Save the Date!
June 18th–21st, 2012
University of California, Davis

The California Higher Education Sustainability Conference highlights cutting-edge research, as well as case studies with proven successes in curriculum development, operational programs, and community partnerships. This unique event is jointly organized by independent/private colleges, California Community Colleges, California State Universities, and the University of California creating the opportunity for dialogue across institutions.

The University of California, Davis envisions hosting a conference that deepens connections among sustainability practitioners, academic and adminitrative, across all sectors of high education, utilizing the Davis Campus as a living laboratory demonstration site for the conference.

Partnering organizations include: The Los Rios Community College District, UC Davis Landscape Architecture Department, UC Davis Extension, and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.

2012 Call for Proposals

Submissions Due: January 20th, 2012
More details on the timeline available on the submittal page

The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realize that they cannot be viewed in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent.

Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life

The CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) is applying a systems thinking approach to the speaker selection process for the 2012 conference. Applicants are encouraged to consider connections between our topic areas and across traditional divisions within college campuses. This approach has the potential to further invigorate the conference and will align more naturally with how campuses undertake sustainability practices. We invite speakers to push our audience's and our own thinking forward on sustainability.

We seek speakers who have crossed silos within their institutions to create sustainable change, infuse concepts of sustainability into curriculum, and/or to pursue research questions related to sustainability (especially where the research has or could be applied to campus sustainability). We are especially excited about proposals where a connection has been made across academic and operational departments.

This year potential speakers will be asked to submit proposals that highlight or create a link between at least two of our core topic areas (Click the titles below for more information on each):

a. Climate Action Planning
b. Curriculum
c. Energy
d. Food Systems
e. Green Building
f. Healthcare
g. Institutionalizing Sustainability
h. Local (Regional Case Studies)
i. Procurement and Business Services
j. Research
l. Social Equity
m. Student Affairs and Auxiliaries
n. Transportation
o. Waste Reduction and Recycling
p. Water and Landscape

If you are considering proposing to speak, please consider the information you would like to share with colleagues in departments other than your own and the projects you have worked on collaboratively with staff, faculty, students, or administrators in other divisions of the campus.

During this call for proposals process, we will also be accepting proposals for:

Poster Show

Throughout the conference, we will highlight posters that describe research, creative activities, and best practices related to sustainability. This is an opportunity for students, faculty, campus staff, and administrators to present and communicate their work from the past academic year to a diverse audience.

Student Convergence

The convergence is a post-conference, half-day workshop, on Thursday, June 21st, 2012. It will highlight new student campaigns, upcoming projects, and skill sharing workshops. Students will also have a chance to network with other student leaders from California Community Colleges, California State University, University of California, and Private campuses throughout the state collectively as well as with students from their own systems. The convergence is free and students can attend it without attending the main conference.