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PLU signs pact to promote environmental sustainability
PLU proved its commitment to responsible environmental practices by
becoming the first college in the Pacific Northwest to sign The Talloires
Declaration, a 10-point action plan to incorporate sustainability and
environmental literacy in teaching, research and campus operations.
"It's our obligation to protect our resources for the future," PLU
President Loren J. Anderson said.
Composed in 1990 at an international conference in Talloires, France,
The Talloires Declaration is the official statement of university
administrators dedicated to environmental sustainability in higher education.
It has been signed by more than 300 universities in more than 40 countries.
For more information, go to www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires.html
The signing took place on Earth Day, during which Sandra Postel, one of
the world's foremost authorities on global water issues, presented a lecture.
The agreement is one more step by PLU's active sustainability committee,
which last semester started a new public awareness campaign and in June hosted
a series of workshops. For more information on the committee or its programs,
visit www.plu.edu/sustain.
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ARTICLE
THE TALLOIRES DECLARATION
We, the presidents, rectors, and vice chancellors of universities
from all regions of the world are deeply concerned about the unprecedented
scale and speed of environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion
of natural resources.
Local, regional, and global air and water pollution; accumulation and
distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and
water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of "green house" gases
threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the
integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the
heritage of future generations. These environmental changes are caused by
inequitable and unsustainable production and consumption patterns that
aggravate poverty in many regions of the world.
We believe that urgent actions are needed to address these fundamental
problems and reverse the trends. Stabilization of human population, adoption of
environmentally sound industrial and agricultural technologies, reforestation,
and ecological restoration are crucial elements in creating an equitable and
sustainable future for all humankind in harmony with nature.
Universities have a major role in the education, research, policy
formation, and information exchange necessary to make these goals possible.
Thus, university leaders must initiate and support mobilization of internal and
external resources so that their institutions respond to this urgent challenge.
We, therefore, agree to take the following actions:
1. Increase Awareness of Environmentally Sustainable Development
Use every opportunity to raise public, government, industry, foundation, and
university awareness by openly addressing the urgent need to move toward an
environmentally sustainable future.
2. Create an Institutional Culture of Sustainability Encourage
all universities to engage in education, research, policy formation, and
information exchange on population, environment, and development to move toward
global sustainability.
3. Educate for Environmentally Responsible Citizenship Establish
programs to produce expertise in environmental management, sustainable economic
development, population, and related fields to
ensure that all university graduates are environmentally literate and
have the awareness and understanding to be ecologically responsible citizens.
4. Foster Environmental Literacy For All Create programs to
develop the capability of university faculty to teach environmental literacy to
all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
5. Practice Institutional Ecology Set an example of environmental
responsibility by establishing institutional ecology policies and practices of
resource conservation, recycling, waste reduction, and environmentally sound
operations.
6. Involve All Stakeholders
Encourage involvement of government, foundations, and industry in
supporting interdisciplinary research, education, policy formation, and
information exchange in environmentally sustainable development. Expand work
with community and nongovernmental organizations to assist in finding solutions
to environmental problems.
7. Collaborate for Interdisciplinary Approaches Convene
university faculty and administrators with environmental practitioners to
develop interdisciplinary approaches to curricula, research initiatives,
operations, and outreach activities that support an environmentally sustainable
future.
8. Enhance Capacity of Primary and Secondary Schools Establish
partnerships with primary and secondary schools to help develop the capacity
for interdisciplinary teaching about population, environment, and sustainable
development.
9. Broaden Service and Outreach Nationally and Internationally
Work with national and international organizations to promote a worldwide
university effort toward a sustainable future.
10. Maintain the Movement Establish a Secretariat and a steering
committee to continue this momentum, and to inform and support each other's
efforts in carrying out this declaration.
Creators and Original Signatories
Jean Mayer, President
Tufts University, U.S.A. (Conference Convener)
Pablo Arce, Vice Chancellor
Universidad Autonoma de Centro America, Costa Rica
L. Ayo Banjo, Vice Chancellor
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Boonrod Binson, Chancellor
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Robert W. Charlton, Vice Chancellor & Principal
University of Witwatersrand, Union of South Africa
Constantine W. Curris, President
University of Northern Iowa, U.S.A.
Michele Gendreau-Massaloux, Rector
l’Academie de Paris, France
Mario Ojeda Gomez, President
Colegio de Mexico, Mexico
Adamu Nayaya Mohammed, Vice Chancellor
Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
Augusto Frederico Muller, President
Fundacao Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Brazil
Calvin H. Plimpton, President Emeritus
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Wesley Posvar, President
University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
T. Navaneeth Rao, Vice Chancellor
Osmania University, India
Moonis Raza, Vice Chanc ellor Emeritus
University of New Delhi, India
Pavel D. Sarkisov, Rector
D. I. Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology U.S.S.R.
Stuart Saunders, Vice Chancellor & Principal
University of Cape Town, Union of South Africa
Akilagpa Sawyerr, Vice Chancellor
University of Ghana, Ghana
Carlos Vogt, President
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
David Ward, Vice Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A.
Xide Xie, President Emeritus
Fudan University, People’s Republic of China
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