Measuring up?

How do you measure sustainability? I mean it is a pretty abstract concept. Sustainable development is about creating a world where resource limitations are respected and the relationships between people are appreciated. So there we have it, take all that and wrap it up into a nice set of measurable indicators. Yep… super easy. Also, did I mention that it would be super great if this magic assessment tool was accessible to students.

So what if I told you that there is a Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework just floating around out there? I guess you could call it the Bible of campus sustainability. A total of 171 indicators broken down into two broad categories (ecosystems and society) with10 subgroups that cover every aspects of campus sustainability. Well you would call me crazy wouldn’t you?

But in all seriousness this assessment tool does exist and it is being used by institutions all around the country. The Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework or CSAF (pronounced c-saf) is an exciting tool that allows campus community members to see just how sustainable their campus is. This tool was created by Lindsey Cole, a masters student, for the Sierra Youth Coalition.

Many people don’t even know that this tool exists. For them sustainability remains an abstract concept that has great principles but no substance. And for those who do know about it, some would try to use it as a commercial tool for profit. One thing that has never really been agreed upon is how to compare against institutions, or even if we should.

Check out the SYC’s website to find out more about the CSAF and other institutions that have worked on it.

Integrated Social Marketing

This summer has seen an unprecedented amount of Green at the movie theaters. No really! I am not joking. Now I am sure that you have heard enough about the environment and how we all need to do our part. Even I am getting a little annoyed (a little but not a lot). But this summer I saw something that I was a little encouraged by --- wait for it --- integrated product placement. Or at least the next incarnation, integrated social marketing placement. First there are a couple of concepts that we need to review.

You see there is this thing called social marketing, basically taking all the evils of marketing and putting it towards good. Remember when you were a kid and you saw all those “this is your brain on drugs” commercials? Or all those “don’t drink and drive” commercials? That’s it! That’s using marketing for the purposes of advancing a positive social change.

Now, there is this thing called product placement. It happens when you are watching a television show or a movie and BAM the main actor is drinking Pepsi, or everyone is using a Mac. That’s product placement. It happens because people are sick of watching commercials and they hate having to hear about how great a product is. So if you can slide your product into the show than you have an advantage.

But even product placement is getting a little old, people don’t like the clumsy addition of a product into a show. Think about 24 where the Ford SUVs always perform and are never into crippling accidents. It’s kind of a little too fake, right? So here comes integrated product placement. Basically it is the weaving of a product right into the plot line of a movie or television show so that it seems seamless. The Office did an episode about the ipod, except that the plot was about Michael giving an ipod as a gift. Or 30 Rock which is a spoof-like parody a product placement so that it is actually integrated.

Integrated product placement ideally wants to achieve the popularity sought after by products that become so famous that the brand name is mistaken for the product name. Yeah, like Kleenex or Popsicles or Coke. Some get so famous they become verbs like Hoover, Google, or Febreeze. If someone in a movie says something like “I don’t know what that is, let’s Google it”, then integrated product placement has won the day.

So why am I heralding the use of such a viral form of advertising? Well, think back to the start of this entry when I said movies this year and too much ‘green’. I certainly don’t want to overload people with how important the environment is. Every time I mention ‘green’ I see some of my friends cringle a little and say “Oh great, here we go again. When is the environment not in trouble?” People are starting to suffer from Green fatigue.

So here comes our saviour, marketing. By using environmental issues as the background for movie plots we avoid green fatigue and embrace the green-stream (or green as main stream). Think about some of the movies that you saw this summer. WALL-E, a cute robot commissioned to clean up a post apocalyptic planet Earth after humans went too far and trashed the place. What about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Aliens come to planet Earth and decide to get rid of humans in the hopes of saving the planet. Geez, even the New Bond movie featured a maniacal environment loving terrorist as the featured enemy. Baby it doesn’t get any better than this.

Gone are the days of Al Gore armed with a PowerPoint in a feature film about global warming. In are the days of future planetary destruction, enviro-warriors kicking ass, and friends knocking back brews talking about greener pastures. So, kick up your heels and watch the environmental literacy of the continent skyrocket, all thanks to our friends in Hollywood.

Imagine uOttawa

Back in October the Student Federation hosted Green Weeks. Basically this was the longest continuous green event that I have ever participated in. Actually, and don’t quote me on this, I think it was the longest green event in Canada… maybe even the US too. Four weeks of daily events. Now I am sorry if it sounds like I am complaining, because I am not. The whole thing was great and secretly… i can’t wait to do it again.

But I am not here to talk about Green Weeks, I am here to talk about Imagine uOttawa. It was one of the events that made up the beautiful green mosaic of that month. First, let’s get this out of the way; it has been months since this event happened. So why am i talking about this now? Well i finally have enough time to work on it and I was going over the minutes of the event and I fell in love with the idea again.

Okay… enough suspense! Imagine was a community design charrette to determine what the campus should look like in 100 years. Yes, that’s right, 100 years! Why in any sane world would we want to sit down and talk about the campus in 100 years from today? I mean realistically most students will be on campus for 4 years, some might stay longer and do a graduate degree. Your average employee sticks around for about 10 years or so. Faculty on tenure track and some long term employees could be around for upwards of 40 years. And if a first year student attending the event were to live their entire life and see the outcome of this event, that student would be one of the oldest people on the planet.

Oh, you noticed that I didn’t actually answer the question yet. Well here’s the reason. If I want to have garden on every roof, or a campus without cars, and I wanted to do this in the next 5 years…. No chance! It would be too expensive. Well what if I wanted the campus to be completely off the grid in 10 years? No sir, definitely not enough time. And if i wanted the campus to be an urban forest in the next 25 years? The chances still don’t look good. But, draw out these initiatives over the next 100 years and anything is possible.

Really? Well of course it is. Think about it. If i did want an urban forest in 100 years, in the next 5 years we decide what kind of trees we want and where they will go; in the next 10 years we make sure that no green space is removed; in the next 25 years we stop building any above ground parking spaces; in the next 50 years we plant our trees; in 75 years we cull the trees to make sure that they healthy ones are surviving; and in 100 years, our campus is an urban forest.

So as I reminisce about the event I remember all the great ideas and questions that came out. The President of the University of Ottawa (Allan Rock) not only came out to talk about the event, he actually stuck around for the entire event and then praised all the community members that came out.
I promise is that in the next few days a website will go up about the event and we will make a long term plan for the great ideas that our students and staff had.