Luther College
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Luther College is a member of AASHE.

Luther College is a member of UMACS (Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability).

Professor Todd Green participated on a panel that briefed the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, on the oppression of Muslim minority communities in Europe. The briefing took place at the State Department on May 16, 2018. Jane Hawley, together with Jodi Enos-Berlage and collaborators from Iowa State University and Iowa Valley RC&D, presented “Action, Arts and the Humanities: Experiencing the Water that Connects Us” at the Iowa Water Conference, March 22, 2018 in Ames, IA. Char Kunkel gave a lecture in Dunedin, New Zealand, for the first ever Global Migrations conference, February 2018. "Land of the Free: (Re)Visioning Narratives of Race in Contemporary America" about Somali American representation in the news. Kunkel also gave a presentation at Midwest Sociological Society annual meeting, March 2018, co-authored with Ron Ferguson. "Broadening the Lens: Moving from Individual to Institutional Understandings" about the need for structural solutions to issues in today's society. Lori Stanley presented “Into a Larger World: Anthropologists’ Role in Preparing Students for Future Lives as Global Citizens” at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, November 29-December 3, 2017. Haleisa Johnson from Luther's Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Program presented at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in April 2018. Her presentation was titled, "Curriculum Considerations: Guiding Intentional Integration of Farm to Early Childhood Education." Johnson also presented about the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Program to the following organizations in the last year: Iowa Farm to School Conference, Iowa Head Start Association's Nutrition Networking meetings , Iowa Association for Education of Young Children's spring institute, and Keystone AEA. Professor Holly Moore attended and presented at the philoSOPHIA Feminist Philosophy Conference, Richmond, VA. Moore was on a panel: "On Gender and Violence: Course Design and Pedagogy."

Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities (2013-2019), Dr. Jon Jensen, served on the AASHE Board and the UMACS steering committee until 2017. Assistant Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities (2015-2018), Maren Beard, was also involved with the UMACS steering committee until 2018. Vice President for Finance and Administration, Eric Runestad, serves on the NACUBO Sustainability Advisory Panel. Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities, Jim Martin-Schramm, is the board chair of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light. Martin-Schramm is also the board chair of the Winneshiek Energy District. Joni Enos-Berlage serves on the Iowa Water Conference Planning Committee (Iowa Water Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA), and began serving on the Upper Iowa River Watershed Technical Committee in 2017. Beth Lynch serves on the board of Seed Savers Exchange.

Staff and faculty from the Center for Sustainable Communities regularly mentor and consult with students, staff and faculty from other colleges and universities in Iowa, the Midwest and across the country about sustainability programs. We happily serve as resources and 3-4 emails or calls each week from folks at other institutions with questions about our work and advice for how they can best do theirs.

Profesosr Joni Enos-Berlage, together with Professor Jane Hawley and faculty from Macalester College, Knox College, and Coe College, awarded a $18,016 ACM FACE grant to support an ACM Planning Meeting on Mississippi Studies, a new research initiative to encourage intercollegiate collaboration on publicly engaged projects that center on the Mississippi River watershed and its inhabitants. The goal of Mississippi Studies is to re-imagine the river and its tributaries as a coherent cultural and research corridor and foster new ways of thinking about its shared environment, its heritage, and its rich role in the history of the United States. Luther College has been working with Carlton College throughout 2018 and 2019 to learn more about the development of their Energy Master Plan as we prepare to develop and implement our own plan. Luther College hosted the Environmental Studies students of Northeast Iowa Community College in January 2019 to help them develop sustainability initiatives on their campus. Luther College has been learning from University of Northern Iowa through their Good Neighbor project, an effort to curb pesticide use on public property. We have hosted UNI staff and faculty in 2018 as they work to help our community make improvements. Staff from Luther's Center for Sustainable Communities has been assisting student workers from Drake University with their first year of STARS reporting, helping out with emails and phone calls. Luther College frequently works with Central College to learn more about their energy monitoring system, MAMAC. The Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative brings together Luther College, NICC, and Iowa State in collaborative systems change work. Here are the ongoing roles that these institutions play: Iowa State University Extension & Outreach ISU Extension and Outreach coordinates the work of the Northeast Iowa Food and Farm Coalition to create opportunities for farmers to engage in the local food system. ISU Extension also leads the youth engagement efforts in schools by embedding the work in the Iowa 4-H program. The vision of FFI aligns closely with the mission of Iowa's land grant university—to create healthy people, healthy environments and healthy economies. Luther College Luther College coordinates education and outreach to school wellness teams and supervises the AmeriCorps and FoodCorps members. Luther sets the example of healthy lifestyles for their region through their students and faculty. Their campus has numerous sustainability initiatives. Luther's outreach for Northeast Iowa FFI focuses on policy, system and environmental changes that support a sustainable, healthy choices and lifestyles , such as growing and using healthy, local foods and offering opportunities for active transportation. Northeast Iowa Community College NICC joined the Initiative in 2012 to expand work on FFI's newest strategy to reach out to young families and encourage healthy eating and active living into the everyday lives of parents, students and young children. Through the college's child development center and its early childhood education curriculum, NICC brings significant connections and expertise in working with regional agencies, childcare providers, parents and children from birth to five years of age.