UW Sustainability, UW Recycling, Campus Sustainability Fund, Livable City Year and many partners from around campus had the privilege to attend the 2017 Washington Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WAHESC) last week at Gonzaga University. The theme of the conference was "Caring for our Common Home." The program began with a keynote presentation from Mitch Thomashow who presented on "bringing the biosphere home" and showed images of street art and its connection to sustainability across the globe, a very evocative talk that really got our creative juices flowing before the sessions.
The conference had nearly 400 attendees, including more than 200 students and 100 speakers, all sharing best practices about sustainability. Imagine the ideas that were tossed around!
Not only were all the attendees speaking about sustainability but the conference was held in the Hemmingson Center at Gonzaga, a certified LEED Gold building. The breakout sessions were many and it was hard to choose which to attend. There were several presenters from the UW throughout the two-day conference as well as Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Gonzaga University, Bellevue College, Whitman College, University of Idaho, Oregon State, Portland State and many more.
If you ever have the opportunity to attend a conference of this nature you should! The collaboration in our field is invaluable, and it’s a great way to learn and connect with others that share similar interests.
Looking forward to the next WAHESC conference!