April's Monadnock Earth Journal: Ubuntu

Just published in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript: Click here for the article and photos.

Farmer Kim's blog post about the Earth Day Fair at Franklin Pierce

Click here for this great piece.

So great to have you there, Kim! Thanks to Andy Hatchett and his students in the Health Sciences, and Stacey Purslow of Farm to Institution New England, for co-organizing! Thanks to the farmers, vendors, educators and students who attended, and all the folks who support these folks!

Kicking off Earth Week at Franklin Pierce

Monday's Earth Day Fair kicked off a week-long celebration of Earth Week at the Rindge campus. The fair was a joint effort supported by Farm to Institution New England, the Sustainability Center, Health Sciences, Environmental Science & Environmental Studies, Black River Produce, Sodexo, The Cornucopia Project, and several local farms.

Check out the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript story here. Thanks to Ashley Saari!

On Tuesday, several classes joined the Monadnock Conservancy's Emily Hague to clean up trash along the woods on campus. Today we'll plant more seeds in the campus greenhouse with freshman students, and I'll present my photos from the International Association of Universities' conference on "Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development" in Iquitos, Peru. Tomorrow, garden work; and Friday, the Sustainability Certificate students will present their projects and experiences at a special community share-out.

Check out the SustainableFPU Facebook page for details on these events. Hope to see you soon!

News from FPU on my speaking engagement at the International Association of Universities 2014 International Conference in Iquitos, Peru

Now posted at www.FranklinPierce.edu:


Sustainability Coordinator at Franklin Pierce University Speaks at International Conference in Peru


March 31, 2014




Franklin Pierce University’s Sustainability Coordinator Jess Gerrior spoke at the International Association of Universities 2014 International Conference in Iquitos, Peru, March 21-23. The theme of the Conference was "Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development.” Gerrior was invited to participate in a panel discussion about the role of higher education institutions in sustainable development and assessing sustainability in university life beyond “campus greening.” A draft statement by the Conference on this subject will be contributed to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Aichi Nagoya, Japan, in November 2014.


Gerrior and Conference delegates expressed agreement with the need for higher education institutions to realign programs and policies with the mission of sustainable development. Gerrior believes the future lies with new models for collaboration within and among higher education institutions. The courses she teaches at Franklin Pierce University focus on connecting sustainability as both a practice and guiding principle with students’ everyday lives and on the skills needed to empower students as sustainability leaders.


Gerrior reflected on the shocking disparity in the distribution of resources between developed and developing nations, and the often unrecognized value of traditional knowledge systems and how higher education can learn from them. “I learned from African university leaders about the meaning of ubuntu,” Gerrior says, “which loosely translated means, ‘We are who we are through each other.’ This simple phrase challenges how we view ourselves, which I think is critical in solving these global challenges. For universities, I think it means a need to shift from generating answers to generating new questions.”


Gerrior will present “Postcards from Peru: Presentation of Jess Gerrior's Journey to the International Association of Universities 2014 International Conference in Iquitos, Peru,” on April 23, 12:30 p.m. at Franklin Pierce University’s Lakeside Education Center.


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