Bryant University
ER-T2-6: Sustainability Events

Bryant has held several major events related to sustainability including an annual Women's Summit, which discusses sustainability at a high level. In April, 2012 the University hosted a campus-wide workshop that focused on multiple facets of sustainability. Planned by students and faculty, various panel discussions involved students, faculty, government representatives, green practitioners, and business owners. In 2009, a Green Week event was held on campus to celebrate Earth Week. Co-sponsored by the Student Senate and other organizations, the planning committee reached out to all campus organizations for participation. Off-campus speakers were invited to discuss recycling, green technology, renewable energy, and other sustainability issues. The events were held in the Rotunda in the middle of the day, which increased exposure to the topics. In 2011 and 2012, a campus-wide research event, REDay (http://blogs.bryant.edu/newsroom/?tag=reday), encompassed research from faculty and students in the Rotunda of the main campus center. Classes were cancelled allowing the entire Bryant community to attend the presentations and observe the posters. Many sustainability topics were covered by these research presentations including the impacts of oil contamination, toxic mold studies, climate change modeling, damage to coral reefs, protection of endangered species, water quality changes due to land use etc. In 2011, as part of an afternoon series of cross-disciplinary discussions on societal topics, a climate change symposium was designed to include the perspectives of economic, environmental, social, and financial experts. This event was attended by over 100 students, who actively participated in follow-on discussions.