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Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY)
EcoVillage
of Ithaca
Summary
Ithaca College and EcoVillage of Ithaca (EVI) have forged a multidisciplinary
teaching partnership for sustainability in which EVI serves as a living
laboratory of an ecological and social community. This teaching partnership
models true parity as EVI residents serve as adjunct faculty, assist with
course development, and are resources for professional expertise in energy
sources and conservation, organic agriculture, and sustainable land use
practices. As a result of this partnership and faculty development seminars,
curricular development in environmental sciences and six other academic
disciplines has evolved.
The Practice
In 2001, the Environmental Studies Program at Ithaca College established
a mutually-beneficial teaching partnership with EcoVillage of Ithaca (EVI),
an intentional community dedicated to exploring and modeling innovative
approaches to ecological and social sustainability. Its unique habitat
integrates the best aspects of urban and rural living and includes cohousing,
organic agriculture, and natural areas, preserving and restoring over
80 percent of the land as green space. This partnership between an ecovillage
and a college or university and partially funded by the National Science
Foundation, is the first of its kind in the U.S.
The goals of the IC-EVI partnership are to advance undergraduate learning
in sustainability and to encourage students to become involved in science-based
community ecological projects. The plan to achieve these goals centers
on three major activities: 1) course development, 2) independent study
opportunities, and 3) sustainability outreach on campus and in the local
community.
As a result of this partnership, four new courses in the Environmental
Studies Program have been developed, three of which are taught by EVI
residents as adjunct faculty. All four courses involve experiential learning
components at EcoVillage. In addition to developing the core ES courses,
the environmental studies faculty encouraged faculty members from other
disciplines to incorporate sustainability themes into their courses by
holding a series of faculty development seminars and subsequently offering
$1,000 grants for course revision or development. In the summer of 2003,
seven proposals from a variety of disciplines including economics, physics,
writing, politics, anthropology and therapeutic recreation were funded.
These extramural courses interact with EcoVillage by using it as a field
site for laboratories, or by using its residents as a source for local
sustainability expertise. Besides serving as adjunct faculty and assisting
with course development of the ES core courses, EVI residents also guest
lecture in other courses and are viewed as specialists in particular areas
of expertise.
Another aspect of the partnership includes summer independent study opportunities
where teams of students work on sustainability research and projects for
the College, EVI, and the local community. Lastly, the partnership has
held a series of public events on campus and in town on sustainability,
including guest speakers with national reputations (Barbara Anderson,
Penn State University; Ed Quevedo, WSP International; and David
Orr, Oberlin College). These events have served to catalyze the IC
campus and the greater Ithaca community on sustainability.
Effectiveness
This partnership is very effective at generating interest in and commitment
to sustainability. Seven faculty members used small development grants
to incorporate sustainability into courses. Pre- and post-course evaluations
assessing course content and quality of instruction are underway. Students
have been very interested in the independent study opportunities. Several
hands-on and research-based projects have been completed, including the
development of a sustainable bus shelter plan for EVI. This proposed plan
was well-received by the EVI community, and it has now entered into the
approval process with the local bus company, highway department, and town
of Ithaca.
The community outreach portion of the practice has also been well-received.
In conjunction with a campus visit by Ed Quevedo, the partnership held
a community workshop/discussion on sustainability. Over 30 local leaders
of government, academia, and business attended, including the outgoing
mayor, two mayoral candidates, the local NY State Assembly representative,
three City Council members, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and many
local business leaders and community organizations. Participants at this
workshop are very interested in building a regional sustainability initiative.
The partnership plans to follow-up these efforts with a community sustainability
discussion group on campus for students, faculty, and community members.
The partnership will work with a consultant to create a sustainability
initiative for Hopkins County and to develop a proposal for feasibility
study evaluations.
Resources
For detailed information about Ithaca College’s Sustainability Initiative,
please click
here.
Contact Information
Susan Allen-Gil
Assistant Professor of Biology
Ithaca College
953 Danby Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone: (607) 274-1066
sallen@ithaca.edu
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