Programs

Campus Sustainability Month is a nationwide celebration of sustainability on college campuses. Supported through the national AASHE organization, the purpose of this event is to emphasize sustainability. We intend to have programming and opportunities for all ISU community members to learn about sustainability on campus, in the community, and in their potential careers.

If you would like to host or collaborate on an event for Campus Sustainability Month, please reach out to ISU-Sustainability@indstate.edu.

Our list of 2022 events is coming soon!

Earth Day is a national celebration of the land that we collectively inhabit and its purpose is to recognize our impact on the land. ISU has celebrated Earth Day for the past ten years with a large gathering of students, staff, faculty, and community members. This celebration has expanded beyond the one-day event into a week long celebration with multiple events. We work with many campus and community partners to put on these events and have a breadth of sustainability experiences during the week.

Earth Week has programs and activities that celebrate and provide education about sustainability centered on the wellbeing of our society, economy, and planet. Our programming is centered on the three components of sustainability - social, environmental, economic - and the interconnected systems that impact healthy and sustainable communities. We also want to highlight and uplift campus and community events that focus on the wellbeing of our society, economy, and planet.

You can find examples of previous events from 2021 here.

If your organization or department would like to participate in any events or would like to put on your own events and have support from our office, please contact the Office of Sustainability - ISU-Sustainability@indstate.edu

Taboo Topics is a programming series centered on facilitating dialogue about topics people often avoid having conversations about. Multicultural Services & Programs, Honors College, and our office work to provide three of these events every semester. Each Taboo Topics event invites a speaker, panel, or other educational activity during the first half and then engaging conversation around the topic presented happens during the second half.

Fall 2021

• October - People's Parks & Justice with Dr. Kera Lovell (Recorded Zoom) - People's Parks are common around the United States, in fact Bloomington, IN has one. What is not common is the knowledge and conversation about justice movements that underlie the creation of these parks. From racial justice, to environmental justice, to current housing justice issues these parks are spaces for radical movements. Join us to learn about the history of these parks and join in conversation about what can be done.

• November - CANCELED

Spring 2022

• February - Food Justice in our Communities - (Recorded Zoom) Food justice is a perspective that the food system needs to provide equitable access to nutritious and fresh food and that this is a human right. In a discussion with Lauren Baines the director of Student Health Promotions, Rev. Dawn Black of United Campus Ministries, and Polina Kaniuka, a PhD student, we talk about the various injustices in our food system and how folks can get involved in making a more sustainable system.
• March - Representation Matters - During the month of Women's History Month and Disability Awareness Month, we are going to have a discussion about how representation matters in all aspects from media to education to business and more.
• April - Men & Masculinities - A conversation and workshop around toxic masculinity, masculinities in our communities, and how we all enact these behaviors.

Sustainable Spaces

Building Sustainable Spaces at ISU is important to helping our institution uphold its commitment to sustainability and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. This program is intended to be a departmental level reporting tool that is avaialble for general office guidelines. It is based off a national metric that many other institutions across the US are utilizing. 

The Sustainable Spaces Program helps offices:

1. Determine how sustainable they're operational behaviors and actions are in a clear metric
2. Identify clear and actionable ways to improve their sustainability operations
3. Get recognition for the work they are already doing and working towards

Any member of the institution can participate in this program. All it takes is a physical space on campus that can be defined as an "office". Offices can be an individual enclosed office, a small group, or an entire department. Members of any ISU office can enroll their office in the program, but direct support from the responsible individuals for oversight should be sought.

How to Join

Each office is responsible for identifying a point person to complete the certification. The point person will complete the certification checklist, which is an easy-to-use excel spreadsheet. Once the checklist is complete, you will send it to the Sustainability Coordinator. They will contact you to talk about some of the items on the certification and ensure that items are verified. Once all items have been verified, your office will be included in the reported offices and receive a certification seal.

Maintaining Membership

To remain in the Sustainable Spaces Program, offices should re-certify every year on the anniversary of their certification. This is through an update of the certification checklist. 

If you would like to learn more about the Sustainable Spaces Program or have questions about the certification process, please contact the Office of Sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability puts on monthly professional development workshops for all at ISU. The Lunch 'N Learns are meant to provide education and conversation about campus sustainability issues here at ISU. These workshop sessions build a sustainability network across ISU and intend to spur conversation outside this space about sustainability.

If you would like more information about Lunch 'N Learns, please reach out to the Office of Sustainability. 

Indiana State University became the 60th campus in the USA to become Bee USA Campus Certified. Bee Campus USA fosters ongoing dialogue to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in our communities and what each of us can do to provide them with healthy habitat. The Bee Campus USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in an application, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet. Katlin Childress 19’ was the driving force behind our certification. One of the responsibilities of this certification is the maintenance of a pollinator committee. If you are interested in being a part of the committee, please contact ISU-Sustainability@indstate.edu.