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For more information contact mark.a.kinders@uwrf.edu or brenda.k.bredahl@uwrf.edu.

UWRF SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

UW-River Falls has a rich history of supporting sustainability and sustainable community development both on campus and in its service area of the St. Croix Valley. The University defines sustainability principles in a broad context of economic, ecological, social justice, and human and physical resources that meet current needs without decreasing opportunities for future generations. Some of the formal and informal partnerships, events and activities include:

·In September 2006 Gov. Jim Doyle named UWRF and UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point as part of a pilot project to make the four campuses energy independent in the next five years in conjunction with the state's earlier "Declaration of Energy Independence."

·UWRF is an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. UWRF Chancellor Don Betz is a charter member of AASHE's Leadership Circle of University Presidents Climate Committee.

·UWRF's strategic planning process has identified developing a sustainable campus as one of 10 goals. The process will identify three sustainability initiatives with nine implementation tasks. These could include such activities as focusing on changing behavior on campus and in the region by further infusing the principles into majors and minors, as well as general education courses, developing wind energy power plants on campus, pursuing solar generation, employing green roofs on buildings, reviewing purchasing processes for recycled goods, and investigating the most efficient methods to transport people and goods.

·A campus Sustainability Council is fully exploring all aspects of sustainability: curricular and co-curricular programming, and operations and maintenance practices to develop policies, procedures, programs and benchmarks.

·UWRF is reviewing becoming a signatory of the Talloires Declaration, which is a statement outlining sustainability values and practices embraced by universities and colleges across the world. The UW-RF Student Senate has recommended the campus adopt this declaration for a sustainable future.

·UWRF will host the American Democracy Project North Central Regional Conference, "Spaces of Civic Engagement," April 12 - 14, in which portions of the conference will explore the concept of civic engagement as it relates to sustainable community development.  

·Earth Week, April 16 - 20, activities on campus will culminate with a presentation by environmental expert David Orr, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College. Orr is the author of five books: "Design on the Edge: The Making of a High Performance Building;" "The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics and the Environment);" "The Nature of Design;" "Earth in Mind;" and "Ecological Literacy."

·The National Park Service and UWRF have joined resources to create the St. Croix River Institute at UWRF. UWRF will host the St. Croix Basin Conference on April 19 in the new University Center. UW-Extension and the St. Croix Basin Water Resources Team are the lead conference sponsors, and the St. Croix River Institute a cosponsor.  

·Faculty and staff are members of the UW-Extension Sustainability Team, which advocates for agent and community literacy in all aspects of sustainable community development. In addition, the campus members are involved with the Local Foods Network/Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin, which includes participation by UW-Extension, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and local producers.

·UWRF has been a cosponsor and active participant in the ongoing "What We Need Is Here" community forums on sustainable community development in partnership with the Phipps Center for the Arts, the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation, and WestCAP.

·Faculty and staff are working with River Falls Municipal Utilities, the City of River Falls, Wisconsin Public Power Inc., Xcel Energy, and non-governmental organizations to form partnerships to create opportunities for academic programming and installation and implementation of alternative energy generation. Other such partnerships include work with the City of River Falls, the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust, and the Kinnickinnic Priority Watershed Steering Committee for protection and enhancement of the river and Lake George.

·UWRF helped create and holds a board seat on the Western Wisconsin Intergovernmental Collaborative, available to 99 local government units in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties. The WWIC meets to share information and address such issues as sustainable communities among other concerns.

·Sustainability principles are incorporated into many UWRF courses and programs. The University offers a major and minor in Environmental Science and incorporates the principles into majors and minors in Conservation, Geology, Land Use Planning and Agriculture Engineering Technology, as well as a minor in Hydrogeology. Graduate offerings include a certificate program in Wildlife Recreation and Nature Tourism, and a master's degree option in Sustainable Community Development.

·The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has successfully instituted compost bedded pack barns at its lab farm and offers the compost for sale to the public. The farm completely replaced its traditional liquid manure system and has implemented this environmentally sound method of reusing organic farm waste.

·UWRF students have actively encouraged energy conservation. Last spring semester the Student Senate, ECO Club, and several residence-hall based student groups encouraged students to be energy efficient, which resulted in a 7 percent reduction in water, heat and electrical consumption in housing. The education program is being continued this academic year for the 2,500 students who live on campus.

·UWRF has continued its energy efficiency monitoring for more than 30 years. Lighting and flooring replacement projects in residence halls are contributing to energy savings, as well as reducing maintenance and replacement costs. Toilets and light fixtures have been replaced with energy and resource efficient fixtures in academic buildings.

·The campus has an extensive recycling program that was implemented more than 25 years ago. In 2005, the campus recycled a combined 185 tons of plastic and Styrofoam containers, paper products, and food waste. Thousands more items also were recycled, including: batteries, tires, oil, computer components, appliances, light tubes and incandescent bulbs and pallets. Some 150 cubic yards of compost and chipping were produced.

·International outreach and service efforts include several partnerships, most notably working with Wong How Man, president of the Chinese Exploration Research Society, in efforts to help build sustainable communities in the People's Republic of China and Tibet.

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Last updated: Saturday, 14-Mar-2009 19:12:23 CDT