CACS Sustainability Summits
CACS first met in October 2003, and within a year, hosted the first annual UC Berkeley Sustainability Summit. Since then, CACS has hosted a UC Berkeley Sustainability Summit every April during Earth Week. These events serve to gather the campus sustainability community - to honor achievements with Sustainability Awards, to give general community members the chance to green their campus with Green Fund Grants, to highlight major initiatives, and above all to reconnect and share.
The next Sustainability Summit will be held during Earth Week, 2010.
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2009 6th Annual Sustainability Summit
The 6th Annual Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) Sustainability Summit was held on Earth Day in the International House. The theme, Green: The Color of Change, focused on informing, inspiring, and engaging members of the Cal Community. This year’s Sustainability Summit was also the first certified Green Event on Campus.
The event began with a poster session displaying various projects funded by the CACS Green Fund Grant program. Additionally, groups supported by The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) were displayed. Attendees learned about the goals of each project and how they were making the campus increasingly sustainable.
Next, Chancellor Birgeneau warmly welcomed attendees to the Sustainability Summit and restated his commitment to "greening" Cal’s campus. In recognition those who have led campus sustainability initiatives, Chancellor Birgeneau presented the annual Sustainability Awards to Kameron Kitajima, Theron Klos, Dan Kammen, and Building Sustainability at Cal. He also presented Judy Chess with a special recognition award for her continued contributions to CACS. Lastly, he gave the first two Green Department Awards to the Department of Environmental Health and Safety and Residential and Student Services Program.
Chancellor Birgeneau’s speech was followed by encouraging words from Ian Kim of the Ella Baker Center. Under the theme of "The Future of Green Policy", he spoke of how social change begins in the individual and how sustainable policies are becoming ever recognized across the nation.
The six break-out sessions were divided into two sessions with three different topics:
Regional and Campus Collaborations
- Regional Partnerships to Promote Green Economic Development: The Green Corridor Partnership
- How Will We Meet Our CalCAP Goal?
Water
- California’s Next Major Challenge
- What Can UC Berkeley do to Reduce Water Consumption?
Campus Efforts
- How to Reduce Your Footprint
- Creating a Sustainable Food Policy
After the event, the Department of Environment, Health & Safety held a Strawberry Creek Clean-Up on campus. Participants had the opportunity to experience first-hand how sustainability in the community begins with the individual.
Check out photos of the 2009 Sustainability Summit.