Bucknell University S Third Annual Sustainability Symposium

Bucknell University’s Third Annual Sustainability Symposium Schedule of Events, March 26 and 27, 2015

On Thursday March 26, the first day of the symposium, the focus is on “Shaping Sustainability” through three faculty panel discussions, a hands-on demonstration of straw-bale construction, a student art installation, and a presentation by Jason f. McLennan, founder of the Living Building Challenge.

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. uphill entrance to ELC

 Straw-bale construction demonstration by architect and Bucknell alumna Sigi Koko ’90, founder of Down to Earth Design. At 11:00 a.m. and at 12:30 p.m. Koko will give a short presentation describing techniques and benefits of this durable, earth-friendly construction method.

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. inside ELC

 “Figure/Ground” a large-scale, collaborative art installation consisting of hundreds of individually silkscreened works on reclaimed materials by students in Prof. Anna Kell’s Painting I class. Each student curated a collection of reclaimed materials on which to print their designs of an endangered animal or plant. The work deals with the themes of disappearance and abundance as they pertain to our relationship with the built and natural environments.

9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in The Forum, ELC

 Faculty panel I – “Imagine”: Moderator: Alf Siewers, Assoc. Prof. of English. Panelists: Claire Campbell, Assoc. Prof. of History; Gary Steiner, Prof. of Philosophy.

Abstract: We can re-imagine sustainability as a sweet spot in which economy and ecology overlap -- not separated as in modern politics, but creating a community. The imagined overlay between economy and ecology emerges from their shared root term eco or oikos, meaning “household” or “home.” Envisioning and encouraging a sense of household with relationships to realms outside our own is essential to developing sustainable communities. The panel will consider how different scales of narratives of home (from personal stories to larger narratives of history) can include animals, plants, land, other humans, quality and dignity of human work, and the cosmos -- and how to grow such rhetoric and poetics into an ethos of sustainability. 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in The Forum, ELC

 Faculty Panel II – “Design” – Moderator: Jonathan Bean, Asst. Prof. of Markets, Innovation and Design. Panelists: Nate Siegel, Asst. Prof. of Mechanical Engineering; Beth Duckles, Asst. Prof. of Sociology; Anna Reeves, Asst. Prof. of Biology.

Abstract: What is sustainability? Manifold answers to this question are apparent when designers translate the concept of sustainability into material objects. One concept with significant traction addresses the challenge of sustainable design through a metaphor: biomimicry. For others, sustainable design is approached primarily as a technical challenge and a spur for innovation. In the case of certification schemes aimed at the building industry, sustainability can be either the impetus to create disruptive market transformation, or a pragmatic response to the exigencies of the layers of regulation, professional organizations, and other sociotechnical processes that lay claim to design. This panel will explore the entanglement of design with sustainability as a way to better understand how sustainability is being configured in the designed environment.

2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in The Forum, ELC

 Faculty Panel III – “Create” – Moderator: Clare Sammells, Asst. Prof. of Anthropology. Panelists: Jennifer Thomson, Asst. Prof. of History; David Rojas, Asst. Prof. of International Relations; and Jennifer Silva, Asst. Prof. of Sociology and Anthropology.

Abstract: This panel will focus on social science methodologies that teach how to listen to voices that are marginalized by dominant social, economic, political, and corporate forces. While many express interest in the idea of democratic participation, truly hearing, appreciating, and incorporating alternative perspectives is a time-consuming, challenging, engaged, and enduring process. Despite these difficulties, it is essential. Sustainability efforts often fail because the observations and ideas of certain groups are discounted or ignored. The faculty on this panel will share their insights into committing to the task of listening in order to create sustainability solutions that work for all, and consider the structural inequalities that make this task difficult.

7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Trout Auditorium, Vaughan Literature Building

 Jason F. McLennan, Seattle-based architect and founder of the Living Building Challenge will discuss his work in shaping sustainability in the field of architecture.

On Friday, March 27, the second day of the symposium, the focus is on “Sustainability in Action” through a student symposium in partnership with the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC) that includes oral presentations, roundtable discussions, and a poster session.

In Larison Hall

8:30 - 9:00 Poster Setup and Registration 9:00 - 9:30 Breakfast 9:10 - 9:20 Welcome from Bucknell Students 9:20 - 9:30 PERC Spotlight 9:30 - 10:30 Presentation Session – Transforming our Campuses 10:30 - 10:40 Break 10:40 - 11:30 Roundtable Discussions 11:30 - 12:00 Poster Session 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch 1:00 - 2:00 Presentation Session – Understanding our Communities 2:00 - 2:10 Break and Refreshments 2:10 - 3:00 Student Action Panel 3:00 - 3:10 Concluding Remarks