Mark your calendars to spend the day with us at Penn State Shenango on Thursday, May 16, 2024, or Penn State Schuylkill on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 for the 7th Annual Commonwealth Campuses Sustainability Forums.

This will be 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,“ recognizes 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.

Workshops focusing on various topics will be offered over the course of both days. This year we are delighted to return to all-in-person attendance. Registration opens March 28 and closes on Wednesday, May 1, for the Shenango Forum and Friday, May 10, for the Schuylkill Forum.

The basic agenda is as follows:

Morning

  • 9 -10 a.m.                       Registration and Continental Breakfast
  • 10 -11: 15 a.m.               Morning Plenary Session
    • Welcome from Chancellor
    • Welcome from Lara Fowler and Discussion of School for Sustainability
    • Asset Mapping Exercise
  • 11:15 a.m. – Noon.        Conversation Stations 
    • Budget and Grant Brainstorming
    • Communicating Our Wins Brainstorming
    • Continuing Education — Opportunities for Your Campus
    • 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 – 3:45 p.m.          Afternoon Sessions (with a refreshment break in the middle)
    • 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

or

    • Creating New Recycling Signage and Messaging for Your Campus (1:30 – 2:30 p.m.)
    • Creating A Campus Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program (2:45 – 3:45 p.m.)
People attending the 2019 CWC forum