Mac Students and the Rountable

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This week’s topic:

Reflect on Macalester’s Roundtable Discussion: In what ways can we as Macalester students embody the lessons learned and envision the goals of a sustainable future?

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Sustainability Plan – better ways of doing business?

Cross-posted from Its Getting Hot in Here

Macalester College released its Sustainability Plan on September 15th. In the midst of a flurry of action on the national policy level, internationally around Copenhagen, and in the local fights against mountain-top removal and other dirty energy, one more college sustainability plan seems almost insignificant. What’s important about this plan, however, is not what its goals are (though they include carbon neutrality by 2025, zero waste by 2020, and more) but how it plans to achieve them. I hope this focus on the method as well as the goals can inform and inspire the rising movement for a sustainable future. Here’s a brief synopsis of the key features of the how, which I’ll explore in more detail below the fold.

1. Going carbon neutral will be revenue positive, meaning a carbon-free future is as much commonsense smart decision-making as it is a moral imperative.
2. Designing the vision was participatory – 400 students, faculty, and staff contributed at a college with a student body of 1900 – and implementation will continue to be. The plan clearly states that it is a baseline platform, not a ceiling.
3. The changes really matter – with a few exceptions, the plan identifies strategies to that make actual change, rather than check the boxes of conventional practice.
4. The college plans to create ripples of change that extend far beyond campus – emphasizing pathways to broader change through the supply-chains, education process, and community relationships it engages.
5. Sustainability is defined holistically as the ongoing process of nurturing a healthy environment, social justice, and a strong economy. It is a guiding quality of all the institution’s core values, not an addition to them.

This plan is a bold step forward for Macalester, and one in which we all have a stake. I’m hoping that in whatever field of work we’re engaged in, this plan and the process that it grew out of as both a model for how to dig deeper into the how, and to inspire new and renewed innovation and action. The process of getting to this point through the past several years of work has been particularly illuminating – stay tuned for more stories.

In the meantime, check out more details on what’s important about how Macalester seeks to achieve sustainability below.

The Summer of Solutions – Human Rights Heroes at Home 2009 – Green Alternatives

I wrote about a week ago about the work I’m doing to help grow the Summer of Solutions – which empowers youth leaders nationwide as the cutting edge of a clean energy economy. Now you can help out with a quick online vote by Oct. 5 – it could help us get $1000.

The Summer of Solutions – Human Rights Heroes at Home 2009 – Green Alternatives

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Washington State and Iran

Moving to a new town halfway across the United States over the course of the summer, one really can see the massive cultural differences that stretch across this land.  Houston and Seattle are really as different as cities can be.  One is humid, hot, and filled with a people who would epitomize those Protestants described in Weber’s Spirit of Capitalism, yet filled with an intense desire to stay indoors.  The other is alive with the bitter scent of coffee, fairly cool, and whose people are laid-back, more to willing to enjoy themselves and spend significant amounts of time hiking or boating or various outdoor activities.  Unfortunately for an IGC member, to say that I clashed significantly with the new Washington culture was an understatement, and over the course of the entire summer I never was able to understand such a laid-back and relaxed view of the world.  Gradually turning inwards and focusing on matters such as work and reading, somehow this American grew to sympathize with a group of people halfway across the world who marched peacefully in the name of justice and liberty despite the fact that the cultural gap between Iranians and Americans dwarfs that between Texans and Washingtonians.

Being someone who has had an interest in the Iranians and their people, I somehow detached myself from my neighbors and those who surrounded me and paid constant attention to the protests waged in the name of a moderate reformer.  Susbstantial amounts of time were spent reading every detail, raging at cable news for their incredibly negligent coverage of the events there, and helping the Iranian protestors, both through word and deeds (some of which could skirt the lines between legality and illegality, but that is another story).  However, when unfortunately the protests, while not completely vanquished, had faded to some degree, it left me puzzled and amused with the fact that I had spent so much time caring about those halfway across the world with a culture that as observed above dwarfs the gaps between those from Texans and Washingtonians, and I came to puzzle about it.  Was it because as I didn’t know personally know Iranians, I could romanticize their cultures and stay from the negative realities of it in a way that I couldn’t with Washington, and was it simply an inherent prejudice that I had towards Washingtonians and not Iranians.  I’ll freely admit that I really don’t know the answer, and when it comes down to it, maybe something like this can help give an answer towards a better understanding of well, understanding others.

I guess that’s my story of the summer, and my major question that I learned from it out of the mundane life I generally held.  So what other stories are out there in the end?

A time for listening

This May I walked (barefoot of course) across a stage on Macalester’s front lawn and accepted a slip of paper representing an asset, a tool, no one could ever steal from me.  This is what freedom of opportunity feels like when it is placed in your hands; this is what I hope everyone has a chance at if they so desire. When I shook President Rosenberg’s hand, he looked me in the eye and said, “if you ever need anything, ever, you know where to go.” Yes, I will go to my roots and seek some of that ancient wisdom.  But right now, it’s time to fly.

Despite going to a college that touts international and domestic diversity, the most diverse group I’ve ever been part of was the 200 some people at my Americorps training committing their lives to Volunteering in Service to America (VISTA).  People were from every class, race, age and culture—a real slice of the US—and there we were sharing incredibly personal stories with one another after only a few days together.

The mission of VISTA is to wage war on poverty in America (I couldn’t help but wonder if they ever sent VISTAs to Wall Street to help alleviate some serious spiritual poverty).  The melting pot at this training was composed of recent liberal arts grads (me!), recently unemployed laborers, or people who had struggled out of poverty and now wanted to give back in some way. I looked around the room and said to myself, “People are just people.”

Sometimes I hesitate about moving forward, about stepping up. I’m afraid that my home, my culture, the people I identify with will regard me as a stranger when I return.  They will look upon me with misunderstanding or even contempt.  But I need to remind myself that this is the richest part of the American story. We are founded by people who took a chance and hopped the Mayflower to a strange land.  Thank God there are pioneers still willing to take that chance today and step outside their known world for a chance at opportunity of choice.  Our culture of fusion depends on this constant influx of new ideas, new language, and new connections. I personally plan to be an immigrant of life for as long I live.

I have a long history of advocacy and activism but I am looking forward to a year of listening.  It’s literally in my job description.  I am a collector and teller of stories: stories from volunteers, clients, staff, and donors at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB).  These interviews will be turned into videos and written words that can be used to secure donations and volunteers for the organization.  I work in an office building attached to a warehouse that distributes food to over 350 local food pantries throughout central Texas.  I will admit, I choked back tears on my first visit to one of these pantries. Sometimes, people just want to be heard.

I am excited to be part of this generation of youth.  We are endowed with social networking tools and empowered by the need for change that we face daily.  So here I go: telling you my honest story and striving to fit it into the American story. Tell me, what is yours?

Solutionary summer and the road ahead

Well, summer is ending, and a semester starting. This is the last semester for me, so my past summer is particularly making me think about what comes next after I graduate in December. Like most things in these momentous times, the obstacles are awe-inspiring and the opportunities are dire.

I spent most of this summer helping facilitate the Summer of Solutions in St. Paul, as well as supporting the eight other Summer of Solutions programs that launched across the country this past year. if you haven’t heard, the Summer of Solutions is a summer program by and for emerging leaders (mostly college age) that helps them build skills in social innovation, sustainable entrepreneurship, and community organizing while working to develop cutting edge projects and programs that demonstrate the promise of a sustainable economy founded on clean energy, healthy food and industrial systems, strong locally-based job creation and economic development, and profound and creative community. Since helping launch the Summer of Solutions in Spring 2008, I’ve dived deep into the realm of non-profit fundraising, program development, and transformative leadership training around solutions for our pressing climate, energy, development, and social justice challenges. Its been a wild ride as the organization grew from a single Twin Cities program in 2008, to 9 nationwide this summer. Some of the press hits have been pretty cool too, like this one on Grist. If you want to learn more about what this is all about what happened this summer all across the country, check out our Solutionaries blog.

Looking ahead, I’m really excited as we start the process of launching even more great programs next year. I’m also excited to see the growth of the programs generated in the process, like Cooperative Energy Futures, the community-based energy start-up company that has emerged from the work of Mac students and community partners across the Twin Cities, and ongoing collaboration with national organizations like the Energy Action Coalition and campus groups like MacCARES. If you want to get involved, contact me at timothydht@gmail.com.

Zooming out, I’m starting to ask the broader question: not just how can I make a living by innovating, creating, and working for my values, but how can all people do the same? All summer, I’ve seen people light up inside when they find a space where they can do what makes them shine, where its most important, in a way that supports them to. As I join others in starting to create it it, I’m dreaming of a clean, just, and meaningful economy where that’s all we ever do. What if figuring out how to build that world and find your own niche in it was what being at Mac was all about?

Well, I have from now until December to complete the Mac journey and turn my work into something full-time that can support me. Better get back to it! I’ll keep you posted.

People

They say that you’re not a real Central American traveler until you’ve been super sick. Check.

I got some sort of intestinal parasites and learned that IV’s are truly wonderful things. But that’s not the important lesson here.

I had to leave one of my homestays to go to the hospital, so I missed out on a few days in the campo. As I was making my way back, I ran into some people from a different homestay who worriedly inquired about my health.

Not an hour after arriving back in the community, an earlier host father showed up to see me and ask how I was doing. I was blown away, but also confused how people in very disparate communities (two to four kilometers away, over mountains and tiny trails) had heard the news so quickly.

What is poverty?

I’m just about half way done with my time here in Nicaragua, and I’ve now visited two of my three homestays. The experience has been eye-opening, challenging and rewarding. It has been far harder than I ever thought it would to establish those person-to-person relationships I talked of in my last post. This only reinforces my belief that it is the most important means by which I can affect change.

I’ve made an observation that I think is worthy of dialogue on this blog. I’ve noticed here in Nicaragua two distinct kinds of poverty.  I encountered the first in Granada, whose touristy nature attracts many homeless. Kids, adults, families and old folks live on the streets. They are hungry and sick and many have no shoes or teeth. They resort to begging tourists and wealthier locals for money, often asking for one córdoba (about $.05) at a time. The majority seems to be kids under 12 years old. 

The Future of our Grand Aspirations: A Fireside chat with Timothy and Matt

I have been spending this summer in the Summer of Solutions in St. Paul – working to build a green economy – and my own future job – with about 35 other amazing youth leaders. It’s been an exciting mix of sky-high visions, community organizing, building an energy cooperative, and doing lots of leadership development. If you’re not here – we miss you!

Over the past two weeks, I’ve gotten particularly excited about looking ahead to where we’re going with the Summer of Solutions, a project that has now gone nationwide since we started it by forming the non-profit Grand Aspirations as a bunch of Macalester students in 2008. My eyes are always both here in the now and endlessly on the horizons of what all of our amazing allies are doing nationwide this summer – and what could happen next. The past few weeks for me have been about thinking bigger about where we’re going, and about exploring how to share this moment of possibility with everyone …

Fellow national coordinator Matt Kazinka (Macalester ‘11) and I pulled together this fireside chat on Thursday night with the help of camera-woman Abbie Plouff and editor Ruby Levine. Its basically an explanation of some of the things going on in the bigger national picture and an invitation to our planners all across the nation to start the process of dreaming with us as we go forward. Hey, if you have ideas of how we can be bigger and better and more creative – we’d love to hear!

Part 1: Welcome, what’s up, and why we’re talking:

Part 2: The big things happening, and next steps on collaboration:

We’ll be checking in, first with Summer of Solutions program planners, and then with partners, participants, and other supporters over the coming weeks.

Keep up the solutions!

Talk to me

As I moved from bustling Managua to small-town Granada, the smallness of the world smacked me on the face and reminded me why I’m here.

Just when I was starting to feel a bit lonely and wondering why, exactly, I had decided to come to Granada all by myself, the world opened itself for me.

Within 24 hours I randomly met four – yes, four – different people who will ALL be in Ocotal the entire time I will be, are in some way associated with Grupo Fenix and were quite happy to talk, listen and make plans for the summer.

My lesson now is obvious: the barriers between us all are no harder to overcome than a few minutes of conversation. We talk at Macalester of Global Citizenship, civic engagement and internationalism, and whenever I philosophize about these concepts I think on a macro scale, nations relating with nations, entire ethnic groups finding common ground.

But my project this summer is grounded in person-to-person relationships, and it’s only going to be successful if I can forge them one at a time. No one of us can really expect to alter humanity’s course; but by intentionally affecting a handful of important relationships with the intention that everyone will pay it forward, we can all move together toward our common ideals.

Please, use this forum to explore how you’re going to do that. Remember: this only works as a dialogue!