About Washington Higher Education Sustainability Conference
The Washington Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WAHESC) is a regionally focused opportunity for those teaching, working, or studying within higher education to come together and learn about sustainability in academics, operations, and research. Participants will explore ways to advance campus sustainability through the sharing of best practices, presentations on creative solutions to common challenges, and the development of regional collaborative networks. Through these facilitated conversations, workshops, presentations, and networking opportunities conference goers will help advance environmental performance at Washington State institutions of higher education, support regional policy goals, and drive the development of a generation of professionals who strive to live and work sustainably. Attendees will form a more united coalition to support key statewide sustainability approaches, goals and policy initiatives.
Our Theme
The theme for the 2017 conference is “Caring for our Common Home”, an echo of the call from Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical letter, “Laudato Si”. Just as Pope Francis called “every living person on the planet” to be mindful of consumption and assert an ethic of care for our planet, WAHESC also invites students, faculty, and staff at institutions from across the region to gather around this theme. As we are working together to advance sustainability at our institutions, we look forward to unpacking how we define and practice “care” and what is our responsibility to the earth, our common home.
Why Attend?
As a statewide/regional conference, WAHESC will naturally promote a “local” focus. Dialogue will specifically address issues in the Northwest and Washington State, and solutions will be tailored for implementation in our unique political, social, economic and environmental climate. Attendees will also take this time to develop and deepen working relationships with peers in the region to advance sustainability on your home campus and the region. WAHESC is open to students and educators from all focuses and majors, and believe that any and all areas of study can benefit from conversations about campus sustainability.
Join us Thursday and Friday, February 16-17, 2017 at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington for WAHESC 2017!