At a time of mounting concern about climate change and other threats to the earth, members of the BSU community have a chance to delve more deeply into the issues and learn about ways they can work for solutions.
The university on Thursday begins its fifth annual Sustainability Week, an array of talks, exhibits, demonstrations, and other events highlighting various challenges to the environment as well as how people can live in greater harmony with the earth.
The program, which actually spans two weeks, is organized by BSU’s Center for Sustainability. The events, presented by BSU faculty, students, and experts from outside campus, are all free and open to the public.
“It’s really a focal point for all the many different activities happening on and off campus that connect us with sustainability issues,” said Dr. John J. Kucich, professor of English and assistant coordinator of the center.
The goal is to “build awareness, and to get people together and give them a sense of all the different possibilities of taking action,” Dr. Kucich said.
“All the news about climate change, species loss, and pollution is very depressing and very sobering,” he said. “The question is what can you do. It turns out there’s a lot of things that faculty can work on, that students can work on. The key moving forward is to feel like we can work on small issues that can be part of a much larger effort to take the world in the right direction.”
Among the highlights of this year’s program is the kick-off event Thursday, a talk by Judith Shapiro, an international expert on China’s environmental challenges at 11 a.m. at the DMF Science & Math Center.
Other key events include the planting of a BSU permaculture garden – a garden based on sustainability principles – next Tuesday, April 19, and a panel on the future of food with John Stoddard, founder of an urban organic farm, next Thursday.