To meet the demand for higher-level content, AASHE is pleased to offer two “deep dive” sessions at AASHE 2019. Intended for more experienced attendees, deep dives are cohesive and interactive sessions that allow for a more focused, in-depth exploration of a subject than is possible in regular sessions. Both deep dives will take place during the main conference from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m on Monday, October 28. As they are designed to offer an integrated experience, participants are expected to attend the entire session.
To cover the added costs associated with this kind of advanced programming, a fee of $75 (in addition to the general conference registration fee) is required to participate in a deep dive. The process to register is different for each deep dive so please review the details below. If you have any questions, email conference@aashe.org.
Deep Dive 1: Co-creating a Sustainable Economy Through Procurement
In response to a survey on the needs of seasoned sustainability professionals, this extended session will focus on how sustainability staff can form mutually beneficial relationships with procurement officers, gain a greater understanding of the procurement process and leverage procurement strategies to advance sustainability initiatives. This session is organized by members AASHE’s Advisory Council in collaboration with the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP). It will be facilitated by procurement professionals.
Participants will:
- learn how procurement officers establish priorities and manage risk
- gain familiarity with procurement practices and considerations
- understand the current and future critical challenges facing procurement
- connect with other experienced sustainability professionals
- leave with tangible resources to accelerate their work when they return to campus.
Participation is limited so interested attendees must apply to attend. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis, but early applicants have the best chances of acceptance. Review of applications is underway and will continue until the workshop is filled. Accepted applicants will be invited to register via a separate process.
Deep Dive 2: No Sustainable Economy Without Conversations About ‘Unsustainable’ Race, Class & Gender Privilege
Facilitator: Heather Hackman, Hackman Consulting Group
While attention to the ways dynamics of racism, classism and gender oppression target people of color and native people, poor and working class people, and cisgender women and trans* people is critically important to our sustainability work, too often the ‘other side’ of these dynamics are left invisible and thus unchallenged and unchanged. More specifically, while some campuses are willing to consider the impacts of racism, sexism or classism on their sustainability work, less frequent is the willingness to look at the ways white, owning-class and male privilege has impacted that work. As we attempt to build a sustainable economy, critical dialogue and action regarding economic, gender and race privilege must be part of that process lest it be incomplete and yield only partial results.
This session, which is best suited for individuals who have at least some prior training in diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, is designed to help participants dive more deeply into the complicated and often fraught conversation about class, race and gender privilege in the service of developing more collaborative campus sustainability efforts. To be sure, this is not a session mired in guilt, shame and blame. Instead, it will:
- Establish a shared understanding of how systems of oppression work and their impacts on climate change, environmental issues and sustainability work;
- Explore, through a social justice lens, the dynamics of privilege inherent in all of these systems of oppression;
- Identify the unconscious and unintentional ways race, class and gender privilege thwart collective sustainability work on our campuses;
- Suggest ways to interrupt and dismantle these privileged dynamics; and then
- Connect this social justice work to the creation of effective and forward-thinking campus sustainability efforts.
The session is grounded in social justice theory, but its true efficacy is dependent on participant engagement. Thus, reflective writing, paired conversation, small group dialogue, video, and printed media will all be used to help participants understand and apply the content. Additionally, small-scale ‘case studies’ or ‘scenarios’ will be used to push participants past the ‘I know this stuff already’ stage and urge them to dig more deeply into their learning and potential blind spots.
Attendees may register for this deep dive session by adding it as a supplemental event through the regular registration process.