Hanley Sustainability Institute

By Mark Gokavi

The Hanley Sustainability Institute and the University of Dayton have joined a select group of schools as host institutions for the Oct. 20-22 Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education (GCSHE).

Organized by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the event’s theme is “Mobilizing for a Just Transition.” The virtual conference seeks to deliver inspiring content, engaging networking opportunities and thought-provoking keynote speakers and presenters.

UD stands alongside Arizona State, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Colorado, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Texas, Wisconsin and others as hosts for a conference with a global audience of innovative professionals and students committed to a more sustainable future.

“We're delighted to serve as a host,” said Ben McCall, HSI’s executive director. “The conference's theme is resonant with so much activity currently going on at UD, including campus sustainability improvements, curricular innovations, faculty scholarship, community engagement, and our anti-racism action plan.”

At least five presentations and one networking session are being hosted by University of Dayton personnel. “Serving as a host institution will allow us to showcase UD's work to this global audience of sustainability students, faculty, and professionals in higher education,” McCall said. “It also allows our entire student body and our faculty and staff to access the conference at no additional cost.”

Only those with @udayton.edu email addresses will get free access by registering here. On the submit payment page, enter the discount code UDAYTONEDU093020, which will drop the total to $0.00.

Organizers say that a series of intensifying and interrelated social and ecological crises require a holistic transformation from an extractive economy to a regenerative one that leaves no one behind. 

“Our host institutions champion sustainability advancements in higher education,” said Meghan Fay Zahniser, AASHE’s executive director. “We are grateful to work with these select colleges and universities that directly contribute to the success of the conference and the sustainability movement as a whole.”

Rebecca Potter, the sustainability program director and HSI’s curriculum director, said the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way information is shared.

“With institutional sponsorship, all of the students at UD can attend this conference and have access to internationally known keynote speakers, and cutting-edge research presentations, including presentations by undergrad and graduate students,” Potter said. “I encourage you to check out the Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education, and listen in on those talks that interest you the most.”

The on-demand content will be available to UD faculty, staff and students from Oct. 20 until Nov. 22. View the on-demand content here.

In 2018, the University of Dayton first achieved a Gold rating in AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). AASHE empowers higher education administrators, faculty, staff and students to be effective change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation by offering essential resources and professional development to a diverse, engaged community of sustainability leaders.

Check back to HSI’s news blog for future stories on UD’s presentations, the event’s keynote speakers and additional information.