“If putting the future of life at the heart of everything we do is not central to our purpose and destiny, why are we here?” Paul Hawken In a 1946 New York Times article, the eminently quotable Albert Einstein said, “a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is…
By Mike Kensler. For September, this column continues our tour of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this month focusing on SDG 4: Quality Education. Sort of. As I write this in late August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just released its Sixth Assessment Report, also…
By Chloe McMahon. Dr. Sweta Byahut serves as an Associate Professor and current Director at Auburn’s Community Planning graduate program. She has been teaching at Auburn for nearly nine years. A seasoned urban planner, her passion for sustainable urban development is evident both in her teaching and research. Since she…
By Chloe McMahon. Rob Engle and Scott McClure both work as energy engineers for the Department of Facilities Management. The central concern of their work is to ensure that the university is using energy as efficiently as possible. Though this task may seem straightforward enough, they have found that maximizing energy efficiency means having a holistic knowledge about all…
“So, when you asked, ‘What is the next big opportunity?’ it is design. It is design for next use in the circular economy. But safe and circular.” Bill McDonough Clean, renewable energy is the only energy path to a livable future. In 2015, 193 nations agreed that a shift to…