James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2009 - Index

Q&A
What does GREEN really mean?
Exploring the definitions and practices of environmental stewardship and sustainability
BY CHRIS BOLGIANO
An interview with Christie-Joy “C.J.” Brodrick
Hartman, executive director of the Institute
for Stewardship of the Natural World, and
Emily Thomas (’09), student representative to
the ISNW Campus Accessibility Committee
BOLGIANO: What is the Institute for Stewardship
of the Natural World — and why now?
HARTMAN: The institute was established in
September 2008 as the result of recommendations
by the Commission on Environmental
Stewardship and Sustainability that President
Linwood Rose inaugurated. The commission
included students, professors, staff and
community members, and was co-chaired by
Maria Papadakis of ISAT and Towana Moore,
associate vice president for business services.
It was one of only a handful of commissions
in the history of the university, which
sent a clear message about President Rose’s
commitment to the environment.
There is growing evidence that we need to
change our individual and institutional practices
to assure the future health of our planet
and ourselves. The institute will challenge the
entire JMU community to think critically about
our roles in the long-term stewardship of
Earth. We will coordinate stewardship efforts
across campus, which include promoting science
and critical-thinking skills. We will recommend
priorities. President Rose established
five cross-divisional committees to guide the
institute: awareness, education and research,
policies and practices, operations, and campus
accessibility — meaning everyone — walkers,
bikers, bus riders and drivers.
THOMAS: We’re looking at how many people
drive by themselves, how many people utilize
the carpool lot, how many people know we have
a carpool lot, how many people take the bus.
We’ll use that data to hone in on how we can
make positive changes and roll with the positive
changes that we already have going on.
HARTMAN: Good point. I don’t want to lose
track of what got us here. Over several decades,
many JMU citizens advocated for improved
global and local environmental practices, and
they received no personal gain for doing it —
they were concerned individuals who were
heard. And that history is tremendous for us to
build on because it’s what will be the foundation
for JMU’s commitment to the environment to
be successful.
THOMAS: I want to stress that when we, as
student groups, talk to our counterparts at
other universities about the activities we could
bring to campus, we run up against, “Your
administration isn’t going to want to spend
the money, sustainability costs money, making
efficiency upgrades costs money.” We haven’t
found that. We’ve always had faculty members
who are willing to talk with us and give us ideas.
BOLGIANO: Let’s start with the institute’s
name: What does “stewardship” mean in an
environmental context?
HARTMAN: Stewardship means that we
have a responsibility for the care and management
of our planet. For the institute, we
‘Over several decades, many JMU citizens advocated
for improved global and local environmental
practices, and received no personal gain for doing it
—they were concerned individuals who were heard.’
CHRISTIE-JOY “C.J” BRODRICK HARTMAN, executive director of the
Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World
Nature writer Chris Bolgiano interviews C.J. Brodrick Hartman, director of the Institute
for Stewardship of the Natural World, and Emily Thomas, ISNW student leader.
defined sustainability as human and ecological
health, social justice, secure livelihoods,
and a better world for all generations. Thus,
environmental stewardship can be viewed as
one of several elements that support sustainability.
We are interlinked with nature, and
everything we do either affects or is affected
by the ecosystem services nature provides —
like clean air, clean water, fertile soil, diversity
of plants and animals.
If we understand the scientific, political
and social issues that surround our natural
resources, we see that we do have responsibilities
as individuals for choices that affect our
own health as well as the health of our world.
BOLGIANO: Taking personal responsibility
for one’s own environmental impacts poses
a big challenge for our consumerist society:
How do you change behavior?
HARTMAN: Changing behavior is very difficult
— not just for environmental stewardship,
but in general. As an educational institution
we have excellent resources to support us in
this endeavor. Our role is already to produce
enlightened citizens, people who question,
who analyze. We want them to gain the knowledge
and skills here to make their own personal
choices for change, not just comply with
our telling them something.
Going forward, the institute will facilitate
bringing our resources together in
forums where we can have informed dia-
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