October, 2009
The Sustainable Community Development Initiative has a newsletter!
Sustainability is everywhere! The SCDI team decided to create a newsletter to circulate news and events happening on and around Grand Valley.
Who we are and what we do
The purpose of Grand Valley State University's Sustainable Community Development Initiative (or SCDI) is to provide the necessary skills, analytical tools, and resources to address global, national, regional, and local sustainability issues. The SCDI offers courses, programs, internships, and project activities that promote awareness about sustainable development and how sustainability best practices can be applied to gain progress against these ongoing issues. Our mission is to provide Grand Valley administration, faculty, staff, students, and community stakeholders with the required skills and capabilities to become better stewards and responsible global citizens in the workforce, communities, and family life. The vision of sustainability is accepted and valued as having an integral role in fulfilling the mission of Grand Valley. This systems integration of sustainability builds the
capacity to improve upon global sustainability issues across complex and interrelated - financial, natural, human, social, manufactured, cultural, and community - capital frameworks. View our site at www.gvsu.edu/si.
Meet the SCDI staff!
Norman Christopher, Executive Director
Norman Christopher is currently Executive Director of Sustainable Community Development Imitative at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) after spending his career in management in the chemical industry. At Grand Valley he is responsible for coordinating and developing GVSU’s Sustainability Initiative including activities within campus operations, dining, and administration; faculty and curriculum development; student involvement; and community engagement. He also teaches several MBA courses in Sustainable Business Practices. Mr. Christopher has a BA from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He also completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University. Mr. Christopher is also active in the Grand Rapids community. He serves currently on the boards and advisory groups including: The City of Grand Rapids Sustainability
Committee, the Hands of Hope Initiative, the Michigan Chemistry Council, the NSF Joint Committee on Sustainable Business and Industrial Furniture. Mr. Christopher was also appointed to serve on Governor Granholm’s Michigan Climate Action Council. Mr. Christopher has also contributed articles and papers to various journals and periodicals including Sustaining Michigan: Metropolitan Policies and Strategies, Michigan State University Press.
Bart Bartels, Project Manager
Bart received degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, thus beginning his career in banking which spanned two decades -- the first as a broker on the Chicago Board of Trade; the second as a loan officer for Flagstar Bank. In 2006 he moved his family to the United Kingdom, and began working for the University of Wales as the Entrepreneurship Champion. It was in Wales that Bart's financial background interwove with his passion for sustainability. Moving back to West Michigan in late 2008, he continued on his altered career path as the Project Manager for the Sustainable Community Development Initiative at GVSU.
Andrea Marz, Office Coordinator
Andrea is the office coordinator for the Sustainable Community Development Initiative. She is also passionate about the environment, which led her to pursue a degree in Sustainability at GVSU. Andrea acquired the values, skills and principles of applied sustainability when she and her fellow classmates developed and participated in a recycling service learning project in the southwest area of the City of Grand Rapids. They went door to door enrolling residents in the city’s free recycling program. To ensure the sustainability of the project, the students partnered with GVSU’s TRiO Upward Bound students from Central and Union High Schools. Together with the TRiO students, they were able to enroll 200 new households in the city’s free recycling program. When not working or in class, Andrea enjoys spending time with her husband, Dave, and their adopted greyhound, Neeko.
She is also a green smoothie aficionado who embraces a vegan lifestyle.
Emily Martin, Graduate Assistant
Emily Martin just joined SCDI this semester as a graduate assistant. This is also her first semester in the Master of Public Administration program, where she is concentrating on Urban/ Regional Policy and Planning. She received her undergraduate degree in sociology and history from Calvin College. Between her undergraduate work and graduate work, she worked in the nonprofit sector - first with Mixed Greens/ Blandford Nature Center and then for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. She lives in the Creston neighborhood of Grand Rapids, and serves on the board of the Creston Neighborhood Association. Some of her interests in sustainability are local food systems and neighborhood redevelopment.
Luis Colaferro, Intern
Luis Otavio Colaferro is a senior at Grand Valley State University. He is pursuing a degree in Business with an emphasis on Finance from the Seidman College of Business. Luis became interested in Sustainability early in his education at Grand Valley, and was able to join the Sustainable Community Development Initiave where he worked on the Allendale campus carbon footprint. Luis is currently the Carbon Inventory Manager of the Climate Action Committee at Grand Valley.
Erin Layman, Web Editor
Erin is a senior at Grand Valley State University. She is pursuing a degree in English with a Language and Literature emphasis. Once she graduates in May, 2010, she hopes to enter into the publishing and editing field. Erin became involved in sustainability when she joined the SCDI staff as the web editor for the Sustainable Community Development Initiative web site. As a member of the SCDI team, Erin has embraced a greener lifestyle and helps to promote green living world wide. Erin focuses on using social networking to spread sustainable information across the globe as well as providing the local communities with information and events in their areas.
Campus Sustainability Week
It's More Than Being Green - Campus Sustainability Week 2009, October 19-24, 2009
Every October, the Sustainable Community Development Initiative partners with departments campus-wide to host Campus Sustainability Week (CSW). Events scheduled throughout this week attract participants ranging from Grand Valley students, faculty, and staff to members of the surrounding communities.
We are excited to announce that this year's Campus Sustainability Week is Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 24 and will support the campus-wide theme of
“It’s More Than Being Green”. Each day will focus on a different aspect of sustainability:
Monday, Oct 19 - Sustainability is “Exploring Your Involvement”
Tuesday, Oct 20 - Sustainability is “Determining Your Impact”
Wednesday, Oct 21 - Sustainability is “Preserving Your Health and Community”
Thursday, Oct 22 - Sustainability is “Creating Responsible Economies”
Friday, Oct 23 - Sustainability is “Conserving Your Resources”
Saturday, Oct 24 - Sustainability is “Serving Your Community”
Please visit here for a detailed list of events for CSW.
GVSU's Green Library
GVSU Libraries and the Sustainable Community Development Initiative are proud to bring you Grand Valley’s first Green Library! GVSU’s Green Library is an online resource through the GVSU Library website. This tool was made to start filling the gap between the university community and sustainability research instruments.
What you can find in the Green Library:
• Books: When you put “sustainability” into the GVSU Libraries search bar, you’ll come back with over 500 hits. Isn’t there an easier way? The Green Library helps you tailor your search to more pertinent and manageable information.
• Databases: The GVSU Libraries website highlights more popular databases like Academic Search Premier, but have you ever heard of GreenFile or AGRICOLA? The Green Library puts you in touch with recent journals and their articles for your research.
• Organizations: Need to find an organization for a research project or just want more information on how to become active? The Green Library’s Organizations page lists Grand Valley, Michigan, and National organizations relating to the values of the Triple Bottom Line.
• Also look for: videos, journals, news RSS feeds, websites and books by topic.
For more information about the Green Library, including book donations, comments, and suggestions, please contact:
Toni Jones, Green Library Developer:
MissToniJones@gmail.com
Click here for more information.
In the news
GVSU Michigan's top green university
Lakers garden to save wetlands
Green housing project wins $10,000 award
Students to attend Power Shift in Lansing
$7,400,000 construction 'on schedule'
Community Garden grows fresh tastes
SCDI on Twitter!
Check out SCDI on Twitter! Follow us for sustainable facts, news and events!
SCDI on Facebook!
Click to view the SCDI fan page on Facebook!
Please feel free to email sustainability@gvsu.edu if you have any questions or comments.
www.gvsu.edu/si
