Event - Faculty of Environmental Studies Graduate Program Information Session (York University)

York University will be holding a Faculty of Environmental Studies Graduate Program Information Session on November 3, 2015 (12:30 - 2:30 pm) and November 26, 2015 (6:00 - 7:30 pm). These information sessions will take place in Room 109, of the Health, Nursing and Environmental Studies (HNES) Building, York University, Keele Campus, Toronto, Ontario.

Top Ranked Masters Degree in Environmental Law from the Vermont Law School

Vermont Law School is offering an Masters in Environmental Law. Understanding environmental legislation, enforcement and law-making is imperative. This degree is ideal for those who are seeking to make an organization more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Through this degree you can learn the skills that improve efficiency and ensure environmental, human, and employee health in your organization. The degree opens the doors to careers in nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and private industry.

International Green Awards – Gala Ceremony and Dinner (Event)

International Green Awards – Gala Ceremony and Dinner will take place on November 20, 2012 6:30 pm - 11:30 pm, at Battersea Power Station in London, UK. The International Green Awards is a global platform for sustainability intelligence, innovation and leadership. This year, the awards are recognising the ‘most sustainable’ organisations across the globe, as exhibited by eight indicators of any holistic sustainability strategy.

The awards launched in 2006 to critical acclaim with the objective of recognising the best-in-class examples of sustainability communications and have gone from strength-to-strength since then. In 2009, the Awards introduced an ‘International’ category, encouraging applications from the world over. The response to this category was overwhelming and thus, in 2010, the Awards opened all categories to global participation and culminated with an international Grand Prix winner – China Environmental Protection Foundation in association with DDB-China.

Sprout Educational Program (Video)

Kid Wind Challenge (Video)

Kid Wind Education Company (Video)

Educators strive to bring experiential learning for future life skills into the classroom. Less time sitting at a desk and more time with stimulating hands-on experimentation. New curricula and learning standards are incorporation new disciplines in math, physics, and social sciences of wind power. Kid Wind, a St. Paul based education company, manufactures wind turbine models for classroom learning and teacher lesson plans for in depth study.The University of Minnesota is launching a new curriculum of study focusing on wind turbine implementation and installation for future sites across the nation.

Top 5 Green Business Schools in the US

Here are the top five business schools for those seeking to maximize the likelihood of securing an environmentally oriented job. This list was compiled by by US Green Technology and they are presented in ascending order by the cost of tuition cost.

Portland State University School of Business Administration

The MBA program at this school allows students to specialize in areas such as social responsibility, metrics for sustainable enterprise, and product design and stewardship. The school has its own Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability, which is home to an annual sustainability conference.

The Green Leadership of Lawthorn Primary School in Scotland

Scottish school, Lawthorn Primary has reduced its footprint and they are teaching other schools to do the same. Schools across Scotland have access to the school's global footprint resource. Every aspect of the school’s consumption has been examined from the kitchen to the bathroom. They monitor their activities and set goals.

The school has already managed to reduce energy usage by almost half (43 percent). They are saving water, and reusing plastic bottles, (eg to make a greenhouse), even the number of cars coming to the school has been reduced by sixty percent. The academic curriculums of the students are also benefiting as these projects are being put to use to encourage learning, from social studies to mathematics.

Renewable Energy Teaching Tools: Sprout and KidWind

We need to acquaint the workforce of tomorrow with Renewable sources of energy. Renewables are a crucial part of our future but we will need to educate a vast supply of human resources to research, build and install the necessary facilities and infrastructure. As reviewed in a Renewable Energy World (REW) article, there are a couple of new tools that will help to develop the skilled workforce of tomorrow.

A new teaching tool called Sprout is just the kind of tool needed to get people interested in renewable energy. Sprout is outfitted with solar panels, a wind turbine and a weather station. Sprout calculates and combines data for wind speed/direction, solar elevation/irradiance, voltage, watts/m2 available and other statistics. Sprout also offers integrated lesson plans for all levels that allow students to use renewables in math, science and more. Sprout is located in North Carolina.

Distance Education at the Centre for Environment, University of Toronto - Fall 2012 Semester

The fall semester of the UofT's Distance Education at the Centre for Environment begins on Monday September 24 and ends on Sunday Dec 16, 2012. These online courses address the challenge of sustainability as a global opportunity for collaboration across disciplines, between academics, governments and business leaders.

GSA Programs Provide Tools to Students to Save Their Future

Driven by the concepts that individuals can make a difference and that schools can change the world, GSA has provided frameworks and ongoing support through its interactive website and social media sites. These help schools and school districts drive their sustainability initiatives forward. As one person put it, “Your movement is helping not only to change the culture of our schools for the better but the culture of the Department of Education.”

GSA is actively collaborating with State Departments of Education across the U.S. and has found a steadfast partner in John Shea, chief executive officer, Division of School Facilities, NYC Department of Education.

Student Climate & Conservation Corps

In partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) premier training facility, the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), GSA launched the Student Climate & Conservation Congress (Sc3) in 2009. Sc3 is GSA’s student arm and is open to 9th- through 12th-grade students who have demonstrated a commitment to environmental action. Selected Sc3 members, who are nominated by their schools, attend a five-day summer Congress held at NCTC in Shepherdstown, West Va. They enjoy a full program of study focused on the natural environment and 21st Century sustainability solutions.

The Green Cup Challenge®

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.

The Green Schools Alliance

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, and represents more than two million students. GSA’s Student Advisory Board, comprised of high-school and college students, helps to steer its programs, mission and goals.

The Billion Dollar Green Challenge Financing Initiative

The Billion Dollar Green Challenge is designed to support new energy efficiency financing. The goal is to encourage colleges, universities and other nonprofits to invest a total of $1 billion in self-managed “green revolving funds.” This funding will be used to finance energy efficiency upgrades they are also intended to be a great investment. According to Greening The Bottom Line the median annual return on investment is 32 percent (a portion of the returns from these projects are reinvested in the fund and used for future green projects).

Sustainable Development is a High Priority for the UN

Earlier this year the UN High-Level Panel Global Sustainability released its report in Addis Ababa. The 99-page report is titled “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing.” This document was created for the Rio+20 Summit, it offers cogent analysis and ways of moving sustainable development forward. The long-term vision of the Panel is to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and make growth inclusive, and production and consumption more sustainable, while combating climate change and respecting a range of other planetary boundaries. The report makes a range of recommendations to realize the Panel’s vision for a sustainable planet, a just society and a growing economy.

The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit

The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit is based on the idea that communities and educational systems within communities need to dovetail their sustainability efforts. As communities develop sustainability goals, local educational systems and programs can modify existing curricula or create new programs to reinforce those goals.

The ESD Toolkit has proven to be effective for many audiences including national and provincial ministries, non-profit organizations, universities and colleges, teacher educators, school administrators, teachers, municipalities, and government officials. Although the ESD Toolkit w a s written for a North American audience, it has proven useful in countries and communities around the world.

Antioch University's Masters Degree in Urban Sustainability

In response to the challenges of global environmental, social, and economic inequality, Antioch University Los Angeles has created a revolutionary new M.A. program to train the next generation of urban problem-solvers. The Urban Sustainability program prepares students for leadership positions in public policy, corporate accountability, social justice organizing, and ecological practice.

International Society of Sustainability Professionals Educational Programs

The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) offers courses and programs. Their flexible structure allows you to shape your learning experience to suit your needs. Live webinars and workshops can be taken individually and credited towards the ISSP Sustainability Professionals Certificate. Self-study options are also available (although not for credit). These study options are ideal for those with multiple areas of expertise and are doing sustainability auditing and/or planning. The courses are designed to provide a broad spectrum approach that enables participants to put together disparate skill sets.

Second Nature's Financing Sustainability on Campus Book

The book Financing Sustainability on Campus, provides higher education leaders with a comprehensive handbook to financing sustainability with real world examples, creative strategies, and clear explanations of a wide variety of financial tools and programs. This book offers a first-of-its-kind look at how colleges and universities are responding to the challenges of financing sustainability efforts. How can institutions blend financing options? How can a campus utilize a tax-exempt lease purchase contract? What tax incentives are available? When is bond financing your best option? What new liabilities will institutions need to recognize on their balance sheets? Geared to both newcomers and experienced practitioners, this guide walks you through the process—from identifying and analyzing the economics of proposed projects to execution—with examples from numerous individual campuses.