Moving from the Stone Age to the Sustainability Age

We are still firmly implanted in the Stone Age, says Arizona State University President Michael Crow, a participant in a plenary panel at today’s Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Summit has drawn about 400 participants who are interested in “forging sustainability solutions at colleges and universities.” Many universities are stuck in the Stone Age because they are slow to change, selfish and egotistical, says Crow. And one of the big reasons our culture is stuck in the Stone Age is that universities haven’t been changing.

“At Arizona State University we have been rethinking our own design. We are creating a new set of design aspirations,” Crow says. Of vital importance in that restructuring process is “leveraging place.”

Crow says his university is “committed to place in every possible way. We have a duty to be responsible for facilitating social reformation.” That process includes being a responsible knowledge entrepreneur, facilitating use-inspired scholarship by making problem-solving equally important to academic research, fusing sustainability with all academic disciplines.

Crow says it’s important to lead by example. Just two examples he cited: at ASU all new buildings since 2002 have been LEED-certified and the university has bought transit passes for all university staff and students.

At other universities, parking fees have been increased to encourage using transit alternatives, all new vehicles purchased must use new environment-friendly fuels, and computer manufacturers are asked to package lots of machines together to cut down on plastics consumption.

Other panelists agreed with Crow that moving from the Stone Age to the Sustainability Age will take leadership on campus, from students, facility and staff…more on that later.