ACSC Meetings Fall Semester 2008
September 24, 3:00 to 4:30am, Learning Center 202

News
The Ambler Campus Sustainability Council - Guiding Ambler towards "Green"

Sustainability Push Set to Begin (President Hart's Announcement)

Web Site Resource
Sustainability at Temple University

Past Events

Sustainability Visioning Workshop, Spring 2008

On Monday, February 4, the ACSC held its second campus Sustainability Visioning Workshop. This program, targeted specifically to the campus’ student population, provided students, faculty, and staff with important information on how they can help the campus become more energy efficient, more environmentally friendly, and more sustainable. It encouraged students to brainstorm new initiatives to promote sustainability.

To kick-off the workshop, Dr. Lynn Mandarano, ACSC Co-chair and Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning, made a brief educational presentation, “What is Sustainability?” highlighting several initiatives and principles guiding sustainable development. Alice Walters, ACSC Co-chair, followed with a presentation covering what other universities are doing to make their campuses more sustainable. During the brainstorming session participants suggested and prioritized actions, projects, and policies that could be implemented on Ambler Campus. The results from the visioning workshop will be used by the ACSC to guide its efforts to enhance Ambler’s sustainability.

Shoemaker House Woods Clean-Up, Spring 2007

There were all of a dozen of us, but our enthusiasm made it seem like there were three times as many. We brought pruning shears, lopers, a machete, a chainsaw and even a bulldozer to knock down the invasive trees, shrubs and vines that had taken over the Shoemaker House and its surroundings. A derelict structure on the south end of campus that dates back to the late 1600s, this historic treasure is a spring house, with crystal clear water flowing into a manmade pond. The pond is filled with silt and decades of trash, but it does not take much imagination to see the wonderful opportunities ahead for this special place. We envision stabilizing the ruins and restoring the environment with native species. Even now, the view across the pond evokes images of the English countryside—perhaps the Ambler campus will one day have a new garden. Meanwhile, there is much to learn right here about environmental restoration and historic preservation. Anyone interested in participating in future clean-ups, please contact dhowe@temple.edu.

Sustainability Visioning Workshop, Spring 2007

On May 1, 2007, the ACSC hosted its first Ambler Campus Sustainability Visioning Workshop and a campus tour. More than 30 staff and faculty participated in this event. The goals of the workshop were:

• To increase the level of awareness of existing sustainability initiatives on Campus
• To educate participants about sustainability in general terms and with respect to other university initiatives
• To derive a list of potential projects, policies and other actions from immediate users of the Ambler Campus

To kick-off the workshop, Lynn Mandarano made a brief educational presentation, “What is Sustainability?”, highlighting several initiatives and principles guiding sustainable development. This was followed by a brainstorming session during which participants suggested actions, projects, and policies that could be implemented on Ambler Campus. Thereafter, participants worked in four groups to discuss the list of roughly 100 ideas and to select their top ten initiatives.

The ACSC will host an additional visioning workshop for students during the fall 2007 semester. The results from the visioning workshops will be used by the ACSC to guide its efforts to enhance Ambler Campus’s sustainability.

EarthFest, Spring 2007

Several months of planning paid off when over 10,000 Philadelphia area students, teachers and parents visited the Temple Ambler campus on April 20, 2007 to learn more about communities, conservation, and the environment. Taking recycling one step further was the ACSC booth dedicated to making art out of recycled materials.

Kids of all ages created amazing puppets, machines, beads, braids, and pretty much anything - using a variety of household materials such as aluminum cans, plastic shopping bags, water bottles, wire hangers, newspapers, and scrap cardboard. The challenge of thinking of these everyday throwaways in a different context, proved to be a huge hit for the kids and Temple students who assisted. Prizes were given for the most innovative creations, but the real prize was hearing someone say, “I never thought about using that!”