An invitation on behalf of Dr. Robert Hellström, the Department of Geography, and the Center for Sustainability.
We are looking forward to a productive sustainability conference on climate resilience and vulnerability on November 15th, from 4 pm – 8 pm in the Moakley Auditorium.
We start the event with three very good speakers! See bios here:
1. Round The Bend Farm (https://roundthebendfarm.org/; https://roundthebendfarm.org/2022/11/01/benoit-featured-in-south-coast-almanac-modern-farmer/),
2. The state's Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program(MVP https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mvp-20#mvp-planning-2.0-overview-; https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-rocha-258026b5),
3. SE Mass regional Old Colony Planning Council (https://oldcolonyplanning.org/about/staff/joanne-zygmunt/).
After hearing from some experts, the format will shift, and we will break out into smaller sessions to discuss, adopting the perspective of an unconference.
An unconference is a participant-driven meeting that recognizes that there are expert ideas among us. We hope to get together, share, and learn from each other’s perspective. This video shares some basic ideas about an Unconference. Our hope is that this format allows everyone to participate in something that interests them—and supports us in generating new ideas.
The breakout sessions might be a wonderful opportunity for faculty and students to make real-world connections with some active state agencies and community members on topics such as water quality, land use, green agriculture and environmental justice initiatives.
First, we would love to have some faculty get involved by facilitating a session:
- Is there anything that you would like to talk about related to themes of sustainability?
- Is there something that you would like to discuss that builds campus-town-government connections?
- Do you want to share something that you’ve seen other higher education institutions do that you think would work here?
- How do you think we might get students involved with the community on these issues?
What to expect in a session:
- Introductions
- Discussion of ideas
- Note-taking
- Whoever shows up are the right people
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
- Go with the flow!
The entire process is organic. You don’t need to be an expert to facilitate a session.
The day will begin at 4pm in Moakley Auditorium. A brief agenda is below:
4:00 pm | Keynote Speaker – Courtney Rocha |
4:30 pm | Panel discussion –Courtney Rocha, Desa Van Laarhoven, Joanne Zygmunt |
5:15 pm | 15-minute break// Unconference sessions |
5:45 – 6:45 | Breakout sessions |
7:00 pm | Reflection and debrief (Moakley Auditiorium) |
We look forward to seeing you then. Please reach out with questions.
Attached flyer has registration QR code and here's the link: https://forms.gle/rWqKenyJw6RsK5kNA
