Contact: Liz Scruggs
972-860-5448;
MScruggs@DallasCollege.edu
For immediate release — Nov. 4, 2020
(DALLAS) — Dallas College will host its 10th annual Sustainability Summit on Friday, Nov. 6, featuring a keynote address on the intersection of sustainability and social justice.
The event, titled “Resilience for the Next 50 Years,” will take place online. It is free and open to the public.
The annual summit supports Dallas College’s efforts to be an environmental leader in the community, a commitment that impacts decisions about academic offerings, architecture and campus operations.
“As an institution of higher education, we are uniquely positioned to provide access to opportunities of lifelong learning — teaching our students the concepts of sustainability,” said Dr. Joe May, chancellor of Dallas College. “We have the chance to help shape growing minds in the classroom, too, about changes to our planet.”
The summit encompasses a full day of programming beginning with the keynote speech by Charles Hopkins, an expert in sustainability education, followed by breakout sessions along five learning tracks.
Hopkins is the UNESCO chair in Reorienting Education Towards Sustainability at York University in Toronto. He leads two international research efforts focused on incorporating the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into education.
If academia does its part now, Hopkins says, the effect of getting all students to think about sustainability as a fruitful and profitable way of life could be planet-saving.
“To some people, making sure a sustainability mindset is embedded in our education might sound like indoctrination,” he says. “But it’s really about clarifying our worldview.”
Dallas College uses and supports the SDGs as a teaching and learning framework. The college places special emphasis on Goal No. 4, Quality Education, but offers programming that supports 14 of the 17 goals.
This year’s breakout tracks are:
- Sustainability in Your Business
- Facilities Management
- Resilience: Adapting and Thriving After a Crisis
- Teaching Sustainability (Two Tracks)
Agenda:
8:15-9:55 a.m. Virtual Networking Lounge
9-9:55 a.m. Student Poster Presentations
10-10:55 a.m. Keynote Speaker
11-11:55 a.m. Breakout Session No. 1
12-12:55 p.m. Virtual Vendor Fair
1-1:55 p.m. Zero Waste Panel Discussion
2-2:55 p.m. Breakout Session No. 2
3-3:55 p.m. Breakout Session No. 3
For more information on the summit and to register, see
dcccd.edu/sustainabilitysummit.
For more on Dallas College’s commitment to sustainability, visit
dcccd.edu/sustainability.
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