Center for Sustainability Initiatives
Our mission at the Center for Sustainability Initiatives (CSI) at Franklin College is to promote sustainability through research, education, outreach and international collaboration. We recognize that sustainability transcends geographic, political, cultural and disciplinary boundaries. To this end, we take our international and multi-cultural campus community as a model to engage diverse stakeholders in our activities and initiatives.
NEWS at the CSI
Celebrate Earth Week 2011 at Franklin! Read more on our events page.
Discussion on sustainability in collaboration with USI as part of the Fall 2010 Lecture Series
November 4 at 6:00pm in the Franklin College auditorium. Sustainability is a topic on the minds of many people in today’s society. But it means different things to different people. This forum seeks to explore some of these different approaches and what they contribute to the greater picture of sustainability for our world. The forum will be moderated by Armando Zanecchia, professor of international management and collaborator with the Center for Sustainability Initiatives at Franklin (CSI-F). Participants include three further members of CSI-F: Brack Hale, assistant professor of biology and environmental sciences; Josh Long, assistant professor of social sciences; Alison Vogelaar, assistant professor of communication and media studies; and Nicola Schoenenberger, associate consultant at Tulum LTD Caslano, and botanist at the Museum of Natural History of Lugano.
For more information about the Forum see the Lugano Sustainability Forum webpage.
CSI at the 5th International GUNI Conference on Higher Education in Barcelona
November 23-25. Two proposals from the Center for Sustainability Initiatives at Franklin were accepted at the GUNI (Global University Network for Innovation) conference. UNESCO has considered the conference, which features best practices, as a follow-up event of the World Conference on Higher Education (Paris, 2009). Brack Hale, Alison Vogelaar, and Armando Zanecchia will be presenting the establishment and development of CSI and how it is organically embedded within the FC campus. Johanna Fassl and Caroline Wiedmer’s contribution shows how FC has successfully incorporated topics of sustainability across the curriculum.
Interview with Professor Brack Hale
MoveBeyondGreen.com has published an interview with Professor Brack Hale in which among other topics he discusses the Center for Sustainability Initiatives at Franklin and his views on sustainability as a whole. Read more
The Garden Project
The Garden Project proposal was approved this spring. This summer, Franklin students, faculty, and staff are preparing the site and will be starting some small-scale planting. The official groundbreaking of the garden is for Spring 2011. Read more
Franklin Food Services Assessment
Interns at the center are researching student health as it pertains to food services and assessing the viability of switching to locally grown, seasonal produce to stimulate the local economy and reduce Franklin’s carbon footprint.
Academic Travel Project: Sustainable Travel
Building on the 2009 sustainability proposal that found that Academic Travels make up the lion's share of Franklin's carbon footprint, this project examines the broader impacts of the travel program (and Franklin travel in general) and seeks to develop more sustainable options for this key part of the Franklin experience.
Find us on Facebook
Search for us under “Center for Sustainable Initiatives at Franklin College” and stay informed about upcoming events and what is happening at the center. The CSI page on Facebook
AASHE
CSI is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
