Greening the Community College

Just to get things started, we would like to use the Gaia Model as a heuristic “lens” for looking at all of the various topics associated with greening a community college.  Briefly, it might look something like this:

PHYSIOSPHERE: (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)

–issues relating to the siting and physical plants of community colleges–e.g. wetland stewardship (as at Chesapeake campus), energy conservation (LEEDS certification), parking lots vs. green space (e.g. carpooling to reduce necessity for huge parking lots), etc.

BIOSPHERE: What should be the commitment of a community college to preserving green space and wildlife habitat, and using this educationally (e.g. wetlands at Chesapeake and estuarial inlet at Portsmouth)?  How might the biota on community college sites best be put to educational use?

NOOSPHERE:

Money–in what ways could energy cost savings be translated into additional funding for environmental education?

POLITICS: What are the respective roles and prospects for the various levels of the social hierarchy of community colleges to commit to “Greening” (VCCS, College Presidents, Academic Administration, Operations, Faculty Senate, SGA)

TECHNOLOGY: With the new emphasis on computer technology, how could energy saving measures and recycling of computer technology be implemented effectively on CC campuses

CULTURE: In what ways could “green” perspectives be instituted within all aspects of a Community College curriculum?