More than 250 college and university leaders from the across the country have gathered in Boston this week for a Climate Leadership Summit.
The focus is to strengthen climate action and sustainability initiatives on campuses.
One of the attendees was Carol Long, Interim President at SUNY Geneseo.
"I think one of the great roles colleges is to do interdisciplinary research, look at some of the issues facing us as communities and as a globe, and to try to broaden the conversation about the information available in a non-partisan way and in an engaging way, but to really keep those issues in front of people so we get the best thinking from everybody," Long said.
The summit featured discussions on collaborative efforts by some colleges. Long said some schools are working together on problems that would be too big for any one campus to undertake. "For instance, George Washington University and American University have done a purchase agreement for solar power that can be fed into the grid that will help to sustain and probably serve about 70 percent of their energy needs over the next 20 years."
SUNY Geneseo is creating an e-garden, a stand-alone, off-the-grid energy garden using renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal systems.
The college also just opened an Office of Sustainability. That office will coordinate the school's sustainability efforts. Faculty and students will be encouraged to conduct research in sustainability and integrate that into college course planning when possible.
