CROOKSTON, Minn. – The second in a series of “sustainability supper seminars” will take place on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. The theme for the dinner is the International Dimensions of Sustainability and it will begin at 5 p.m. in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center.
A meal from the campus dining buffet line, will allow participants to spend the evening learning about sustainability and its various applications in other lands. Interested students, faculty and staff, community leaders, ministers, agency personnel, farmers, and business and industry representatives are welcome to participate by contacting Michael Knudson, Minnesota GreenCorps member, at 218-281-8128 (knud0189@umn.edu) by April 4 for reservations.
The schedule for the evening includes a welcome and introductions by Director of the Center for Sustainability Dan Svedarsky. Presentations during the evening include: Sophomore Tashi Gurung, an environmental sciences and communication double major from Kathmandu, Nepal, who will be presenting on recycling in Nepal; Senior Nikolay Seregin, a natural resources major from Moscow, Russia, sharing information on sustainability in Russia; and Min-seong Kim, an English as a Second Language student from Gyeonggi, Korea, who will present his study of eco-friendly marketing in Korea. Also speaking is Senior Jeff Cook, a natural resources major from Eagan, Minn., who will give his presentation on the “Impressions of climate change from a Will Steger trek to Baffin Island.”
Approximately 30 participants from diverse backgrounds took part in the inaugural program on March 24 which provided a briefing on overall definitions and applications of the concept of sustainability and initiatives underway on the UMC campus; as well as exploration of the “Communiversity” concept. “It’s ideal to have a broad spectrum audience in sessions like these for it provides rich discussion and the clarification of ideas,” according to co-convenor, Dan Svedarsky. “We had fun and everyone came away better informed.”
A mini-grant from the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment is helping fund the series of bi-weekly, "sustainability supper seminars" designed to educate the campus and the local community on sustainability applications.
