Symposium Archives
2024 - Past, Present and Future Commitment Toward a Sustainable Future
Feb. 26-27, 2024
The 2024 Symposium on Sustainability celebrated the diversity of sustainability efforts and initiatives taking place within our campus community focusing on supporting and nurturing enablement and empowerment toward a sustainable future that extends into the Ames community, as well as communities across the state and throughout the world. Features of this year’s event included a keynote speaker, sustainability tabling and art exhibits and the accompanying multi-faceted, interactive event, Sustainapalooza.
2023 - Persistent Commitment Toward a Sustainable Future
Feb. 20-21, 2023
The 14th annual Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability was held Feb. 20-21, 2023 at Iowa State University's Memorial Union. Iowa State University's Live Green! Initiative provides a call to action to all students, faculty, and staff to be fully committed and engaged in ensuring our next sustainable decade. The 2023 Symposium on Sustainability celebrates the diversity of sustainability efforts and initiatives taking place within our campus community focusing on supporting and nurturing enablement and empowerment toward a sustainable future that extends into the Ames community, as well as communities across the state and throughout the world. Features of this year’s event included an opening speaker, sustainability tabling and art exhibits and the accompanying multi-faceted, interactive event, Sustainapalooza (offering Green-It-Yourself centers, green living giveaways and a clothing swap).
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2022 - Collective Commitment Toward a Sustainable Future
Feb. 21-22, 2022
The 13th annual Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability was held Feb. 21-22, 2022 at Iowa State University's Memorial Union. The 2022 Symposium on Sustainability celebrated the diversity of sustainability efforts and initiatives taking place within our campus community focusing on supporting and nurturing enablement and empowerment toward a sustainable future that extends into the Ames community, as well as communities across the state and throughout the world. Features of this year’s event include a keynote speaker, sustainability tabling and art exhibits and the accompanying multi-faceted, interactive event, Sustainapalooza.
2021 - United for a Resilient and Sustainable Future
March 1, 3, 2021
The 2021 Iowa State Symposium on Sustainability was held March 1 and 3, 2021, virtually and at Iowa State University’s Memorial Union. “Iowa State University's Live Green! Initiative provided a call to action to all students, faculty, and staff to be fully committed and engaged in ensuring our next sustainable decade. Through our actions and decisions regarding our campus, its operations and initiatives we can make efforts to support a resilient and sustainable future.
2020 - Visions of a Sustainable Future
Feb. 24-25, 2020
2020 marked the eleventh year of Iowa State University's Live Green! Initiative and the call to action given to all students, faculty and staff to be fully committed to and engaged in ensuring a sustainable future through our actions and decisions regarding our campus, its operations and initiatives. This year's Symposium on Sustainability celebrated the diversity of sustainability efforts and initiatives taking place within our campus community that support and nurture enablement and empowerment toward a sustainable future that extends into the Ames community, as well as communities across the state and throughout the world.
2019 – Envisioning Our Next Sustainable Decade
Feb. 18-19, 2019
The 2019 Symposium celebrated 10 years of Iowa State University’s Live Green! Initiative. The celebration featured a public lecture by Astronaut Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut who commanded the International Space Station (ISS) on three expeditions and was a member of the yearlong mission to the ISS. The event highlighted a decade of sustainability efforts and accomplishments work across Iowa State University, through a sustainability poster and tabling session, sustainability living displays and activities and a panel discussion that featured past and present sustainability leaders reflecting on a decade of sustainability and sharing visions for the next sustainable decade at Iowa State University.
2018 – Engaging, Enabling & Empowering Our Sustainable Future
Feb. 19-20, 2018
The 2018 Symposium featured a public lecture by Nick Mullins, a former fifth-generation coal miner from Appalachia seeking to better educate audiences about Appalachia's jobs-versus-environment dichotomy. This year's event highlighted the work of Dr. Chin Hui, recipient of the 2017 Live Green! Award for Excellence in Sustainability, as well as a sustainability poster session and the seventh annual Sustainapalooza event.
2017 – Ensuring a Sustainable and Resilient Future: There Is No Planet B
Feb. 27-28, 2017
The 2017 Symposium featured a public lecture by Colin Khoury, a research scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the USDA National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation and author of "Origins of Food Crops Connect Countries Worldwide," examining the degree to which countries use foreign crops. This year's event also included a sustainability poster session, the sixth annual Sustainapalooza event, as well as a screening of and discussion about the short films "Painted Poison" and "Food Scarcity."
2016 – One World, Green World: Embracing Our Collective Connections Toward a Legacy of Sustainability
Feb. 29 and March 1, 2016
The 2016 Symposium featured a public lecture by David Orr, a professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College and leader in the sustainability movement known for his pioneering work on environmental literacy and ecological design. This year's event highlighted the work of Angadbir Singh Sabherwal, recipient of the 2015 Live Green! Award for Excellence in Sustainability, and also included a sustainability poster session and the fifth annual Sustainapalooza event.
2015 – Doing Our Part, Greening Our Mark, Making a Difference
Feb. 23-24, 2015
The 2015 Symposium featured public lectures by Dr. John Warner, one of the founders of green chemistry and recipient of the 2014 Perkin Medal, and Dr. Tim Lindsey, global director of sustainability at Caterpillar. This year's event highlighted the recipients of the 2014 Live Green! Awards for Excellence in Sustainability and also included a sustainability poster session and the fourth annual Sustainapalooza event.
2014 – Celebrating Our STARS, Charting Our Course
Feb. 24-25, 2014
The 2014 Symposium featured a public lecture by Alan Weisman, journalist and author of “The World Without Us” and “Countdown: Our Last Best Hope for a Future on Earth?”, panel presentations and open forum discussion highlighting the components of Iowa State University's recent STARS Gold Certification in Sustainability, as well as visioning our collective sustainability goals and endeavors for the future. This year's event concluded with the third annual Sustainapalooza event (featuring Green-It-Yourself (GIY) Centers on upcycling, the 4Rs, urban gardening and sustainable transportation) and a public lecture by Des Moines, Iowa, Mayor Frank Cownie.
2013 – Connecting Today's Bottom Line with a Sustainable Future: Our Growing Commitment
Feb. 25-26, 2013
The 2013 Symposium featured a public lecture by Charles Fishman, award-winning investigative and magazine journalist and author of "The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water," and a keynote panel presentation featuring sustainability leaders from Iowa-based corporations. The event was kicked off by the second annual Sustainapalooza event that offered Green-It-Yourself (GIY) Centers on urban gardening, sustainable fashion, reading food labels and green cleaning.
2012 – Sustainapalooza
Feb. 28, 2012
In place of the annual Symposium on Sustainability event, Sustainapalooza, an event focused on celebration, recognition and reflection related to the many accomplishments that have taken place since the Live Green! Initiative began in 2008, served as the collective campus sustainability event for 2012. Sustainapalooza featured the opportunity for students, faculty and staff to memorialize current accomplishments and future commitments to living green and a sustainable future, as well as gaining new perspectives and opportunities from campus and community sustainability leaders.
2011 – Energizing Our Sustainable Commitment: Our Collective and Collaborative Roles
Feb. 21-22, 2011
The 2011 Symposium featured a keynote address and public lecture by Jerome Ringo, senior executive for global strategies with Green Port and an international leader for environmental justice and clean energy. The 2011 event also included interactive sustainability visioning sessions that offered students, faculty and staff the opportunity to take ownership in determining their specific interests, vision and commitment to a sustainable future for Iowa State University.
2010 – Building Our Green Continuum
Feb. 23-24, 2010
The 2010 Symposium featured a keynote address by Leith Sharp, founding director of Harvard University's Green Campus Initiative and a public lecture by Yvon Chouinard, founder and CEO of Patagonia. The inauguration of the Iowa State University Live Green! Awards for Excellence in Sustainability also highlighted the 2010 event.
2009 – Symposium on Sustainability
Feb. 9-10, 2009
The 2009 Symposium inaugurated an annual campus event focusing on Iowa State University's Live Green! Initiative and celebrated ISU's sustainability achievements, initiatives and vision. The 2009 event featured a keynote address and public lecture by Larry Shinn, president of Berea College, and included an afternoon session dedicated solely to focus group discussions directed at creating a vision of sustainability for Iowa State University.