Conference Schedule
2:00-2:35 PM: Opening Remarks by Lara Fowler
2:45-3:30 PM: Concurrent Sessions (Part 1)
- Production of Sustainable and Biodegradable Products to Reduce Plastic Wastes
- Students the Sustainability Powerhouse of Penn State
- "greenYOUthCHANGEMAKERS" Project
- Penn State's Local Climate Action Program (LCAP)
3:45-4:30 PM: Concurrent Sessions (Part 2)
- Climate Change and Breast Cancer: An Overlooked Connection
- Turning a Global Village into a Global Nation
- Co-Constructing DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) - A Global Prospective
- Education Abroad and Sustainability
4:45-5:30 PM: Concurrent Sessions (Part 3)
- Fast Fashion: The Price of Throwaway Culture and the Road to Ethical Consumption
- Addressing Housing Crises and Informal Settlement Challenges by 3D Printing Sustainable and Affordable Residential Houses
- The GREEN Program
- How Penn State Engineers Without Boarders Takes Global Sustainable Action
5:45-6:15 PM: Student Discussion Panel
6:30-7:15 PM: Closing Keynote Speaker: Christina Kwauk
7:30-8:30 PM: Dinner
Opening Remarks by Lara Fowler
Chambers Building 101
2:00-2:35 PM
Lara Fowler is the Interim Chief Sustainability Officer of Penn State University and Interim Director of the Sustainability Institute, as well as a Professor of Teaching at Penn State Law and Affiliate Faculty at the Penn State School of International Affairs.
Lara is an attorney and mediator whose career has focused on environmental, energy, and natural resource law, with a specific focus on water related issues. During the last ten years, her work at Penn State has focused on questions related to water (flood, drought, and water quality), agriculture, and energy. She teaches courses on water law; energy; negotiation and dispute resolution design; and mediation of environmental and public conflicts. In addition, she is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Science and Technical Advisory Committee and a juror for the Stockholm International Water Institute’s Junior Water Prize.
Prior to joining Penn State, Lara was an attorney at Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP in Seattle, Washington, where she focused on mediation and dispute resolution of complex natural resource issues and represented clients facing regulatory hurdles in the environmental and energy fields. She has worked on issues such as who is entitled to store groundwater in the greater Los Angeles area; flooding issues in Washington State’s second largest river basin; and energy issues in the Pacific Northwest.
Before pursuing a legal career, she was a senior water resources coordinator with the Oregon Water Resources Department. She has a JD from the University of Washington School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.
Production of Sustainable and Biodegradable Products to Reduce Plastic Wastes by Parisa Nazemi
Chambers Building 104
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 762202
In the bionanomaterials lab at the department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering we are constantly testing various approaches to overcome some of the root causes of global challenges. Scientists in our lab provide various solutions to reduce non-biodegradable plastic wastes used in different applications. They also try to replace harmful chemicals used in food packaging processes with nature friendly, edible substitutes. To name some, we have made wound healing pads and foams from plant-based materials that will absorb into the body after they stop bleeding; biobased and biodegradable adhesives to replace the petrochemical-based adhesives; fluorine free paper coatings for fast food packages and some other products. We are always open to increase social awareness on the consequences of using single-use, non-biodegradable plastics. Our lab is also creating an online course to specifically teaches about sustainable food packaging, a topic that directly affects human health and the environment.
Students the Sustainability Powerhouse of Penn State by Ziyen Curtis, Swapnika Dulam, Craig O'Connor & Gabby Olson
Chambers Building 105
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 222897
Students are an underutilized resource for sustainable progress. Thousands of students come through Penn State every day, recycling incorrectly, expanding their carbon footprints, and leaning into unsustainable stereotypes and biases. Many students are unaware of these harmful practices, even though they are commonplace. The hope of making a difference could drive thousands of students toward incorporating sustainability into their lives. One of the various solutions is to educate students on their available resources, thus, providing access to potential change. With opportunities to express specific concerns about sustainability and participate in decision-making, students are more than just a voice to raise awareness. Penn State students act as a hammer to drive more inclusive and sustainable change. Enactus addresses the missing link between students and their sustainability potential. The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are the foundation and framework for all Enactus programs, startups, and community involvement. These 17 objectives help Enactus advance as a global organization and contribute to learning and societal improvement within the expanding field of sustainability. Enactus at Penn State works to promote more sustainable communities by educating students about the problems that exist within our local and global society. Within a global context, Enactus PSU collaborates annually in an entrepreneurial sustainability exchange program with Enactus Morocco. During the exchange, PSU students collaborate with Enactus Morocco members, exchanging ideas and strategies for building more sustainable communities in their respective regions. Penn State and its students have the unique opportunity to make a positive impact on global issues of sustainability. To fully act on this opportunity, students need the same access to information and unbiased platforms to execute their ideas as peers at the international level do. Enactus always aims to educate students about sustainability, and by doing so, serves as a "steppingstone" for them to make significant changes for the betterment of Penn State and the student body.
(Top Left: Ziyen; Top Right: Gabby; Bottom Left: Swapnika; Bottom Right: Craig)
"greenYOUthCHANGEMAKERS" Project by Gabriela Mezeiova
Chambers Building 113A
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 564387
Environmental challenges raise serious concerns about the welfare of current and future generations. This is an ongoing challenge for the entire humanity and there is an urgent need for all of us, individually and collectively, to become more aware of our environmental responsibilities and act within its logic. Youth has a crucial role to play as we will leave the Earth to today’s children and young people, and to future generations. We believe that youth possess massive power to hold decision-makers accountable. They are not only citizens who experience consequences caused by older generations but are the most valuable and powerful contributors to action. They are agents of change-making! Thus, we came up with the project idea where youth play a key role in tackling environmental issues and with the help of youth-led and youth-focused organizations, young people will be empowered and will have enhanced effective participation in environmental policy and decision-making processes. The aim of the proposed project is to increase participating youth engagement in tackling environmental challenges locally and globally and build the capacity of youth as future leaders and driving forces behind a new eco reality (now and tomorrow).
Penn State’s Local Climate Action Program (LCAP) by Peter Buck
Chambers Building 111
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 721193
International, national, and local organizations concur that anthropogenic climate change presents one of the greatest threats to humans and all life and that solutions at every scale must be developed. In this presentation, Dr. Peter Buck (Co-director of Penn State’s Local Climate Action Program, LCAP) will share how the LCAP teaches that climate change is a multi-scalar “global” issue that requires local action and how love of place and home can enrich our lives. This presentation opens with an interactive activity to engage the audience. Next, Buck will share the LCAP’s means and goals, including background in climate assessments at all scales, calls to action in policy, examples of plans and planning processes, and methods for conducting greenhouse gas inventories and areas of the law and policy where changes can be affected. The session will be combination of activity, lecture, and open discussion.
Climate Change and Breast Cancer: An Overlooked Connection by Nermin Mostafa
Chambers Building 104
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 762202
The impact of climate change on health is receiving increased attention both on the research and community level. A little is known or evidenced about the effect of climate change on diseases like cancer. In my presentation, I will highlight preliminary concepts of climate change and some relevant studies that show the potential correlation between climate change and cancer, with more stress on breast cancer. The presentation summarizes how climate change is having a clear impact on major cancers, from environmental exposures to ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, disruptions in the food and water supply, environmental toxicants, and infectious agents. The presentation additionally explores the massive disruption of healthcare systems, which consecutively interrupt the healthcare services for cancer patients. This concludes with suggested measures to act on national and international levels for both adaptation and mitigation.
Turning a Global Village into a Global Nation by Re'naijah Purvis
Chambers Building 105
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 222897
The question of how we can raise global awareness, deepen intercultural understanding, expand commitment to sustainable actions, and foster respect for diversity and difference has been considered by organizations within The Pennsylvania State University. There appears to be a need for fresh, innovative ideas in creating a solid program for Penn State campuses to adequately address these questions. My project addresses the need for more Penn State campuses to organize programs that commits to sustainable action with special attention to Penn State housing. Specifically, in my project, I will be presenting the Living Learning Community, Global Village that began in the 2021-2022 academic year at the Penn State Lions Gate Apartments on the Penn State Abington campus. Global Village has been a developing platform for the campus to specifically engage a diverse group of globally minded students around shared goals of peer-based intercultural exchange, developing global competency and citizenship, and fostering sustainability. The students in the Lions Gate apartment are encouraged to take initiative in reflecting on their own sustainable awareness and actions. The students have the opportunity to attend workshops, lectures, and participate in community service hosted by residence life, faculty and staff, and multiple campus partners to strengthen their knowledge on sustainability and recognize that they can be part of services that are greater than themselves. I argue that a living learning community like Global Village can encourage all students from diverse backgrounds to teach each other and learn together more about the importance of global sustainable needs. In conclusion, this project embodies the idea that global sustainability expansion starts with us, as in the students who make up a new generation, and sheds new light on the idea that the need for these programs on all campuses can start with the students who specifically reside on campus.
Co-Constructing DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging): A Global Perspective by Anna Yinqi Zhang
Chambers Building 113A
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 564387
The Global Sustainable Action conference is a safe space for this collective process to take place with a supportive community, one that is not afraid of embarking on discussions on racism, nativism, sexism, experiences of discrimination and microaggressions, etc. and more importantly, we have hope and willingness to make a positive change. It is a collective and trusting learning experience together, and in the end, we will have an inclusive understanding of DEIB. By centering the voice of the international community at Penn State, who are marginalized in different ways from the domestic students, we can collectively make sense of our understanding and experiences of DEIB on campus. In addition, we can come up with tangible and practical initiatives to move towards an inclusive community and provide justice for all - at Penn State and beyond.
Education Abroad & Sustainability by Kate Manni
Chambers Building 111
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 721193
You might think that studying abroad is somewhat antithetical to advancing sustainability – particularly climate change and environmental impact. However, education abroad programs can provide unique and intensive learning opportunities that can integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other sustainability practices into the curriculum, logistical itineraries, and community engagement activities. The presenter will discuss actions that Penn State has taken to better integrate sustainability and sustainable development into its education abroad programs. Participants can provide feedback and ideas for future initiatives related to sustainability and study abroad.
Penn State Global was proud to be recognized as the inaugural winner of The Forum on Education Abroad’s Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad Award for 2021 (presented in March 2022).
Fast Fashion: The Price of throwaway Culture and the road to Ethical Consumption by Felrette Greene & Olivia Smith
Chambers Building 104
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 762202
Over the last two decades, the accelerating force of the fashion industry is causing great strains on the environment and sustainability efforts. Fast fashion, as a phenomenon, refers to the readily available, cheaply made clothing we engage in daily. The "fast" component is a term to describe the "assembly line-like" business model of quickly transitioning designs to the stores to keep pace with the high demand. Nearly 80 billion new clothing is produced annually, generating over one trillion dollars in revenue (Bick, R., Halsey, E. & Ekenga, C.C.). As the world becomes more interconnected, primarily due to globalization, we can no longer ignore this lucrative industry's long-term impacts on the environment.
This presentation will tackle theme 1: envision and proactively address global challenges to the fashion industry in hopes that the audience increases their knowledge about the industry and the intricate ways it operates and expands from the supply chain to consumer behavior. This presentation aims to explore the wide-scale impacts of the commercial fashion industry on the environment. Environmental impacts of the fashion industry include water pollution from textile manufacturing and dying to textile waste with the onset of landfills, mainly in the global south, filled with clothes. The goal is to assess the emerging role of different stakeholders in promoting sustainable and transformative practices to reduce its prevailing impacts on marginalized communities worldwide.
(Left: Olivia; Right: Felrette)
Addressing Housing Crises and Informal Settlement Challenges by 3D Printing Sustainable and Affordable Residential Houses by Eden Binega Yemesegen
Chambers Building 105
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 222897
Informal settlement due to unpeaceful environment, population growth, or natural hazards is a serious problem affecting land-based and environmental challenges in addition to the psychological effect it has to the community. Such informal settlement led to housing crises. The crisis of affordable and sustainable housing in urban areas is highly escalating despite new policies, programs, and strategies being applied. Besides informal settlement some of the reasons causing the affordable housing crisis include high rate of population growth, lack of manufacturing equipment and raw materials of construction, cost of imported building materials, speed of construction, and less application of updated construction technologies. Thus, this research study addresses the housing crises and indirectly the informal settlement challenge by providing a design tool and flowchart of using 3D printing technology from sustainable locally available materials based on analysis and experimental works. The study also proposes various sustainable earthen material mixes, geometry or form of buildings which are adapted from ancient traditional houses, and techniques in incorporating driving parameters like availability of the material in the construction area, cost of construction, natural hazards, and climatic conditions. Such parameters trigger the sustainability of the construction industry directly or indirectly and need to be considered during the construction methodology for the structure. The research also promotes peaceful environments and communities by helping them appreciate and use their own ancestors’ wise methodologies. Moreover, the study contributes to achieving green buildings and addressing global challenges that satisfy the UN sustainable development goals.
The GREEN Program by Aarushi Jadhav & Elizabeth Tofte
Chambers Building 111
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 721193
The GREEN Program (TGP) is an incredible company that offers short-term, experiential study abroad opportunities that educate students on today’s most pressing issues in sustainable development. TGP travels all over the world, from the glaciers of Iceland to the mountains of Nepal, providing students with hands-on experience and world-class education on issues such as renewable energy, ocean conservation, carbon neutrality, and more. As student ambassadors, our goal is to educate the student body about TGP and bring awareness to the need for sustainability education. Our presentation discusses the program in depth and allows us to share our personal experience studying abroad with TGP.
(Left: Aarushi; Right: Elizabeth)
How Penn State Engineers Without Borders Takes Global Sustainable Action by Gabe Hiestand
Chambers Building 111
Attending Virtually? Click HERE for zoom. Password: 721193
The goal of the presentation is to educate those in attendance at the Global Sustainable Action: It Starts With Us Conference about the humanitarian engineering that the Penn State Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-PSU) does, specifically the ways in which sustainable development is achieved through its work. Myself and one or two other officers of the chapter (as available) will introduce ourselves and the chapter. Then, we will discuss the mission of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) and the mission of the Penn State Chapter. Emphasis will be placed on the EWB-USA Global Challenges and the intersection of EWB-PSU’s current project work with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A brief discussion of two previously completed EWB-PSU projects followed by a more in depth look at one project completed last year in India and our current multi-year project in Uganda will provide examples of how EWB-PSU work intersects with sustainable action. There will be time for questions from the audience following the description of the current project work, and audience members will be encouraged to contact us if they would like to learn more.
Chambers Building 112
Hear from Penn State students that presented in the workshops about their interests in local and global sustainability and how they became involved in sustainability work. The student panel will share provide insights on how other Penn State students can become involved and take a few minutes to answer questions from the audience.
Closing Keynote Speaker: Christina Kwauk
Chambers Building 101
6:30–7:15 PM
Christina is a social scientist with an interdisciplinary focus on education for climate action. She is an expert on girls’ education in developing countries, 21st century skills and youth empowerment, and the intersections of gender, education, and climate change.
Christina is co-editor (with Radhika Iyengar) of Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change and co-author (with Gene Sperling and Rebecca Winthrop) of What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence for the World’s Best Investment and has published numerous policy papers and academic articles on topics in climate change education, gender, health, and international development and education. She is a member of the Drawdown Lift Advisory Council, the Girl Rising Advisory Council, the International Jury for the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education, and the Judging Academy for the World’s Best School Prizes.
Christina Kwauk works as an education consultant and Research Director at Unbounded Associates, Head of Climate and Education at The Education Commission, and a Future Rising Scholar in Residence at Girl Rising.
Previously, Christina was a Fellow at the Brookings Institution where she led the Center for Universal Education’s work on girls’ education. At Brookings she also led the Echidna Global Scholars Program, a visiting fellowship aimed at building the evidence in girls’ education while building the research capacity, leadership, and professional networks of girls’ education leaders. She also chaired the Girls CHARGE initiative, a Clinton Foundation global commitment to action, and advised the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, the UK Department for International Development’s Girls’ Education Challenge, and Save the Children UK. Formerly, Christina was also the associate director of the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education (MECCE) Project hosted by the Sustainability and Education Policy Network at the University of Saskatchewan, and a 36×36 Transformation Fellow with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
Christina holds a PhD in Comparative and International Development Education from the University of Minnesota, a MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a BS in Psychology from Sewanee: The University of the South.