{"id":3608,"date":"2012-10-25T16:34:05","date_gmt":"2012-10-25T23:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/sustainability\/?p=3608"},"modified":"2013-11-19T11:24:07","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T19:24:07","slug":"aashe-conference-2012-what-did-we-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/sustainability\/2012\/10\/25\/aashe-conference-2012-what-did-we-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"AASHE Conference 2012 – What Did We Learn?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education hosted a conference in Los Angeles earlier this month. The conference fostered communication between college environmental representatives and teaches across the country. Bellevue College\u2019s ASG (Associated Student Government) environmental representative, Mackenzie Williamson, was granted funds through the Student Environmental Sustainability Fund. Zack Boucher, the transportation Programs Coordinator, was the winning applicant to accompany Mackenzie on the trip. Deric Gruen, as the Sustainability Resource Conservation Manager, also attended the conference. The three Bellevue College representatives attended workshops on a variety of topics such as zero waste campuses, full cycle water systems, social justice issues, student engagement, and curriculum integration. They also listened to several Environmental experts like Hunter Lovins and Billy Parish.<\/p>\n

The conference inspired the three to work on implementing some of the things they\u2019ve learned. Mackenzie hopes to reduce the number of disposable water bottles on campus, and have water bottle fill stations installed. Zack wants to raise campus awareness so that we can get more students participating. Deric hopes to implement net-zero (self-sufficiency) building practices and to get more faculties involved. Deric also believes that \u201cwe need to focus on solutions and empower student leaders inside and outside the classroom in order to meet students where they\u2019re at.\u201d They are going to use all the lessons they\u2019ve learned to make this year\u2019s Earth Week a success.<\/p>\n

Here is what our Resource Conservation Manager, Deric Gruen, had to say about the experience:<\/p>\n

The Conference was once again an intense experience for me, with so many Colleges and Universities sharing their experiences in a brief few days.\u00a0 I attended sessions on variety of subjects in my domain of responsibilities for Bellevue College, including:\u00a0 green building, curriculum integration, student engagement, and social justice and campus operations.\u00a0 I also participated in a sustainability officer\u2019s workshop focusing on leadership and change management.\u00a0 Here are just a few of the most insightful or intriguing notions for Bellevue College.<\/p>\n