Community Garden Scholar

Friday, February 21, 2014 (Published in print: Tuesday, February 25, 2014) This year, Franklin Pierce students took part in a “shout-out” to kick off a campaign called “Voices: Engaging Communication in Sustainability” being conducted by the student-run Pierce Media Group. Funded by a New England Campus Sustainability Forum mini-grant, its goals are to empower students with technical and professional skills to help them “find their voice” in sustainability. Students are demonstrating the role of media in shaping a culture, while promoting awareness and participation in campus sustainability. The short clip filmed that day is being incorporated in public service announcements for broadcast on campus television, radio, print, and social media, helping to get the word out on campus and beyond. In classrooms, first-year Composition students are exploring food and sustainability by sharing stories, researching the sustainability profile of their favorite foods, and deliberative di...

I am simultaneously thrilled and humbled to announce that I will be attending the International Association of Universities' 2014 International Conference  as an invited panel speaker. The conference's focus is "Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development." Joining representatives from Japan, Mexico, Colombia, and many other countries, I will be co-leading a panel on sustainable development in university life and indicators for assessing impact. I'll get a chance to tour the Amazon River and partake in an opening ceremony with traditional knowledge from the seven tribes of the Peruvian Amazon. In addition to journeying and learning with some of the world's foremost sustainability educators and practitioners, I'll be there for the drafting and presentation of the IAU's Statement on Higher Education for Sustainable Development as the IAU prepares for the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Aichi Nagoya, Japan in November...

Sharing this announcement about Applied Permaculture at Orchard Hill, from Village Roots  and Transition Keene : Saturday, February 22, 7:00 pm: TRANSITION COMMUNITIES Join Steve Chase and Katy Locke as they explore the Transition Town Movement; a network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate change, and economic instability. Learn how Keene and other local town have joined this network. Saturday, April 26, 7:00 pm: PERENNIAL HERBS & MEDICINE Join Community Herbalist and Educator Rebecca Golden as we learn about her favorite perennial herbs and their medicinal uses as well as their multi-Functions in a permaculture food forest. In addition to this, we will have a hands-on demo of how to make an herbal syrup, that can be applied to a variety of wild crafted and home grown herbs. Cost: $10 These workshops are made possible in part by The Orchard School and The Farmhouse at Orchard Hill, East Alstead, NH. For more information...

Virtual visiting days at Antioch University New England :  Wednesday, February 19th Wednesday, April 2 Wednesday, April 23 All are from 1:30-4. If you know someone who may be interested in Antioch but lives too far away to come on campus, please encourage them to sign up. Visit http://www.antiochne.edu/admissions/visit_form/  or contact:   Laura Andrews Director of Admissions Antioch University New England 40 Avon Street Keene, NH 03431 1-800-552-8380 Direct:  1-603-283-2131 landrews@antioch.edu Fax:  1-603-357-0718 AUNE website:  www.antiochne.edu

Monadnock Farm & Community Coalition invites you to the winter forum: Farm to School: Classrooms to Cafeterias February 6th at 4:00pm - 6:30pm Heberton Hall (next to Keene Public Library) RSVP here! Panelists: Sarah Lovitz & Richard Berkfeld, Monadnock Menus; Donna Reynolds, ConVal Food Service; Jenny Wichland, Surry Village Charter School; Eloise Clark, The Hooper Institute Exhibitors: NH Farm Bureau, Early Sprouts, NH Farm to School, The Cornucopia Project, Stonewall Farm, Keene SC Sustainability, The Hooper Institute Stations: Monadnock Menus, Surry Village Charter School, NH Healthy Eating Active Living, Keene State College Dietetic Internship Through presentations, takeaways, displays, and learning stations, we will learn how other communities successfully implemented farm to school food programs, make available innovative lessons for learning in the classroom, and identify next steps for our Education Working Group toward the completion of our goals: Improve students...

Sharing this invitation from the Monadnock Farm & Community Coalition : Join the Monadnock Farm & Community Coalition for a night of merriment and tribute to the farmers who enable us to eat local, farm-fresh foods throughout the season, contribute to our community, and help preserve the rural feel and agricultural heritage of the beautiful Monadnock Region. This volunteer-run event brings farmers and the broader public together to kick back, eat, drink, and be merry together - and perhaps even dance a little! EVENT DETAILS Buffet dinner! 5:30pm-7pm Featuring a dinner of many local ingredients, generously prepared by Inn & Out Hospitality and an army of volunteers!* Potluck - casseroles, salads, and vegetable dishes welcomed. Cash bar! Dance! 7:30pm-10pm Get your groove on with The Bump Road Band, The Cold River Ranters, Contradance & more... Awards! Oldest farmer and newcomer! *Local foods are cooked by a fantastic & fun team of volunteers - if you would like ...

New column in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript : That global coffee with a splash of local flavor I'll be writing a new "Monadnock Earth Journal" piece every month. Your feedback is welcome!

This blog post from Jay Halfond is from October, but I rediscovered it in the New England Journal of Higher Education . It's definitely thought-provoking. Take this quote: The ability to prolong the longevity of smaller colleges will be severely tested in the coming years. Their academic leaders will need to better articulate the value of this institutional diversity, and explore creative ways of facilitating interdependence among institutions and practical opportunities for collaboration, experimentation, alliances, resource-sharing, and outsourcing. Whatever kind of institution you work in (whether in higher education, nonprofit, the public sector or other), how do YOU facilitate collaboration, experimentation, and resource-sharing? Do you see the current and coming shifts in higher education as an "either-or" situation (as in "endangered or sustainable")? Can the selective pressures being felt at colleges and universities lead to a more sustainability-orien...

Many thanks to the Keene Sentinel for covering this event, and to the many community partners who made it happen. For more information, please check out the Monadnock Farm & Community Coalition 's  Call to Action Guide , or attend the next quarterly forum .