with Green CofC for the Relay for Life event being held on Friday, April 11 at The Citadel. Student organization Alliance for Planet Earth will conduct the annual waste audit in Cougar Mall on Tuesday, April 8.
Sustainability Week’s Keynote Speaker Dr. Vandana Shiva will address the campus Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Memorial Hall. Dr. Shiva will be speaking on “Earth Democracy and Ecofeminism.”
[Related: Read more about the event with Dr. Shiva.]
In addition to campus collaborations, the Office has also worked with community groups to host the remainder of the week’s events. On Thursday, the Office is hosting a “Quick Pickle” workshop for students, staff, and faculty that will feature local produce from Ambrose Farms and GrowFood Carolina. The Charleston Urban Growers Coalition is also hosting two events during the week; an urban garden workday focusing on seed saving and native practices at the College’s urban garden at the Political Science Courtyard, as well as fruit growing workshop at GrowFood Carolina.
“We are really excited for this year’s Sustainability Week. It is our most collaborative Sustainability Week since we began hosting it in 2012.”Aaron Holly, Graduate Assistant for the Office of Sustainability says. “We made an effort to give students diverse opportunities to express sustainability both with campus and members of the community. This a trend we hope will continue for future events.”
For more information, contact Ashlyn Hochschild at acspilis@cofc.edu.