Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit 2009

Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit:
Forging Solutions at Colleges and Universities
February 11-13, 2009 - University of Colorado at Boulder

Detailed Program is now available!

Registration deadline was February 5th!  Advance registration is required; however, limited onsite registration will be available but meals will not be included. CU-Boulder students do not need to register in advance.

The 2009 Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit (RMSS) will provide a learning and networking forum for participants from campuses in the Rocky Mountain region (CO, NM, UT, WY, MT, ID, AZ) to advance sustainability.

Institutions of higher education have a crucial role to play in creating a sustainable society and addressing the climate crisis. Successful initiatives - whether in research and education, operations, outreach, or administration and finance - can have enormous societal impacts by helping to shape the future actions of students, and by setting examples for the larger community.

RMSS 2009 will help students, faculty, staff, administrators, community members and state leaders learn from each other, replicate successful initiatives and innovate effective programs to make the region’s higher education institutions national leaders in campus sustainability and climate action.

RMSS will feature keynotes by leading experts, campus administrators and government officials. Confirmed speakers include author Richard Preston and Jerome Ringo, Environmental Justice Champion and President of the Apollo Alliance. A Green Products Expo will share the latest sustainable products and services available for institutions. The Summit will include numerous sessions, workshops and facilitated discussions on:

• Institutionalizing sustainability: Policy and structural approaches for making sustainability a central focus.
• Best practices for operationalizing sustainability: Building core knowledge; nuts and bolts for campus programs (ie, energy, water, recycling, transportation, green building, food, curriculum, research, student life)
• Creating a campus culture of sustainability: Educational approaches to fostering sustainable behavior among the campus community; building systems and awareness for lifestyle sustainability
• Social and environmental justice: Full integration of these dimensions into sustainability practices
• Carbon mitigation planning
• Regional sustainability strategies