A New Way of Thinking

Photo Courtesy of: The MIT Press

Wednesday October 21st, 2009: Geoffrey Chase visits the UC Davis Campus.

The UC Davis Design lecture series welcomed Geoffrey Chase, co-author of "Sustainability on Campus- Stories and Strategies for change". His lecture, based off of the book, highlighted the importance on integrating the environment into the curriculum and the community. "Sustainability is local. Sustainability is global. Sustainability is community."- read one of his slides. Chase's presentation on "strategies for change" focused on starting in the class room. He opened new doors of opportunities on changing the way UC Davis could implement "greenness" on campus and into the curriculum. With this in mind, UC Davis could potentially emerge as a campus for sustainability in higher education- given the fact that it would take the university, staff, and students to make this change possible. Chase mentioned that currently, there is only one campus in the United States that offers a disciplinary major and graduate education in sustainability. So, there is intensive work ahead.

Sustainability is a new way of thinking. This thought kept resonating in my mind as I thought about how I could enhance my education and future career. UC Davis is already one of the leading campuses on making changes to better the environment- almost everyone bikes, there is a highly effective recycling program, a highly environmentally friendly water treatment facility, a dairy farm, vineyard, and olive factory, all handled with the greatest regard for the environment and the community. There are even several emerging classes on sustainability specifically. As a student in the world of design, I cannot help but become influenced by my surroundings-especially the ones that effect me personally. Sustainability and eco-consciousness is sweeping across campus, and what better source is there to be influenced by than the environment? Therefore, if we have control, it is vital to keep nourishing, not destroying, our only natural source of inspiration.