Education

As an institution of higher education, West Chester University’s primary roles in meeting the challenges of sustainability and climate change are to educate, conduct research, and provide public service. Through these efforts we have an opportunity to instill the knowledge and values of sustainability within our campus and community. At West Chester University, we promote the stewardship of an Earth on which life flourishes into a future of increasing prosperity and opportunity, without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations of humans and other life. Sustainability requires an understanding of the inter-connected relationship of environmental, societal, and economic issues and resources at both the local and global levels. West Chester University graduates will be prepared to transform their understanding of those connections into a life-long commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible local and global citizenship.

 

 Photo from Sustainability and Spirituality Colloquium     bike maintenance workshop

The Brandywine Project

The Brandywine Projects, held throughout the year, are a wonderful way to for WCU community members to engage in conversation and learn more about campus sustainability. The Brandywine Projects are organized as sustainability workshops for faculty, staff, and students with the ultimate goal of incorporating sustainability into every aspect of campus life. These workshops generally include presentations about what West Chester has done in the past to reach their sustainable goals as well as what plans are set for the future. Interactive breakout sessions occur throughout the workshop to get participants networking, brainstorming, and discussing different topics that are directly relevant to our local campus community and environment, integrating the local and the global. In January of 2019, the very first Brandywine Project Alumni Summit was held, bringing together a collection of past participants to work together on a collective project. Find information on upcoming workshops on the Brandywine Project page.

 

 

 

The Brandywine Project Logo

Resources for Teaching Sustainability

Integrating sustainable theories and practices into the curriculum at WCU is critical to expanding sustainable practices. Investing time into educating students, faculty and staff will produce long-lasting results long after alumni have left the campus. Below are materials for teaching about sustainability that have been developed by WCU faculty, staff, students, and affiliated community members.

Written Materials

Videos/Films

Courses and Programs Offered at WCU

Interested in learning more about sustainability? Students have a wide variety of options to choose from at WCU, ranging from formal degree programs to general-interest courses. Sustainability is not centralized in one academic department on campus, so students are encouraged to contact the specific department offering the program of particular interest.

Sustainability Courses

View a full list of all of the sustainability courses that West Chester offers.

Sustainability Programs

Additional Programs for Students Interested in Careers in the Environmental Field

Research

Faculty Research on Sustainability-Focused Topics at WCU

Below you will find a link to an inventory documenting full and part-time faculty members at West Chester University who conducted research related to one or more of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals between the fall semester of 2018 and the end of summer sessions of 2019. These 73 faculty members represent 29 separate academic departments on campus and collectively are addressing research questions related to most of the 17 SDGs. Information for this inventory was collected by an electronic survey distributed to all 980 full‐ and part‐ time faculty in September 2019 by WCU's Office of Sustainability working in collaboration with Professors Lisa Calvano (Management) and Joan Welch (Geography & Planning).

Find the full list of faculty research projects addressing the UN SDGs here.

Digital Commons - WCU Campus Sustainability Initiatives

Passionate faculty and students at WCU seek to use their research to understand and appreciate how the natural world and humanity can co-exist. A collection of reports, presentations, and surveys can now be found on the Digital Commons Sustainability Research and Creative Activities page, showcasing their hardwork and dedication. You can access the 2018 Commuter and Parking Survey, previous proposals for the Sustainability Research and Creative Activities Grant, The WCU Landscape Master Plan, as well as data from a mapping project on the invasive species, the Spotted Lantern Fly, in the Gordon Natural Area. If you have a report, poster, or presentation you would like to add to this collection, please contact Walter Cressler, Department of University Libraries.

WCU Campus Sustainability Research and Creative Activities Grant

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at West Chester University sponsors a Campus Sustainability Research and Creative Activities Grant each year with a Request for Proposals released in the early Spring semester with the Award Cycle extending from March 1st to June 30th of that same year. In the most recent grant application cycle, accessible through WCU’s InfoReady website, grants of up to $2,000 (a total $8,000 available) were solicited. Notice of the release of the annual Request for Proposals is made via email messages to all faculty and via Office of Sustainability email bulletins.

Sustainability Research and Practice Seminar

The SR&PS takes place every Fall and Spring semester and dates, speakers and titles can be found in the News and Upcoming Events section of our home page.  Recording from past presentations are available to view on the Digital Commons for Sustainability Research and Creative Activities page.