Cornell’s Department of Energy & Sustainability (E&S) and the Cornell Team and Leadership Center, an affiliate of Cornell Outdoor Education (COE) are developing experiential sustainability education programs for student leaders, the Greek community, religious communities, residential student staff, and Cornell staff, utilizing the Hoffmann Challenge Course. Powered by solar panels, set in the woods atop Mt. Pleasant with a recently-installed compost system, the Challenge Course is a great tool for hands-on sustainability education. E&S and COE are working together to create outdoor education programs which foster ecological literacy, systems thinking skills, critical self-reflection, leadership development, and community-building. These departments are also collaborating with Cornell United Religious Works and Hillel for faith-based sustainability initiatives, such as the "Sustaining Our Power" retreat, with a focus on interfaith dialogue related to environmental protection and positive social change.

In early spring of 2010, several COE instructors and staff met to discuss the idea of beginning a COE Sustainability Initiative. The group, now called the COE Green Team, is dedicated to being a model for others in sustainability practice, education and leadership. Through partnerships with Cornell Team and Leadership Center (CTLC), The Department of Energy and Sustainability (DES) and Cornell United Religious Works (CURW), The COE Green Team is dedicated to bringing green education, inspiration and action to campus organizations through team building, environmental action and sustainable fun! Future goals of the Green Team include a facility-wide audit of COE’s environmental impact in an attempt to reduce the department’s carbon footprint, development of a series of educational modules for other departments around campus and implementation of sustainable practices on COE's adventure trips. It is an exciting time to be green with the COE Green Team!

CTLC and The Department of Energy and Sustainability recently collaborated on a sustainability program for a 4-H group of teens interested in pursuing Green Jobs. During their two-day program, teens were able to experience a wide variety of events and challenges, all centered around the idea of green jobs. They went on a variety of tours, including the Cornell Combined Heat and Power Plant, the Cornell water filtration plant, Dilmun Hill, the student-run organic farm, and two LEED certified green buildings. In addition, the participants canoed around Beebe Lake and spent a day at the Hoffman Challenge Course learning about teamwork and the interconnectedness of humans and the environment. Programs like the 4-H Sustainability Program are unique opportunities for individuals to learn leadership and sustainability skills in a fun and safe environment.

4-H Green Jobs 2010 participants at Beebe Lake

Participant, Pierre-Francois Wolfe reflected, “The changes that are being made in order to increase the efficiency of the power-plant and the LEED certified buildings were inspiring and the designing of such facilities is a job I would be interested in pursuing…I hope that this program will run next year with an option for past participants to explore further”.

"This program drew together a variety of strengths Cornell has to offer toward exploring "green dream" jobs. Cornell's wide range of sustainability-related careers were explored experientially, drawing on the action learning expertise of Cornell Team & Leadership Center and Cornell Outdoor Education." said CTLC facilitator, Jim Volckhausen. "I see this same training model as applicable, with adjustments, to a wide variety of groups."

In working with COE, CURW and the Department of Energy and Sustainability, The Cornell Team and Leadership Center is pleased to offer training modules centered around personal and workplace sustainability, leadership, faith and wellness.

Finding Your Passion

Passion and motivation help power effective leaderships through the ups and downs of organizational change. This session offers a combination of interactive activities and personal reflection to help participants identify and harness their core beliefs and deepest motivations in their sustainability efforts.

Leadership for Sustainability Self-Assessment

Critical self-reflection and self-assessment of skills is a way for leaders to make choices about forming effective teams, attending future trainings, and career pathways.
This session exposes participants to several frameworks for leadership self-evaluation. Through presentations, reflection, and discussion the session culminates in a making a personal commitment to self-improvement in specific professional areas.

Sustainability 101

Sustainability is a complex field with multi-faceted historical and contemporary examples. This session provides an overview of personal sustainability, modern and ancient historical trends, a variety of sustainability models, and an introduction to sustainability across various global sectors.

Wellness for Leaders

Leaders can be described by both what they accomplish and how they recuperate. In today’s world balance and personal health are seen as important leadership skills. This session identifies the wellness challenges associated with leadership roles and introduces several useful concepts and techniques to help leaders focus on balance and health as a solid foundation for their sustainability efforts.

Personal Sustainability Plan(PSP)

Sustainability begins with your values, health, and passions. Personal Sustainability Plans are a proven way to help individuals identify the right mix of goals and strategies to advance their personal and communal well-being along with professional aspirations. The session introduces participants to the Personal Sustainability Plan model and guides them through a series of reflective and conversational activities that culminate in the completion of a 6 month Personal Sustainability Plan.

Related Links:

Sustainable Campus: http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu

COE: http://www.coe.cornell.edu

CTLC: http://ctlc.cornell.edu

CURW: http://www.curw.cornell.edu

Sustainability Hub: https://sites.google.com/site/cornellsustainabilityhub/