Hamline thrives!

• Hamline's go-to Sustainability coordinators are the Director of Sustainability and the Sustainability program, facilitated by the Sustainability Committee and student Thrive Team

• The Standing Committee on Sustainability coordinates curricular and co-curricular sustainability education carried out by various hubs in our campus network

• Together with the Committee, the Sustainability Thrive Team facilitates campus and community engagement around sustainability, including sustainability planning for campus

• Our goal is to integrate sustainability, defined as the conditions under which all people can thrive in the long term, into the curriculum, community and campus engagement practices, and planning and operations

🌱

Sustainability Committee work at Hamline is charged with coordinating Hamline's efforts at education as if the future mattered. Members of the committee serve for three-year terms in one of three working groups:

Curriculum: Recognizing and supporting students, faculty, and staff working toward the future;

Planning/Operations/Well Being: Collecting and analyzing sustainability data (via the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System) to establish baselines and assess improvements;

Engagement: Engaging the campus and community in working toward and celebrating our sustainability initiatives and investments; participating in higher education sustainability accountability programs, such as STARS, and the Talloires and Climate Leadership Resilience Commitment.

Hamline's Sustainability Committee members guide and share the work of the Sustainability Director and Thrive Team:

• orienting students, staff, and faculty toward understanding and practicing sustainability together;

• connecting familiar material sustainability practices like waste diversion and water and energy conservation to accompanying concepts like environmental racism, ecological literacy, shared governance, inclusivity, and equity;

• exploring what Hamline’s sustainability strengths are and should be -- including creating and implementing a campus sustainability plan that articulates our strengths, goals, and what everyone in the Hamline community can do to help make our campus and our world a place where everyone can thrive in the long term.

Sustainability work on campus helps Hamline meet strategic goals:

• Using Hamline’s campus as “living classrooms,” sustainability scholarship helps feature academic excellence in relevant and distinctive ways, showing how students can be involved in solving real-world problems: from solar panels and batteries to government to theatre to food systems, Hamline’s experiential learning opportunities that integrate sustainability show how students’ passions and life experiences can contribute to their careers, communities, and the planet.

• Campus sustainability helps attract, retain, and motivate students. Contemporary students are seeking schools that actively demonstrate sustainability leadership and provide them with the tools for complex decision making and problem solving. Sustainability, and the sense of purpose it provides, may also enhance student retention.

• Sustainability work -- in the classroom, co-curriculum, and operations -- enhances campus and community relationships as people build social change at the speed of trust. Planning toward the future using the perspectives of climate justice and ecological and racial healing, sustainability work supports diversity, inclusion, and equity work.

• Sustainability learning improves organizational efficiency, decreases operational costs, reduces risk and catalyzes increased giving and new funding sources.