The Wonder of Bread Pallant, Eric
Gastronomica,
07/2017, Letnik:
17, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Because many students of college age arrive at school with limited understanding of where food comes from or even how to prepare food from authentic ingredients, I planted a field of wheat so I could ...teach, and learn about, what went into baking the staff of life—bread. Raising enough wheat to make a single loaf of bread, and then expending the energy to thresh, winnow, grind, knead, and bake was more costly and difficult than imagined at the outset. In the process of making bread with their own hands students learned agronomy, engineering, history, anthropology, environmental science, and economics. And then they consumed what they had learned.
Universities are central players and important economic actors in many regions, and many of them are, in general, nationally and internationally active in respect of matters related to sustainable ...development. But there is a paucity of research which examines their contributions towards sustainability efforts at the local level, i.e. in the places they are situated. This paper addresses this need, by reporting on a qualitative study deploying a Matrix, which allows an analysis and reporting of regional sustainable development initiatives of a set of 22 universities in industrialised and developing countries. Recommendations to enhance their role are provided, including the importance of pursuing partnerships and joint initiatives, understanding the need of local communities, and making their know-how more widely available. The scientific value of this research is related to the understanding of how the interaction between universities and local communities happens and by shedding light to this topic, it supports universities to improve their own actions. Its implications are two-fold: it demonstrates the potential of universities as local players and outlines the range of activities they may engage with, and which may allow them to act as pillars to local sustainability initiatives.
•Universities are central players and important economic actors in many regions.•Their contributions towards sustainability efforts at the local level may be substantial.•An analysis and reporting of regional sustainable development initiatives shows some deficiencies.•Understanding the potential role that universities can play on sustainability could help address global challenges.
Purpose
Approximately 700 colleges and universities have committed to climate neutrality, which will require significant reductions in energy consumption. This paper aims to explore the effectiveness ...of an Annual Energy Challenge in curtailing electricity use by changing consumption behaviors at one liberal arts college.
Design/methodology/approach
From 2010 to 2014, Allegheny College (Meadville, PA, USA) ran four-week energy challenges. Electricity consumption was measured and compared to a baseline year of 2008. An alternate baseline, more granular data for 20 sub-metered buildings and historic utility bill consumption trends were further analyzed to identify any persisting change and understand the impact of behavior change separate from efficiency retrofits, changes in population and normal seasonal shifts.
Findings
Electricity consumption during the challenge period dropped an average of 9 per cent compared to the 2008 baseline and 6 per cent compared to the baseline of the 4 weeks preceding each challenge. Consumption trends changed in the years during challenge implementation compared to the years before engaging the campus community. All analyses reinforce that the challenge reduces electricity consumption. However, results must be analyzed in multiple ways to isolate for behavior change.
Practical implications
The analyses used to isolate energy challenge results due to behavior change are replicable at other institutions and would allow campuses to compare results and share proven strategies.
Originality/value
While many campuses organize energy challenges, few have published details about the results both during the challenge and continuing afterwards. Nor has a research explored the need to put results into contexts such as natural seasonal trends to isolate the impacts of behavior change.
Describes a course that uses current environmental quandaries to teach students how to think, analyze, research, question, argue, evaluate, write, and solve problems. Develops skills required for ...active, project-oriented learning and covers principles of critical thinking and rudimentary risk literacy. (JRH)
The Assessment and Evaluation of Environmental Problems course is aimed at developing skills for active project-oriented learning in students. Students act as professional analysts who research, ...evaluate and solve environmental problems. The course work involves active involvement of students in research-oriented projects, peer-reviews and discussions. The benefits of this course include an increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence, and the ability to think critically and write papers.
In the last 30 years, the solutions to environmental problems have changed dramatically as recognition of the problems has grown. A course that develops the skills required for active, ...project-oriented learning is described.
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