宾州州立大学威尔克斯-巴雷分校的可持续发展-菠菜网比较大的平台

学生、教师和工作人员都参与进来，让世界变得更美好

Penn State Wilkes-Barre is making strides in sustainability — and not just the green kind. 而“可持续发展”这个词通常与回收联系在一起, clean water initiatives, and the protection of natural resources, 这个词不仅仅指气候行动. At Penn State Wilkes-Barre, students, staff, 教师们正在为校园的可持续发展做出更大的努力, the community, and the world.

Goals, Goals, Goals

In 2015, the United Nations set forth the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, 一个为人类和地球创造并确保和平与繁荣的计划, both now and for the future.

The plan is based around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The goals deal with climate action, civil rights, economic reform, 减少发达国家和不发达国家之间的不平等.

It was from these goals that the Penn State Sustainability Institute was born. 通过接受宾夕法尼亚州立大学的诚信价值观, Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, Excellence, and Community, the Sustainability Institute aims to promote sustainable action across the Penn State campuses and the community as a whole.

菠菜网比较大的平台在这方面更进一步 sustainability in the curriculum. 菠菜网比较大的平台的所有学生都了解美国.N.的可持续发展目标. From there, students can continue to learn about sustainability in any of the 18 courses (both electives and major requirements) that have been designed with these goals in mind. A number of staff and faculty are also heavily involved with sustainability on campus.

Sisters in Sustainability

安·布伦南和艾琳·布伦南姐妹是菠菜网比较大的平台的教授. Ann Brennan teaches writing and literature and also serves as assistant to the chief academic officer. 艾琳·布伦南是宾夕法尼亚州和纽约州的执业律师. Erin Brennan joined Penn State as an assistant teaching professor of business in the fall of 2018. 她在威尔克斯-巴雷校区和世界校区任教. In addition to their individual course offerings, the sisters teach a course together.

安·布伦南说，她对可持续发展的兴趣始于大学时期.

“I graduated from Marywood University, where sustainability is an integral part of the university’s mission and prioritized in everything from construction to the curriculum. My college years really showed me the importance of living responsibly in a diverse and interdependent world. 这个信条成为了我精神的一部分，”她说.

“It was the logical next step to weave sustainability into my professional life at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. I began by teaching Literature and Nature. 然后，我为我的大一作文课程制定了一个基于地点的重点. And over the years, 我的参与已经超出了课程范围, across campus, and into the community," Ann Brennan said.

Soon after joining the Penn State Wilkes-Barre faculty, Erin Brennan joined her sister’s mission.

“When I came to Penn State, I saw what Ann was doing with her students and how she blended these concepts into her classes. From there, I began to form curriculums and programs to help educate about the concepts and on how to make sustainable changes,” said Erin Brennan. “安和我一起发展，现在又一起教书， Issues in Sustainability at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.”

Issues in Sustainability (SUST 242N) is a writing-intensive course that uses literature and other media methods to examine problems involving sustainability.

“In this course, 我们介绍17项联合国可持续发展目标, 识别和分析与实现这些目标相关的挑战, 提供批判性反思的机会, 并鼓励对服务于和反对这些目标的行动进行审查,” said Ann Brennan. 这门课程从人文学科的角度审视这些问题, business and legal lenses to underscore the complexity of the challenges and the different ways we think and act.”

“We present these topics through the three Penn State concepts of live, learn and lead. 我们教学生这些概念如何影响他们的生活, teach them how to identify these issues, address them, and advocate for change, 然后，我们希望他们继续领导其他人也这样做,” said Erin Brennan.

“这一代学生知道，我们想要也需要更可持续地生活, but they need help to finish the process. 我们希望我们的课程能给他们提供越过终点线所需的资源.”

在17个可持续发展目标中，两姐妹都同意第17个目标， Partnership for the Goals, was of critical importance.

“Partnership for the goals is the most important, because we all have to do this together. We can’t ever get to a place to achieve these goals without working together,” said Erin Brennan. “我们的想法是，作为一所大学，我们想要茁壮成长，经久不衰, community, Pennsylvania and global community.”

Students in Action

跳上可持续发展列车的不仅仅是教职员工. Penn State Wilkes-Barre students are making waves and working on building a brighter tomorrow. 安吉·艾伦和哈莉·桑切斯是菠菜网比较大的平台的学生 Issues in Sustainability course with the Brennans.

安吉·艾伦是一名医学预科的大二学生. Before taking Issues in Sustainability, Allen was familiar with the concept of sustainability but didn’t have much background in it.

“I knew that sustainability was becoming a more prominent topic in the fashion industry, but I really didn’t know much about it,” said Allen. “Over the course of the semester, this has easily become my favorite class because Ann and Erin have done a great job of having interesting and educational course materials. I am learning new ways to introduce sustainability into my everyday life each lecture.”

Hallie Sanchez is a a sophomore IST major. Sanchez came to class with a little more experience, having learned about the issue in high school.

“What drew me most to sustainability was its overall goal to make sure everyone has a chance of having a good quality life where their needs and basic human rights can be met,” Sanchez said. “有些人可能认为可持续性只关心物理环境, 但是许多人没有意识到的是环境问题, such as a lack of clean water, 是否也会影响到许多边缘人群.”

由于疫情，校园项目暂停, SUST 242 students were challenged with creating sustainability awards to recognize the actions of students, 菠菜网比较大的平台的教职员工. The goal was for students to take what they learned in class and examine how these actions were displayed throughout campus.

“我的奖项与我们校园里的补水站有关. I use those water stations all the time and I didn’t even know the impact of what I was doing before this course. I created an award that would be hung above those refill stations telling whoever was using it that they are being sustainable,” said Allen.

Sanchez said, “I decided to award the Gender and Sexuality Alliance 在宾州州立大学为目标16做出贡献， Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and goal #10, Reduced Inequalities. It is important for an institution like Penn State Wilkes-Barre to have organizations like this because they create a safe space for people to talk about issues concerning the LGBTQ+ community, 这也表明宾夕法尼亚州立大学关心社区的意见.”

Allen and Sanchez are among the many students who have dedicated time and resources to the study of sustainability. On campus, students have begun to take notice of how little things can have a large impact.

“At the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus, 我们正在为可持续发展做出各种努力. We have water stations that are used to refill bottles, which reduces our plastic waste. 在大多数教室里，我们有运动感应灯，可以节约能源. 有一些俱乐部致力于减少不平等. 此外，我们书店的生态币系统减少了塑料袋的使用，”艾伦说. “我非常希望看到校园里出现无肉星期一. 通过鼓励我们的学生在星期一不吃肉, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are a huge cause of global warming, 限制水资源等自然资源的消耗, land and energy.”

“My goals are to educate my friends and family on this topic; focus on responsible, sustainable product choices; and improve my own efforts as much as I can. 很难看出个人如何对如此重大的问题产生影响, 但通过这门课程，我已经能够找到产生影响的方法,” said Allen.

Sustainability Starts with You

Penn State Wilkes-Barre offers a number of programs that educate students about sustainability and events that can help them implement what they have learned. The campus’ Sustainability Council offers several events that are open to the public，以及学校为推动这一事业所做的工作的信息.

“The easiest way to get people involved is to make them aware of how their actions play into sustainability to encourage them to continue. 唯一的限制是你自己的兴趣是什么，”艾琳·布伦南说.

学生们也鼓励公众参与进来.

“我对与可持续性相关的问题了解得越多, 我就越想成为解决问题的一部分. If other students and the community members knew about all the issues the Sustainable Development Goals work toward solving, I am sure they would want to get involved,” said Allen.

Learn more about Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s sustainability efforts and what you can do.