View the Ěýto learn more about priority topics to be covered and our featured expert speakers!

Join us for WOHESC 2021!Ěý and get 30% off by using the promo code PCCSUST30.

Here is a link to the !

Humanity faces a series of intensifying and interrelated social and ecological crises. Solving these crises requires a holistic transformation: a shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy. With a theme of “Mobilizing for a Just Transition,” AASHE’s GCSHE will focus on centering justice within this transformation and ensuring that no one is left behind.

The GCSHE 2020 will bring notable keynote speakers to contribute to numerous discussion areas. Speakers include:

• Ibram X. Kendi, who is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Humanities professor at Boston University and the founding director of the BU center for Antiracist Research. Professor Kendi will provide a new frame for understanding racism and provide guidance on how to be an antiracist.
• Sara Goldrick-Rab, Ph.D, is known for her innovative research on food and housing insecurity in higher education and her work on making public education free. Dr.Goldrick-Rab will speak about meeting students’ basic needs during the pandemic and the economic turmoil associated with remote learning during a pandemic.
• Sean Sweeney, Ph.D. is the director of the International Program on Labor, Climate and Environment at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, City University of New York. Dr. Sweeney will talk about the concept of the just transition and why public ownership is necessary to achieve the transformative potential of a just transition.

AASHE’s GCSHE will continue to announce keynote speakers, check the conference for updates!

The AASHE’s GCSHE will be held virtually Tuesday October 20, 2020 to Thursday October 22, 2020. As a host institution, all PCC students, faculty and staff are eligible to receive free registration when registering with their PCC email address and the promo code: PCCEDU090820. Please email briar.schoon@pcc.edu with any questions.

The is a Ěý21-day environmental and social engagement program. From October 7 – October 28, 2020, you select or create actions that align with your individual values and make a 21-day commitment to complete those actions, all the while practicing and reinforcing good habits. For every completed action, you earn points and create impact. Your points contribute to the PCC EcoPanther team’s total points, and your impact contributes to our collective impact.

The People’s Eco Challenge is a great way to make a difference in your community and together with your fellow Panthers! To sign up, please follow to join our team or visit peoples.ecochallenge.org/teams/pcc-ecopanthers and register by clicking the “Join This Team” blue button.

New to the People’s EcoChallenge? Check out .

We have three awesome prizes to raffle off! See the details below:

1. We will hold a raffle with anyone who engages in the EcoChallenge during the first week for some sweet sustainable swag. Engaging includes doing a daily or one-time action or posting to your dashboard.Ěý
2. People who engage in the second week by doing an action or posting to the dashboard will be entered into the second raffle for swag. Engaging includes doing a daily or one-time action or posting to your dashboard.Ěý
3. Finally, the grand prize PCC sustainable swag cooler bag (see example photo for reference) goes to the top point earner at the end of the challenge (don’t worry the PCC Sustainability team is not eligible).

In 2019, we ranked 8th out of 12,477 organizations globally! Here are a few highlights:

• We traveled 4,242 miles using a sustainable source of transportation (by bus, bike, foot, or other),
• We kept 4,206 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere,
• We kept a total of 1,054 plastic bottles, straws, containers, or disposable cups out of landfills,
• We saved 2,052 gallons of water.
• WeĚý spent 7,035 minutes exercising,
• We spent 1,140Ěý less minutes in front of screens,
• and we consumed 294 meatless or vegan meals and 194 whole food meals (both of which significantly reduce the environmental impact of your meal).

We did great last year, but can we do even better this year?!Ěý

If you have any questions about the challenge, please reach out to the PCC EcoPanthers’ co-captains: Jade at jade.menchaca@pcc.edu or Raquel at raquel.salazar@pcc.edu

We look forward to a great EcoChallenge and can’t wait to have you participate!

Go EcoPanthers!!

Below is the first video with an introduction to the garden and a shout-out to the students who worked with Miriam this past winter to create the current crop plan. Look for weekly blog posts for the next reminder to keep watching!

With 9 videos total, Miriam shares all the working parts of the Learning Garden along with gardening techniques and her personal favorites in the garden.

The featured activity, Virtual Bingo was a success! The bingo provided a way for students, faculty and staff to learn about PCC sustainability programs, integrated ways to make more sustainable lifestyle choices and shared how local organizations are committed to sustainable practices. Bingo participants sent in their completed cards in hopes to win sustainability prize bags! Our Instagram Challenge was a week long challenge for participants to tag @PCC_Sustain and share videos/pictures that represented the daily hashtag. Each hashtag was chosen to inspire individuals to participate in activities provided by the Virtual Bingo and tutorials created by the Sustainability Team.Ěý Follow @PCC_Sustain on Instagram to find the tutorials on the IGTV tab.Ěý Below are the daily hashtags and some examples of the awesome submissions!

The PCC Sustainability Team had a blast looking at all the completed Virtual Bingo Cards and Instagram submissions. This Earth Week was different than most years but we are so appreciative to celebrate from the safety of our homes. Thanks so much for engaging in any Virtual Earth Week activities. We will be announcing the winners to the Instagram Challenge & Virtual Bingo soon! Remember, we are all in this together!

My oh my how time does fly! This was another great year for PCC during Earth Week. We had numerous events and projects going on across the district. Students, staff, and faculty took part in clean-ups, art-ivism, learning garden parties, upcycling challenges, and more. It’s hard to pick top highlights of all the great things that happened this year but we’ll do our best to showcase what we can in this recap!

We were honored to have Portland City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty kick off Earth Week with an inspiring talk. Hardesty, is a seasoned environmental justice advocate and she spoke to the necessity of equity in all environmental programs while providing insight into her work on the Portland Clean Energy Fund and upcoming climate justice initiatives in Portland. She voiced her support for the student-led plastic ban initiative and her powerful talk was followed by a screening of A Plastic Ocean.

Earth Week each year lines up with PCC Rock Creek’s Semana de la Raza and Maria Hernandez Segoviano, the Policy Advocate for gave an opening talk called Real and False Solutions in Environmental Justice, focusing on the resiliency of communities of color, particularly Latinx communities in the face of environmental racism.

At Southeast Campus a highly engaging event took place called “Jade District Air Quality Community Art Workshop”. It was lead by local placemaking artist, Daniel Granias. This project is sponsored by and the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC). During the event those in attendance learned about the Jade District area of Portland where the Southeast Campus resides, this included learning about how Division Street is actually still legally defined as a highway and as such doesn’t have the same inner city exhaust regulations which negatively impact all those that live in the area.

Granias also offered those interested to be a part of an art installation he is creating, it will be a net made out of surgical face masks with drawings and expressions written on them about people’s feelings about nature and the environment they are a part of. The netting will be created out of plastic bag twine. Granias showed folks how to make this twine out of plastic bags which was incredible!

Another big event that took place during Earth Week this year was the official ribbon cutting at the Cascade Campus Learning Garden! This garden spent over a decade in the minds and hearts of students, staff, and faculty and has finally been brought to fruition. Student Body President of Cascade, Teri Fane and PCC’s Interim Dean of Student Development, Traci Simmons cut the ribbon as other past and present student leaders who helped make this dream a reality stood proudly by.

And this year marked the third annual #EcoSocialJusticeEvent which featured Our Children’s Trust and the Juliana v Gov “Climate Trial of the Century” we had the pleasure of hosting Jacob Lebel, who is one of the 21 youth plaintiff’s in that case along with Coreal Riday-White, who is the Community Engagement Manager for Our Children’s Trust. They both gave engaging talks and answered many questions that student leaders provided them with.

Jacob Lebe of Our Children’s Trust & Youth Plaintiff in the Juliana V US “Climate Trial of the Century”

The 3rd Annual #EcoSocialJusticeEvent was a great success and many students said it was the best event of the year. Another highlight from the afternoon was the panel with local artists, those being; Asa Wright, Thea Ghar, and Ines Paulina Ramirez, who shared how their work promotes community building around intersectional issues of social justice, sustainability and the climate crisis. They celebrate the power of art as a form of activism. Their talk was called: Art + Social Change: Collective, Collaborations, Cooperatives.ĚýIt was awesome.

And then, after a great vegetarian lunch, these rad artists set up screen printing stations and a DJ booth and rocked the afternoon with their artivism in action. There was also a seed and start booth for folks to take veggies home and a sign making booth for the upcoming on June 4th which will be from 1:30-3:30 in Director Park, downtown Portland. This rally is taking place during the Juliana v US hearing in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. There is already over 100 rallies to be held across the country and world wide in solidarity and support of this trial!

This year we also once again had two great clean ups that took place, the Kelley Point Park Clean Up was the 4th Annual and the Cannon Beach Clean Up was the second year running for this great event. Both had great attendance and were ways for students, staff, faculty and beyond to dedicate some of their energy towards directly taking care of some of the mess we’ve made. SOLVE was a part of both clean ups.

, for the second year running, had four incredible portfolio displays to showcase, one for each campus.

Rock Creek Campus displayed:ĚýNo al Cambio Climatico! Ante la destruction, organizateĚý

This portfolio was created byĚý Escuela de Cultura Popular Martires del 68 from Mexico CityĚýin resistance to climate change.

Southeast displayed:ĚýWe Are the Storm

We Are the Storm is a collection of prints created in solidarity with frontline communities in resistance to climate change.

Cascade displayed:ĚýWellspring

Wellspring is a portfolio of twelve original risograph prints celebrating water.

And Sylvania Campus displayed:ĚýResourced

Resourced is a collaborative portfolio of prints addressing resource extraction and resulting social inequalities.

All four campuses had a Green Monday event, this event focused on fighting climate change with diet change! These events celebrated the numerous benefits of plant based diets and how to easily bring more of these meals into our lives. Other highlights from each campus: Rock Creek had their always well attended annual learning garden party and many wonderful events throughout the week.

Behold. The ASPCC Rock Creek Plastic PollutionĚýSculptureĚýproject! Made fromĚýdisposableĚýsingle use plastic items collected by the students of Rock Creek Campus

Cascade had a Native Plant Workshop with Judy Bluehorse Skelton, Student’s Forest Forum with , and so much more.ĚýSylvania had a week packed full of Earth Week action as they have been known to do. There was the Build and take home your own compost bin! event, Plant Sale and Seed Swap, Education 2030: The Future Depends on Us! hosted by PCC’s Sociology instructor Kim Smith who highlighted the work of PCC, our regional Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network () which Smith is a co-founder of), and the United Nations, through efforts to advance the power of education to help create a sustainable future. Another special event was the Sylvania Habitat Restoration Team’s 23rd Earth Day Birthday Party. They played host to Ken Ward, who is featured in the great documentary, . And on top of this, there were a bunch of days o’ fun down at the learning garden, and well, you could hardly walk around campus without running in to some kind of Earth Week goodness going on.

As you can gather, we had a lot of great action going on at PCC during our Earth Week events! It was another rewarding, challenging, and productive year building on what we’ve been doing over the years here. If you’d like, you can learn more and take a look at the history of Earth Week at PCC. We are always pleased to dedicate this energy and focus each year at this time though we recognize that Earth Day really should be something we give attention to EVERY DAY. ĚýAlas, we do what we can to remember that and do our best to be a part of the solution all year long.

It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And a little over a week ago the 1st Annual Tribal Nations Summit took place here in Portland, Oregon. This podcast episode was released last Tuesday though an official blog post had yet to be published. So on this day where we recognize and honor the Indigenous People around the country and world, it is fitting to share this post as it is directly in relation to honoring the First Nations people of this land.

Below is a glimpse into the episode. May we all work to better #HonorNativeLand as we move forward with our human story…

Thank you for tuning in, folks. I am pleased to report that on the morning of Friday, September 28th, on what was a rather warm early autumn day, with clear blue skies and the moon still showing in the sky off to the west, a very special occasion took place between The City of Portland as a governmental agency and many regional tribes from this area near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. I had the honor of speaking with Renea Perry after the ceremony, about PCC and also about its relation and connection to the events that took place on this day.

The Canoes approach on the Willamette. On board is mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly along with members of the local tribes of this area.

Before I move forward, I would like to add here the land acknowledgment that is said in each podcast and it is an important part of this narrative that is being built through, PCC, Sustain Me!

I would first like to acknowledge that this program is being recorded on the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, bands of the Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. Multnomah is a band of Chinooks that lived in this area.

We thank the descendants of these tribes for being the original stewards and protectors of these lands since time immemorial. We also acknowledge that Portland, OR has the 9th largest Urban Native American population in the U.S. with over 380 federally recognized tribes represented in the Urban Portland Metropolitan area. We also acknowledge the systemic policies of genocide, relocation, and assimilation that still impact many Indigenous/Native American families today.

We are honored by the collective work of many Native Nations, leaders and families who are demonstrating resilience, resistance, revitalization, healing and creativity. We are honored to be guests upon these lands. Thank you, and thanks also to our colleagues at the Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies Program for crafting this acknowledgement.

I admittedly have very limited knowledge on this ceremony that took place on the waterfront. I was pleased that my friend and fellow student leader from this past school year, Renea Perry was kind enough to discuss the significance of today’s events afterwards. Renea also explored what PCC and PSU are doing when it comes to bringing both more inclusion, and awareness to the large indigenous, native population in this region. This included talking about murdered and missing indigenous women which is an important topic.ĚýRenea Perry is a citizen of the Klinkit-Haida Nation of South-East Alaska, White Mountain and Nupiack from north Alaska and North European as well.

Pulling up to the shore to ask permission to come upon these native lands…

It was an honor to bear witness to this ceremony that began the 1st Annual Tribal Nations Summit. The summit’s theme was “Coming Together as One”. It was part of the official launch of the Tribal Relations Program and the Portland City Council Resolution 36941 that officially brings a genuine relationship between the Tribal Government Partners and the City of Portland. Big thanks to Renea Perry for sharing some story with me, Rachel Black Elk for the work done between PCC and PSU, Judy Bluehorse Skelton and all the incredible work she has done at both PCC, PSU, Cully Park and this whole region as well, big love to all the wonderful people of Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), the folks at Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) which are both here in Portland, and to all the first nations, native people here in this region who continue to persevere and let their light shine.

Tribal Relations Director Laura John “This is the next big step towards implementing the City’s government-to-government tribal relations program”

As always, thanks for tuning in, folks.

To listen to the episode, follow this link:

Can you feel it? The Autumn Equinox is just around the bend. The sun is setting earlier each day, encouraging us to rest up and get a good nights sleep. There’s that brisk and invigorating chill in the air, requiring that extra layer of clothes that’s been tucked away all summer. All those colorful leaves crunching beneath your feet as our fellow trees and plant friends prepare to go within for the winter. And for a lot of folks, this is that time n’ space to hunker down and get ready to exercise those creativity muscles as the new school year gets in motion. One great way to set some new intentions and perhaps get some beneficial habits in our lives at this time of year is to join the Eco Challenge! The , brought to you by the (NWEI), is entering its 10th year and it has certainly improved over the years like a fine wine (especially in these past two years with the updated platform). And there’s also another great improvement that has come to fruition this summer as we enter the fall, the (GPSEN) has officially brought online it’s brand-spanking-new website and I must say it is looking sharp as can be.

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While both the Eco Challenge and the new GPSEN website were brought into existence through the collaborative efforts of many people, there was one person in particular who was a key player involved with both of these great things. That person is David Macek from NWEI.ĚýI was delighted to sit down with the him just the other day and talk about both of these upcoming exciting things. David Macek is the Executive Director of NWEI and also has been a board member of GPSEN for many years as well. He lead the charge on bringing the new GPSEN website to life and of course is intimately involved with the Eco Challenge through his role at NWEI. It was a pleasure to sit down with him for a spell and talk about these great developments and I am delighted to share our talk with you. So, without further ado, I encourage you to go ahead and have a listen to this episode of PCC, Sustain Me!

Thanks for tuning in, folks. It is so greatly appreciated.

And one more thing! If you’re a part of PCC and you haven’t yet done so, !!!

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Keynote at NCORE 2018

In June a handful of PCC students, staff, and faculty attended the 2018 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Personally speaking, it was an honor to be a first time attendee to this incredibly impactful (and humbling) conference. As both a student focusing on environmental justice while also being a member of the sustainability department here at PCC, it has become ever more abundantly clear that the issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion are deeply connected with those of the sustainability movement. Indeed, the two are inseparable and it is a true injustice to even try and create a sustainable future without incorporating the important and ever increasingly hot button topics surrounding social justice issues and the voices of those most effected and negatively impacted by them in today’s world.

The 5 days attending this conference proved to be personally transformative in more ways than one. I am looking forward to the conference making its way to the Pacific Northwest next year and landing right here in Portland. NCORE 2019 is going to be something this city is certainly in need of right now. In what is presently considered to be one of the whitest and least diverse bigger cities in the country, Portland could use a bit more of let us say, color. NCORE 2018 had over 4,000 attendees and as one of the small percentage of white males in attendance, I cannot speak highly enough of how empowering and encouraging it was to be among such a diverse population at a conference that is working towards a better future for all through higher education.

Interestingly, this is precisely what the conference and are working towards except they are coming specifically from the environmental sustainability angle while NCORE is coming from the social justice and diversity point of view. It’s true though that the intersection of these movements is already underway and I see a great deal of very rewarding (and likely sometimes challenging) collaborations occurring between these two fields. It would be incredible to see a national summit come about between AASHE and NCORE, I believe that would be a really great step in the right direction. Consider that seed planted…

‘The web between the worlds: sustainability & diversity’

Speaking of the intersections between these worlds, the very last conference workshop I attended was actually based on this idea of collaboration between sustainability departments and the offices of equity and inclusion. It was called “Turbulent Winds: Addressing “Climate” at the intersections of Diversity and Sustainability”. It was presented by three different California State Universities (East Bay, Monterey Bay, & San Marcos) and it was precisely the kind of session that I was looking for to help bring back some good ideas for our school to work on. We here at PCC are doing a great many things when it comes to initiatives, programs, and sustainability focus in our curriculum though I know there is a good deal of room for improvement when it comes to developing our best practices between departments in our social justice and sustainable pursuits.

Matika Wilbur “What is the land based identity of the place you occupy?”

One of the other big areas that we at PCC are addressing is land acknowledgments and embracing the past and present stories of the Native Nations who lived here long before USA was even a twinkle in the eye of some colonial European conquerors. This question of land, identity, and occupation was a part of the focus of Matika Wilbur’s workshop session. It was both inspiring and humbling, and her passion and laughter are infectious to be sure. Wilbur is on a mission through to document through photography the 562 federally recognized tribal nations and the people and culture that make up each of these groups, it’s a beautiful way to help everyone in America remember that these native people are still here celebrating their rich and diverse cultures and are not just a part of a past history. She has been at it for over a year now and already has collected many great stories (and pictures) to share. This journey that Wilbur is on swings between many realms of story telling and certainly weaves in supporting and encouraging more first nations curricula being taught across all levels of the educational spectrum.

Heather Hackman at NCORE 2018

Dr. Heather W. Hackman from is doing some really incredible work when it comes to bridging together the two worlds of sustainability and social justice. In fact, I was fortunate enough to see her at the 2017 AASHE Conference and was deeply inspired by her sessions and keynote there. She was a personal inspiration for me, as a returning student trying to figure out what to do with my life professionally speaking, she inspired me to work towards becoming more of a public speaker and presenter myself. Needless to say, I was pleased as pie that she was at NCORE. I find Hackman’s brand of presenting to be so engaging and accessible. It’s a mixed bag of nitty-gritty real talk delivered through quirky, fast paced, and raw humor that works especially well given the way she incorporates her own often awkward journey navigating the complex worlds of diversity, equity, and inclusion as a white, and therefore privileged, female presenting person in modern society. It is clear that when it comes to sustainability, she understands there is a lot of healing, reckoning, and shifting of personal perspectives needed before we are really prepared to move forward in any meaningful ways as a truly collaborative and socially just society here in America. I’m glad to see she’ll be attending AASHE 2018 coming up in the fall once again. This kind of crossover work is what we need more and more of today.

Symone Sanders powerful keynote at NCORE 2018

It’s no understatement to say that Symone Sanders keynote got the audience pretty fired up. Symone Sanders is a ‘spokesperson for culture’ and can be seen holding her own on CNN and other cable news programs as well as at College’s and conferences across the nation. Sanders really made her mark on the world when in 2016 she became Bernie Sanders national press secretary for his presidential campaign. Nowadays it appears one of Sanders biggest agendas is bringing an intelligent and very welcome grace back into political commentating and public discourse. Her passion and confidence radiated from the stage and inspired me to become a better listener, speaker, and debater after hearing her talk.

Tim Wise at NCORE 2018

Ah, Tim Wise. What can I say? First and foremost, as a person who knew very little about him before this conference, I can now say that I’m a pretty big fan. Tim Wise is an antiracist essayist, author, and speaker who has been sharing his perspectives and wisdom on social justice for more than 20 years now. He’s recently started a podcast called “Speak Out With Tim Wise – Podcasting for Resistance and Justice in the Age of Trump”, you can imagine from the title what this program is all about and he actually recorded a couple episodes during the conference. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to sit in on one of these interviews for his program. I actually recorded the audio of Tim’s presentation and will likely make it available on our website soon. I really appreciated his talk for it’s honesty and passion, while he didn’t really directly connect it to sustainability, the fact of the matter is he addressed a lot of issues around white privilege and elements of social justice that are intrinsically connected to the environmental sustainability movement. I strongly encourage you to have a listen to one of his podcast episodes or pick up one of his many books.

Not only was this my first time attending NCORE, it was also my first time visiting New Orleans. It’s somewhere I had always hoped to one day visit. The place is truly unlike any other place I’ve been in the US. The amount of live music (especially jazz) was really cool to experience and I managed to have some good times with fellow students and staff out there while we swam through the near 100% humidity. And while I’m not in the habit of regularly giving out grades in sustainability for a city, this place gets between an F and a C minus (if I’m being nice). Let’s just say it is certainly not the most sustainable of places I’ve ever been. I believe one could make an entire second French Quarter’s out of the Styrofoam used in one day alone out there on Bourbon Street.Ěý In spite of that it really is such a magical place I’m glad to have seen at least once in my life. It’s bizarre having a strong feeling I’ll potentially one day be describing this place to my kids as a mythical, magical, musical, voodoo wonderland that now lives under the Gulf of Mexico. It appears the climate change and sea level rise that is already baked in makes this a likely scenario in a not too distant future.

Intersection of Orleans and Bourbon, the calm before the storm

This three piece band had me hooked. I even bought a bottle of the bass players home made hot sauce!

And then there are signs like these on the streets…

In all, NCORE 2018 was a humbling and incredible conference to be a part of. I hardly touched on the vast programming that took place over the 5 days of the conference, my days were packed with so many great sessions and I have a notebook stuffed with notes, I’m still trying to process it all! It was encouraging to see the great work that is being done across the country through higher education surrounding these important issues. I am also really glad to have learned that NCORE is coming to Portland next year. This gives me goals of making sure our sustainability department does more and more inclusive and equitable work between sustainability and social justice moving forward so that we can help continue to bring these two movements closer together in both higher education institutions and across American society as well. It is among the most sustainable and important work we humans can do in these often challenging times.