Green Umbrella Meetings: Kasdin et al., 10 March 2006, 4:30 PM, 311 Low

Minutes by Alex Bornstein. See also minutes by Scott Cardiff.

Attendance: Robert Kasdin, Will McKoy, Scott Wright;

Anjana Sharma, Scott Cardiff, Kate Lundberg, Six

Silberman, Coogan Brennan, Alex Bomstein.

Kasdin: At Columbia, it was a "Year 3" project to get

environmental changes. Not yet looking for public

demonstrations. "Environmental Stewardship Task

Force" is a more formal name than what's going on.

It's more of a group of volunteers. He had an "arm

wrestle" with the PR people at the university.

Doesn't want to get distracted by the "rhetoric"

around environmental stuff. He wants to hire an

Environmental Stewardship Coordinator (not

"sustainability - wants a neutral term). He doesn't

want it to be a political, wants instead to get real

work done.

Will: ESTF has been going on since July. They've

surveyed what's been done elsewhere and what's been

done at CU so far. Come up with a list of projects to

get done within a year's time, in 4-5 subgroups.

Example: Facilities did a survey of basic practices in

buildings. Seen need for an energy audit in dorms.

There's a pilot project going in dorms. Scott Wright

volunteered to be the main liaison with student

groups. They tried to find a way to get this info

disseminated to students. They're partnering with the

Columbia K-8 school. The Purchasing Dept's paper

changes were also ESTF stuff.

Kasdin: Even in his position, can't just "order

people around." Wants to use Housing & Dining as a

model in six months for use of 100% PCW paper.

Capital projects proposals now include evaluations

based on LEED criteria, even if they're not looking

for certification.

Anjana: What's the deal with the "Assessment" versus

the ESTF?

Will: The assessment was just what people started

mistakenly calling the facilities surveys they were

undergoing. It wasn't something separate.

Kasdin: He's not against a full Columbia assessment.

Will: Energy assessment. This year is to try to get

organized.

Coogan: Student involvement is needed.

Kasdin: There's a place for students. He doesn't

want

students doing unneeded studies. On the other hand,

he doesn't see students as much as he'd like.

Will: The Earth Institute and SIPA have academic

projects about the University supported by the ESTF.

2 projects have already begun. It's more that they

signed off on the projects that people wanted to do.

Anjana: What about the website?

Kasdin: It will include a suggestion box. They'll

hire the Environmental Stewardship Coordinator.

Anjana: There is lots of student group collective

memory and knowledge to plug into this. Possibly at

the level of each department.

Will: We've been trying to get student involvement

for a while.

Scott W: It's also important to think about --

Housing & Dining has had lots of interaction with

students, partly because of the nature of the

organization. It might not be able to expand that

more. They'll continue to grab onto the easy stuff

immediately, it'll be slower with the big stuff.

Kasdin: There's a disjunction between student and

administration time scales because of how long

students are around. We don't need demands, but

rather demonstrations to donors and deans that this

stuff works.

Anjana: We just would like incremental changes, we

know it's a long-term process.

Six: You [Kasdin] talked about not having grand,

meaningless gestures. I've wanted student engagement,

even with student involvement that raises awareness

but doesn't necessarily get lots done.

Kasdin: Yeah, but...

Six: People really want to think about what's going

on around here.

Kasdin: There's been a deliberate decision to not

incorporate students and faculty so far, but that's

not a long-term decision.

Anjana: So if it's not long-term...Housing & Dining's

a good example. When will we get involvement?

Kasdin: It's not a question of timing, but how and to

what extent.

Anjana: What about this student liaison idea?

Kasdin: Yeah, would like to float that idea.

Will: In the next couple weeks they'd like to

approach all student organizations about the ESTF.

Open up dialogue this semester, so next fall there'll

be more practical experience.

Kasdin: No one here is empowered by the University to

just get stuff done. Need to keep connecting back to

"home organizations" on the administrative level.

Six: Want to open channels of communication.

Kasdin: Don't assume that if we're not reaching out

to you, we're not interested.

Anjana: What should we hope for?

Kasdin: This is on the volunteer level at first. Sit

down with Scott & Will next week, hash out details.

Then they'll talk with the home organizations.

Anjana: Have you talked to Harvard about getting

quantifiable info about the University?

Will: They'll tell us what they're up to next week.

Kasdin: Doesn't want to have student involvement at

the expense of student not doing things over which

they have direct control. Doesn't want confrontation.

Coogan: Food sustainability project is an example of

students absolutely getting involved in that type of

nitty-gritty work.

Scott W: Eco-reps is a good model to follow.

[It's 5:30 and Kasdin starts heading out. The rest

stay a bit longer]

Will: What's the student group landscape like? To

make sure outreach is universal.

Alex: What's next for the ESTF?

Scott W: 1) Increase campus education; 2) Get larger

projects going up; 3) Put up the website and get good

outreach.

Coogan: What's needed for next meeting?

Will: List & description of student organizations,

new recommended projects.

Scott W: Eco-reps should be discussed.

Will: We should have a balance between establishing a

long-term process & working on particular projects.

[The meeting time will be Friday, March 24 at 3pm,

location TBA by Will. Give him at least 24 advance

notice of who's potentially showing up.]

Coogan: When will the coordinator be hired?

Will: Most likely before the fall semester.