Social Change

The Green Cup Challenge® (GCC) was launched in 2007, it is an annual month long inter-school energy challenge that takes place each January/February to call attention to peak winter energy use. Originally designed to help schools measure and reduce electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, GCC provides hands-on learning opportunities for students and school staff, including facilities managers, to work together to reduce their school’s carbon footprint. GCC integrates education and action, quantifies progress and aggregates success. Some of the activities students and staff undertake during GCC include: making videos, reading electric meters, collecting and aggregating data using spreadsheets, calculating...

Distance learning is part of a growing trend that makes it easier for people to learn online, often in very flexible formats that accommodate busy schedules. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) is amongst a number of educational institutions that are offering free education online. Others include Academic Earth, Khan Academy and the Open University (OU). These schools provide a number of courses in a great many different disciplines including those that relate to the environment. M.I.T.x was launched in 2012, it offers free online teaching of M.I.T. courses. For a nominal fee, participants are even eligible to receive an official...

In response to Mayor Bloomberg’s challenge to New York City (NYC) institutions to reduce their carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030, on October 11, 2007, 46 schools gathered at the Allen-Stevenson School in NYC to explore solutions to climate change. After this meeting, with support from the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, school associations, and numerous other partners, GSA was officially launched. Today it is a global network of schools guiding schools, which addresses 21st Century climate and conservation challenges. It includes more than 3,000 public, private and independent schools in 40 U.S. states and 12 countries,...

In February 2012 at the Green Schools National Conference in Denver, Colo., U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expressed the view that green schools are no longer part of a fringe movement. EE is, in fact, necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Duncan, whose administration launched the Green Ribbon Schools Program, called for inclusion of EE in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The U.S. Senate voted in favor of the change in 2011, thus marking the first time EE has been formally included in federal K-12 education policy. The Campaign for Environmental Literacy...

The UK's School of Earth and Environment (SEE) was ranked second nationally in terms of research power in earth and environmental sciences in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. The school is at the forefront of tackling global issues such as climate change, energy, water and sustainable development. Its research is organized across four institutes and two national research centers. The School of Earth and Environment is one of the largest and most vibrant Schools in the UK. Experts within the School study the Earth from its core to the atmosphere, with expertise ranging from geophysics and surface processes to atmospheric...

This presentation on sustainability and the role of business schools was given at CQ University on 21 Oct 2010 by Liz Sidiropoulos. She suggests how we can navigate society's journey to sustainability and the role of universities and business education. She reviews some of the issues and she explains why the context and the culture is very important. She goes on to review the ways that we can build momentum for the transformational journey ahead. To view the video click here. Related Posts Business Education in Sustainability (Video) The Green Market Oracle Green School Series 2011 The Green Market Oracle...

Virginia Renewable Energy School offers a number of courses focused on the provision of renewable energy like solar and wind. These short duration courses are between two and five days. Here is a short list of the courses they offer: A Variety of Green-Collar Workshops 2 Day Intro to Solar Photovoltaics Workshop 3 Day Intro to PV Design & Installation 3 Day Solar Sales & Estimation 4 Day Energy Auditor Training w/opportunity for BPI certification exam  5 Day Solar Thermal Installation 5 Day Wind Energy Design & Installation 5 Day Fundamenals of Solar PV, Design & Installation 5 Day Fundamentals...

The New School is committed to becoming a more sustainable university - The New School is a university in New York City offering distinguished degree, certificate, and continuing education programs in art and design, liberal arts, management and policy, and the performing arts. (for more information click here) In order to reduce the institution's environmental footprint and carbon emissions, the university has established the following goals: • Reduce the use of energy in buildings. • Promote the use of public transportation and bicycling. • Decrease consumption of potable water. • Reduce waste sent to landfills. • Improve Indoor Environmental Quality....

There are a growing number of green masters programs in the US. With a global economy continuing to show signs of weakness people are flocking to educational programs that are associated with the growing green market. Forbes reports that there is already a $6 trillion clean energy business opportunity. While others suggest that there will be a $13 trillion dollar market for clean energy over the next two decades. There is a growing demand for people schooled in sustainability.  To train people for the new green economy and to meet the growing need for sustainability managers, universities and colleges across...

Vermont Law School's (VLS) offers the nation's first fully online master's degrees in environmental law and policy. VLS is the top-ranked environmental law school in the country. Vermont Law School has been ranked #1 in environmental law by U.S. News & World Report 15 times since the ranking began. They launched their online environmental law degree on May 16, 2011. The degree is called "Master of Environmental Law and Policy" (MELP), VLS also offers online LLM in Environmental Law for post-JD attorneys. The programs currently have nearly 100 students, mostly from the US, with a few from other countries. The...