Keynote speaker kicks off Sustainability Symposium

Rick Dandes, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 15—LEWISBURG — Bucknell University kicked off its two-day Sustainability Symposium Friday with its keynote speaker focusing on the role of communities in addressing sustainability challenges.

Keynote speaker Curt Gervich, a professor at SUNY Plattsburg, began his one-hour remarks with examples of communities around the globe — from Iowa, to Virginia and Mongolia, that faced challenges and how the residents reacted and adapted by utilizing everything around them.

Gervich noted that many of the challenges faced by cities are also shared by smaller communities. He cited data that 73 percent of humanity lived in small cities and towns.

After talking about some of the challenges faced by communities, both large and small, he said "communities are connected to the land and to each other. This is particularly true in smaller communities."

Gervich then transitioned to speaking about the Lewisburg community, its sustainable actions and programs.

"Lewisburg is at the heart of some questions we all face and dealing with them," Gervich said. "Lewisburg can teach the rest of the world about sustainability."

This is the 10th year of the Sustainability Conference said co-chair Shaunna Barnhart, Place Studies Program director, Bucknell Center for Sustainability and the Environment and past president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium.

Every year there is a theme, "and this year it is 'Moving From Hope to Action — Building Thriving Communities,'" said Milton Newberry, co-chair, and director of Bucknell's Sustainability Technology Program.

"We came up with this theme based upon our theme from last year," Newberry said. "Last year the theme was 'Is There Still Hope?' We were talking about the theme of radical hope, in relation to climate change, mitigation and adaptation. So now, we are asking people to move beyond the idea of hope to more of behavioral action."

"What does it take for all of us in terms of action, for communities to thrive," Barnhart said.

Putting together all-day panels featuring experts in sustainability is a project that takes a year of planning, Barnhart said.

"We have to figure out the theme and determine what will resonate with our community," she said.

"We had to find a keynote speaker and with our panels had to find panel speakers," Newberry said.

Students also play a part in the symposium, as they come up with ideas that are relevant to panel topics.