Year on Climate Change
The Year on Climate Change was a collegewide initiative during the 2019–20 academic year to critically examine the complex and urgent issue of climate change. As a college of and for the world, the program was an invitation to the entire Smith community, no matter background or passion, to engage in a manner that was uniquely liberal arts—through deep and authentic collaboration, critical thinking, listening and action. All students, staff, faculty and alumnae were encouraged and invited to create and attend events throughout the year.
The Year on Climate Change was a collegewide initiative during the 2019–20 academic year to critically examine the complex and urgent issue of climate change. As a college of and for the world, the program was an invitation to the entire Smith community, no matter background or passion, to engage in a manner that was uniquely liberal arts—through deep and authentic collaboration, critical thinking, listening and action. All students, staff, faculty and alumnae were encouraged and invited to create and attend events throughout the year.
The Year on Climate Change is a yearlong, campus-wide series of programs, generated by all members of our community, examining the issues and inequities of climate change. The idea of a themed year came from the Study Group on Climate Change, who recommended that the college plan and implement themed, yearlong, campus-wide programs that bring the Smith community together for an in-depth examination of focused aspects of climate change.
The goal of the year is for the entire Smith community, including alumnae, to engage in curricular and co-curricular programming that catalyzes or deepens their understanding of climate change as a social justice issue and dedication to tackling this urgent problem. We also hope to expand opportunities for students to learn about climate-action initiatives outside of the classroom and to live more sustainably on campus.
The Climate Equity and Justice: Solutions in Action conference, is this weekend! While registration is closed, feel free to attend the keynote event with Kristina Peterson of the Lowlander Institute on October 4 at 4 p.m. in Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall. For those who were not able to register, we will post conference materials on the YCC website after the event.
A Year in Review
During 2019-20, the Year on Climate Change sought to engage the campus community in ways that catalyzed and grew connections between their passions and interests and climate and environmental change. Across the college, the community was galvanized to orient curricular and co-curricular programming toward equipping itself with information and skills to take on the climate change crisis critically, deliberately, and uniquely.
Some key events, initiatives, and milestones achieved throughout the year include:
- The Year on Climate Change Conference, held in October 2019, brought the community together to frame the crisis of climate change as a social justice problem and explore and investigate models of just and equitable solutions in action
- A plan to divest from fossil fuel investments in the Smith endowment
- Completion of the District Energy Master Plan
- A test geothermal well was drilled as a pilot project for implementing a campus-wide ground- source heat exchange system that will help Smith achieve carbon neutrality by 2030
- Faculty throughout each academic division augmented or added courses that examined the intersection of climate change. Examples include: Architectural Design Studio: Transient Spaces - Terrestrial Bodies, The Bible and the American Public Square, Psychosocial Determinants of Health, Race and the Environment, Engineering for Everyone: Sustainable Water Resource, and Climate and Conflict.
- The Design Thinking Initiative executed a year-long series of interactive, environmentally focused programming to teach and engage the community on principles of re-use, re- purposing, and human-centered design.
- As a partner of the Whole Animal Whole Region program, Smith began a multi-year regional whole animal supply chain that sets a fair price and predictable business for local farmers and food processors, advances best sustainability practices for livestock and land management, and fulfills our purchasing needs. In 2020, Smith bought 399 whole animals from local farms.
- In total, 165 events on campus focused on climate change and were led by numerous departments, units, and student groups
View the schedule from the October 2019 conference (PDF) for details.
