Smith College
Office of College Relations
Smith College
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Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
www.smith.edu/newsoffice

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April 8, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Revised April 17, 2002

Smith Joins City of Northampton
for Programs Addressing Sustainability Issues

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Smith College and the city of Northampton will jointly sponsor a workshop on environmental sustainability by Alexis Karolides of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, at Stoddard Hall Auditorium, Smith College. The workshop is one of two that Karolides and two colleagues will present during their visit to Northampton. The other workshop, about campus issues related to sustainability, will be at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 26, in McConnell Hall 103 at Smith College. Both sessions are free and open to the public.


Smith College has several important roles to play in meeting the challenge of environmental sustainability, says Richard White, professor of astronomy at Smith. "One is educational-to embody principles of sustainability in the curriculum, an effort already under way in the environmental science and policy program and the Picker engineering program, as well as in other departments and programs," say White. "The second role," he says, "is that of model-to embody principles of sustainability in campus operations, and a third role is that of leadership with larger communities."


The workshops are part of an effort to explore and elaborate these roles, White explains. Although the April 26 event will focus particularly on campus issues and the April 27 workshop is aimed at a city audience, particularly city officials, business leaders and developers, the sessions also will be of interest to anyone concerned about preservation of resources and wise planning.
"The RMI presentation is timely, given local and regional efforts to promote and document sustainable development practices," says Teri Anderson, Northampton's director of economic development. And White agrees, since Smith will be seriously considering campus sustainability issues as it moves through the planning stages for a new science center.


Karolides, who will speak at both programs, is a senior research associate and team leader of Green Development Services at RMI, which is located in Snowmass, Colo. RMI is a pioneering, non-profit institute dedicated to fostering environmental sustainability and human welfare. Karolides is an architect who has consulted on campus buildings and college energy planning.
The other speakers on April 26 will be John Glyphis, program director of Second Nature (SN) in Boston, and Leith Sharp, director of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI).


SN is an educational non-profit organization that aims to advance human and ecological well being, particularly in its work with colleges and universities that are attempting to increase the sustainability quotient of their teaching and practices. Glyphis' work involves programmatic and funding development and strategy.


HGCI, initiated in 2000, is an effort to make the university a living laboratory in the pursuit of environmental sustainability. Sharp is an Australian environmental engineer whose focus is on building a learning organization within the university.


Presentations at the April 26 event, which will be held in McConnell 103, will begin at 2 p.m. and continue until 4:45 p.m. with a break at 3:30 p.m. White says he expects spirited discussion to continue after the final presentation.


On April 27, the Karolides presentation will begin at 10 a.m. following coffee at 9:30 a.m. Public discussion will follow the presentation at 11 a.m.


Plans for the programs, both of which are taking place in wheelchair-accessible spaces, have been developed by White and Dawn Norchi, program coordinator for the environmental science and policy program and are funded by various departments, organizations and offices at Smith College.

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