Attendees at Penn State Shenango on May 16, 2024

Attendees at Penn State Schuylkill on May 22, 2024

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Penn State Shenango on Thursday, May 16, 2024, and Penn State Schuylkill on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 for the 7th Annual Commonwealth Campuses Sustainability Forums.

This was our seventh year gathering from across the entire Penn State system for inspiration, community-building, and helping each other toward our sustainability strategic goals and visions. This year’s theme, “Imagining Tomorrow, Addressing Today,“ recognized that we all — administrators, faculty, staff, and students — are motivated by shared visions of a more sustainable future, even as it can be challenging to see past the obstacles and uncertainties of the present.

The basic agenda was as follows:

Morning

• 9 -10 a.m.                       Registration and Continental Breakfast
• 10 -11: 15 a.m.               Morning Plenary Session
  • Welcome from Chancellor
  • Asset Mapping Exercise
  • State of Sustainability at Penn State with Lara Fowler
• 11:15 a.m. – Noon.        Conversation Stations (varied by forum)
  • Budget and Grant Brainstorming
  • Communicating Our Wins Brainstorming
  • Continuing Education — Opportunities for Your Campus
  • Creating New Recycling Signage and Messaging for Your Campus
  • EnvironMentors — An Opportunity for Student Peer-to-Peer Mentorship
  • Extension — Your Partner in Sustainability Education
  • GameStop — Exchanging Activities for Sustainability Group Building
  • K-12 Engagement Network — Helping You Reach Your Local Schools
  • Penn State Outreach — A Strategic Partner for CWCs
  • Open Working Session — Open to other issues or ideas
• Noon – 1:30 p.m.         Lunch and Networking
• 12:45 – 1:25 p.m.          Campus Tour (optional)

Afternoon

• 1:30 – 3 p.m.          Afternoon Sessions
  • Campus Leaders Session (until 2:30 p.m., by invitation only)
  • Developing a Regional CWC Sustainability Council and Succession Planning for CWC Sustainability Work
  • “Training the Trainers” — Getting Sustainability into Curriculum
  • Implementing Sustainable Landscapes at Our Campuses
• 3 p.m.            Parting Refreshments

To date, our spring forums have been graciously hosted by:

• 2024 — Penn State Shenango and Penn State Schuylkill
• 2023 — Penn State DuBois and Penn State Hazleton
• 2022 — Penn State Greater Allegheny and Penn State Harrisburg
• 2021 — Penn State Behrend and Penn State Wilkes-Barre (virtually)
• 2020 — Penn State New Kensington and Penn State Berks (virtually)
• 2019 — Penn State Beaver, Penn State York, and Penn State Scranton
• 2018 — Penn State Greater Allegheny, Penn State Great Valley, and Penn State Hazleton

Our 2023 fall working sessions were hosted by Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Penn State Great Valley, Penn State York, and Penn State New Kensington.