In June 2009, Franklin College Switzerland established the Center for Sustainability Initiatives after a nine month research project examining the state of sustainability on campus. The new center consists of faculty members, staff, and students from a wide range of disciplines and strives to facilitate sustainability efforts in the classroom, on campus, and in the greater community. In its first year, the center has met much success: it has supported several projects examining Franklin’s sustainability in its waste management, health services, travel program, and its food services; it has implemented a project to reduce the consumption of plastic bottles; it has developed public eduction programs for campus; and it has started work on a sustainable community garden. The center owes its success to the inclusion of a wide range of stakeholders, sponsored student internships, and support of the higher administration.
Franklin College Switzerland is a small, private bachelor-degree granting institution in Lugano, Switzerland. With approximately 425 students from 40+ countries, Franklin’s diversity presents challenges and advantages as it strives for increased sustainability. Franklin’s efforts reach out to community members from countries from Austria to Zimbabwe. Finding solutions for people from different cultures is no easy task; however, it is an essential one if we are to achieve global sustainability. Budgets can also be difficult; as an American-style institution in Switzerland, Franklin finds itself with limited access to funding from both the US and Switzerland. Over the past few years, signs of growing interest in sustainability at Franklin have included the creation of an environmental studies program, the development of courses examining sustainable development in situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, a periodic volunteer day at a local nature reserve, and the development of two student organizations: one supporting a village in Africa and one striving to raise campus awareness about environmental issues. Further, sustainability issues have entered our classroom discussions, informal conversations, and research interests. Nonetheless, Franklin has lacked a central organization to facilitate and support these interests. Further, many have come to recognize that if Franklin is truly interested in sustainability, it needs to look within as well. Thus, in September 2008, the Provost provided a stipend for two students to work with a professor on a project examining the state of sustainability at Franklin. One of the recommendations in the final proposal was the creation of a campus organization to coordinate sustainability projects at all levels. In June 2009, the President of Franklin approved the creation of a new organization now called the Center for Sustainability Initiatives at Franklin (CSIF).
The mission statement for CSIF sums up our objectives nicely: "… is to promote sustainability through research, education, and outreach at Franklin and in the outside world. We recognize that sustainability requires an approach that crosses traditional cultural and political borders and that engages multiple stakeholders in dialogue. We strive to inform the local and global discussions on multifaceted issues of sustainability and become a model for sustainability in higher education and the world in general."
The Center for Sustainable Initiatives at Franklin is currently co-directed by Professors Johanna Fassl (Art and Art History) and Brack Hale (Biology/Environmental Science). It has a board of advisors consisting of six additional professors and two student interns that receive a scholarship to work with the program. CSIF also sponsors unpaid internships for other students interested in its work and welcomes all volunteers. Although Franklin’s administration has granted CSIF building space (currently consisting of three faculty offices and a small conference/resource room), it does not have a budget, other than the scholarships that support the student interns. CSIF-affiliated faculty do not receive any financial support for their work, although it counts towards the service and scholarship expectations of their job. Current projects have hitherto been supported through local fundraising efforts. So far, CSIF has collaborated with multiple stakeholders on campus to achieve its goals. These have included Franklin’s Administration, Food Services, Housekeeping, Office of Student Life and Learning, and two student groups: the Baobab Initiative, which supports sustainable agriculture programs in Zambia, and the Environmental Action Alliance, which strives to increase campus awareness of environmental issues. CSIF staff work on a variety of projects including:
Campus sustainability
Curricular initiatives
Public education and outreach
Grant writing
Research involving external collaborations (under development).
The campus sustainability projects have focused on several areas that were either highlighted in the 2009 proposal or that were not included in that report. Specifically, these included the distribution of SIGG reusable drinking bottles to community members as part of an effort to reduce the generation of waste on campus, an analysis of the campus recycling status quo, the development of a proposal for a community garden, an analysis of campus health support, and an analysis of the environmental impacts of Franklin’s Academic Travel program. The curricular initiatives are presented in another submission to this conference. The public education and outreach efforts have included developing a website for the center, developing materials (e.g. an e-brochure and a presentation) to teach Franklin community members how to live more sustainably, and organizing the newly established annual sustainability forum. The grant writing and external research aspects have received less energy in this first year, however we have produced one grant proposal for a CSIF research project and are developing a cross-faculty research project.
During the first year, CSIF has been very successful, we have developed strong ties across the stakeholders on campus and have begun to reach out beyond our campus to the local community. The success of our many curricular initiatives is reviewed in another talk and so is not included here. Among our projects, the results of a campus survey found that the SIGG bottle initiative had reduced plastic bottle consumption on campus. We developed an analysis of campus recycling with recommendations for future recycling programs on campus, we developed a proposal and received approval to start an experimental community garden, and we made significant progress with our analyses of campus health and Academic Travel. During Earth Week, we sponsored a special menu in the campus eateries that featured local and organic meals, as well co-sponsored several events to educate the campus. We also hosted a successful forum that allowed a presentation of some of CSIF’s on-campus initiatives. Finally, we developed a website and a public education program for orientation of new students.
Several aspects have greatly facilitated the success of CSIF. The student interns have brought energy and passion to the projects on which they have worked, plus important insights from the student perspective. The diverse faculty bring perspectives from many disciplines, including art history, communications, cultural studies, economics, environmental studies, geography, and political science. Lastly, our kick-off with the distribution of SIGG bottles with our logo provides a frequent reminder of the new Center and its efforts, as well as the community’s role in sustainability.
guninetwork.org | Ph: +34 93 401 70 08 | Fx: +34 93 401 08 55 | C. Jordi Girona, 31. Edifici TG(S1). E-08755 Barcelona
