University News
IIRA Brownbaggers Sustainability Sessions Spring 2015
January 16, 2015
MACOMB, IL – The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University will again sponsor the winter/spring series of sustainability-themed brown bag lunch-hour discussions beginning next Tuesday, Jan. 20. The one-hour presentations, held from 12:30–1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in the Leslie F. Malpass Library (locations listed below), are described as "conversations for the natural and social sciences, business and the arts and humanities."
The Spring 2015 sessions will include a film, webinars, music and open discussions regarding the broader view of the human impact regarding sustainability. The series is open free to the public.
"We like to offer a number of different topics in our line up to highlight there is not just one approach to achieve sustainability. Instead, we need to examine the use of our resources from a variety of angles, to preserve our natural resources and environment," IIRA Assistant Director Timothy Collins explained.
"People so often believe they don't have the power to make a difference, but there are many ways to affect meaningful change in small ways, such as unplugging appliances and using compact fluorescent light bulbs, buying clothes that don't need to be dry cleaned, and using cold water to wash them," he added.
Collins also noted the Sustainability Brownbagger series provides information that goes beyond personal activities and covers some of the larger issues and opportunities that sustainability poses for society.
Session locations will vary by date, and the location of each session is listed in the schedule below. (Note: the LCC2 room in Malpass Library is by the reference desk, main floor; the LCC3 room is located on the third floor at the top of stairs, to the left. This semester, the sessions will also be held as a General Honors seminar course. )
Members of the Macomb and University communities are invited to stay for the remainder of the March 10 session (class discussion), which is scheduled to end at 2:10 p.m. In addition, some sessions will be conducted as webinars. These may be accessed at http://wiu1.adobeconnect.com/library/. To participate, select "Enter as Guest."
- Jan. 20 — Introduction and showing of the film, "The Plow that Broke the Plains," room LCC3
- Jan. 27 — "The IDNR and Conservation Education" (Webinar), Valerie Keener, Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), room LCC3
- Feb. 3 — "Green Buildings," John Purdy, Hollister Electrical, Plumbing and Heating, room LCC2
- Feb. 10 — "Restoration Agriculture" (Webinar), Tory Dalhoff, Yeoman Filmer and Keefe Keeley, Savanna Institute executive director, room LCC2
- Feb. 17 — "Branding Sustainability" (Webinar), Bob Killian, Killian Branding, room LCC2
- Feb. 24 — "Environmental Conflict Resolution" (Webinar and onsite), Ron Hustedde, University of Kentucky Dept. of Community and Leadership Development, room LCC3
- March 3 — "Music and the Land," Bucky Halker, Company of Folk, room LCC3
- March 10 — "Aspects of Sustainability" (class discussion), room LCC3
The IIRA's Spring 2015 sustainability lunch-hour discussion series is presented in cooperation with the Malpass Library, the WIU Institute for Environmental Studies and the WIU Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research.
For more information, contact Collins at (309) 298-3412 or T-Collins@wiu.edu. Learn more about the IIRA initiatives at www.iira.org.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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