Hot subjects—Environmental Studies 900: ‘Working Toward Regional Sustainable Development’

As the demand for greener companies and communities continues to rise nationwide, UW–Madison is responding by offering new courses on the environment and sustainability. Part of this green education is a new environmental studies forum titled Working Toward Regional Sustainable Development.

Led by Tom Eggert, senior lecturer in the School of Business, the course meets as a bi-weekly, community forum that mixes graduate students and community leaders in a discussion on the practices and real-world examples of sustainable communities.

Commonly examined in the business arena, sustainability is a growing trend for communities as a way to more efficiently use energy, space and resources, as well as social and local business activities. Eggert says that, today, local governments are generating innovative and creative ideas on sustainability.

“[Local governments] are thinking much more holistically than in the past,” he says, adding that creating sustainable communities reaches beyond environmental practices to include financial and social successes.

The forum convenes every Friday, attracting roughly 30 local community leaders and 20 graduate students. Guest speakers such as Irene Blakely, mayor of Washburn, Wis., and Ann Beier, Director of Milwaukee Office of Environmental Sustainability, will offer their own experiences and lessons learned working with eco-municipalities. The semester will conclude with a guest lecture by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on Madison’s response to the sustainability challenge.

The real-world setting of the forum creates a new learning environment for the students in class. Eggert says that this course “blurs the line between academia and the real world.” He adds that his students get to see through the eyes of community members, something they often don’t have much experience with. Eggert hopes that the students, as well as the community leaders, will feel empower to take action in creating viable, sustainable communities. “I expect them to go out and change the world.”