Past Stories
Center Meets Haffenreffer Challenge
The Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education has met its annual “Haffenreffer Challenge.” Thanks to donations received from its many supporters on Sanibel Island, as well as generous gifts from the Thomas Berry Foundation and the American Teilhard Association, the Center was able to surpass the goal of $10,000 set by philanthropists Peter and Mallory Haffenreffer.
Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran commented, “We were especially pleased with the increased number of gifts from Sanibel and Captiva Islands this year, as we recognize the difficult choices that givers must make in these times of great need in the local community.” He went on to say, “We were also thrilled to receive two major gifts from prestigious philosophical societies whose work inspires us at the Center. These gifts allowed us to more than double our fundraising goal.”
The Thomas Berry Foundation is a private foundation whose mission is to “to carry out the Great Work of Thomas [Berry] in enhancing the flourishing of the Earth community.” The Foundation seeks to achieve its goals through four major initiatives: enhancing American environmental theologian and cultural historian Thomas Berry’s legacy, creating a new field of study with implications for policy, promoting a moral force for environmental action, and fostering knowledge of the universe story.
The American Teilhard Association is guided by the writings of French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The Association seeks to bring “an encompassing perspective to the task of shaping the well-being of the entire earth community, at a time when so many crises threaten it.” You can learn more about these organizations at the following websites: http://www.thomasberry.org/ and http://www.teilharddechardin.org/.
The Center thanks all those who made donations, as well as those who helped make the Sixth Annual Fundraising Celebration a success. The March 18, 2010 event took place at the Haffenreffer’s beachside home on Sanibel Island. Entitled, “Bloom Where You're Planted: Focus on the Local,” the event celebrated the role of the Center at FGCU and in the local community, its work with young people, and the wisdom of elders. The event featured organic food prepared with ingredients grown by local organic gardeners. The Center relies on support from the Southwest Florida community to continue its “work toward realizing the dream of a sustainable and peaceful future for Earth through scholarship, education, and action.”
A detailed measure of the Center’s progress is exhibited in the Center’s recently published Five Year Report, Works Toward Realizing the Dream (pictured). To request a copy of the report, contact the FGCU Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at (239) 590-7166 or e-mail: cese@fgcu.edu.
We've lost a great spirit and a great friend...
It is with deep sadness that we report the loss of a great friend of Mother Earth and of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education. On April 17, 2010, Oannes Arthur Pritzker passed to the spirit world in his sleep last weekend at his Naples home under the slash pines. Oannes was a long-time friend of the Center and a member of our Board of Advisors.
Oannes was a forest ecologist, a spiritual ecologist, and a radio journalist. He advised Florida Gulf Coast University since its founding. He also advised us on the University Colloquium. He generously counseled the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education from our earliest planning charrettes through his attendance at our board meeting last month. He was director of Yat Kitischee Native Center, an intertribal, cultural, environmental, social justice, and news media organization. He served on the Board of Advisors of Radio for Peace International, and was host and producer of the award winning global community radio program “Honoring Mother Earth – Indigenous Voices.” For many years he was involved in the national environmental justice movement. He was a proud member of the American Indian Movement and often expressed satisfaction at the size of his FBI file.
To the best of our knowledge, he was the last of the Penobscot tribe, from what is now called Maine, who was raised in the traditional way. He was lifted up at his birth by his six aunties. He spoke Penobscot and was knowledgeable in the life ways of the Penobscot tribe. He grew up in material poverty and spiritual richness on Indian Island in the Penobscot River.
We were blessed to have him in Florida at Florida Gulf Coast University and at the Center. Among his many contributions to the Center was his suggestion that we establish a distinguished lecture series. Oannes also encouraged us to consider the contribution of a wide array of cultural knowledges to the discourse of sustainability. We will remember his decades of activism, bringing indigenous wisdom to environmental education, and keeping alive Penobscot knowledge and traditional wisdom.
Oannes came from an oral tradition. Only on a few occasions could we convince him to write down his ideas. We share two recent excerpts from his writings. “The Message of the Firefly” can be read at this link. The other is the introduction to his chapter in Young People, Education, and Sustainable Development, in which he explores the indigenous Earth ethic “Oositgamoo.” It is below.
“Oositgamoo: An Indigenous Perspective on Youth Activism”
Oositgamoo is an Algonquin Native American term that refers to protecting Mother Earth, our biosphere, and the well-being of all life. Implicit in the word Oositgamoo is serious, thoughtful concern and personal action for creating a better world. This Earth ethic is being embraced by young people, students, and youth activists everywhere. Those of us who are engaged in education for sustainable development must better appreciate and support the global youth movement of activists who are fighting for what I term peace and planetary justice. Internationally, young people are involved in a range of direct actions for cultural, social, economic, environmental, and sustainability issues. Many refer to this as the youth anti-globalization movement. Some call these young radicals. Whatever term is used to label these young people, we must respect, encourage, and learn from youth who are working for a just and sustainable future.
Oositgamoo is an Earth ethic that is taught by native elders to indigenous youth. One central tenet of this pedagogy is the principle of seven future generations. This principle refers to how one is taught to consider ways in which one's thoughts and actions affect future generations of all life on the planet. This is why native pedagogy instills values and principles that encourage and support our younger generations to actively care for their community and natural environment. Teaching young people in indigenous societies takes place both formally and informally. Storytelling and young people observing daily tribal life are two examples of informal learning.
Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran reflects, “I treasured his wisdom, his humility, and his commitment to youth. We had been friends for over thirty years – since our days of working on the Maine Indian Education Project at the University of Maine. We were both involved in the original Earth Day, forty years ago today. He discussed this just last week with students in my environmental education class. I remember many things that he has taught me – as some of you will, I’m sure.”
We have received an outpouring of tributes to Oannes. We invite you to send us your reflections on Oannes's life and activism. Email them to us at cese@fgcu.edu, and we will post them on this tribute page to Oannes Arthur Pritzker.
The Haffenreffer Challenge
The Center would like to thank all those who helped make the Sixth Annual Fundraising Celebration a success. Your support makes the Center’s efforts possible. The Center offers special thanks to hosts Peter and Mallory Haffenreffer (far right and left below), who have for a fifth straight year issued a fundraising challenge. They will match donations to the Center up to a total of ten-thousand dollars. It is through your donations that we are able to continue to “work toward realizing the dream of a sustainable and peaceful future for Earth through scholarship, education, and action.”
We are over half-way to meeting the challenge of $10,000. Contributions of any size at this time would be most welcome. If you would like to make a donation to help us meet the "Haffenreffer Challenge," please contact the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at (239) 590-7166 or e-mail: cese@fgcu.edu.
Center Publishes Five Year Report
The Center Five Year Report is a summary of the Center’s five years of activity and a statement of our prospective activities for the years to come. Graduate student and Center assistant Brandon Hollingshead edited and compiled the report. It was designed and published in collaboration with graphic design company Alice Design in Maine. We created the report to give to our faithful supporters and stakeholders – and to new friends, donors, and foundations who may be interested in supporting our work. Much of the activity in the Five Year Report is a direct result of recommendations from our Board. As part of the report, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai reflected on the Center's anniversary:
"Activities that devastate the environment and societies continue unabated. Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own. The Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at Florida Gulf Coast University is engaged in the shift to a sustainable future through its Earth Charter scholarly agenda. The Center’s work in environmental education and social education points toward a better world."
To download the report in its entirety, click here.
If you would like a hard copy of the report, contact the FGCU Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at (239) 590-7166 or e-mail: cese@fgcu.edu.
Center Holds Sixth Annual Fundraising Celebration on Sanibel Island
Center staff, volunteers, and friends celebrate a successful evening
The Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education held its Sixth Annual Fundraising Celebration on Sanibel Island last Thursday, March 18, 2010. The event is the major fundraising event for the Center and helps to further its sustainability initiatives locally and globally. Entitled, “Bloom Where You're Planted: Focus on the Local,” the event celebrated the role of the Center at FGCU and in the local community, its work with young people, and the wisdom of our elders.
The event featured organic hors d’oeuvres prepared with ingredients grown by local organic gardeners. Guests socialized and learned about the Center's initiatives in the local community. A detailed description of the Center's work can be found in its recently published report, "Works Toward Realizing the Dream." The report examines the Center's five years of activity and was given to all who attended the event. Event contributors included members of the Center’s Board of Advisors, student assistants, and volunteers.
The hosts of the event, Peter and Mallory Haffenreffer, have continued an annual tradition of energizing donor participation with “The Haffenreffer Challenge.” In addition to their generosity as hosts of the Fundraising Celebration, the Haffenreffer family will match any donation offered to the Center, up to a total of ten thousand dollars. The Center would like to thank those who attended the event and made donations to help fund our efforts. If you would still like to make a contribution, contact the FGCU Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at (239) 590-7166 or e-mail: cese@fgcu.edu.
Center Director Receives Professorships in Asia-Pacific
Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran has been invited to become an Adjunct Professor at the University of the South Pacific and to be a Visiting Professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The University of the South Pacific (USP) has fourteen campuses throughout the South Pacific and is the premier institution of higher learning for the Pacific region, uniquely placed in a region of extraordinary physical, social and economic diversity. Established in 1968, USP is one of only two universities of its type in the world. It is jointly owned by the governments of 12 member countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa. The objectives of USP are broadly defined as "the maintenance, advancement and dissemination of knowledge by teaching, consultancy and research and otherwise and for the provision of appropriate levels of education and training responsive to the well-being and needs of the communities in the South Pacific."
The Universiti Sains Malaysia is a pioneering, transdisciplinary research intensive university located in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Since its beginning, USM has implemented a school system, as opposed to the traditional faculty system, which allows students the opportunity to explore other areas of study offered by another school. This interdisciplinary approach ensures that USM, the first in the country to adopt this system, will produce trained, multi-skilled graduates.
Unique to USM is “The University in a Garden” concept, which is designed to link university's educational mission with its ecological and social context. USM is a garden campus that provides a platform for students to explore who they are, how they attain insights, and how they should fashion their future existence. USM’s mission is to empower future talents and enable the bottom billions to transform their socio-economic well-being.
Book Signing on Sanibel Island
Island Residents Yvonne Hill and Sam Webster with Peter Blaze Corcoran (sitting)and Store owner, Holly Schmid (on left) at the Book signing
Sanibel Island Book Shop held a book signing on March 20, 2010 for Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran's most recent book, Young People, Education, and Sustainable Development: Exploring Principles, Perspectives, and Praxis. The book was co-edited by Corcoran and Philip Molo Osano and the two were assisted by Joseph Paul Weakland and Brandon P. Hollingshead. Funding for the book and an initial press run was generously provided by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management, and Food Quality.
At the signing, Corcoran discussed the importance of the book and its main focus. The book offers a global perspective on education initiatives by and for young people that promote a transition to sustainability. Young people have an enormous stake in the present and future state of Earth as almost half of the human population is under the age of 25. If young people’s resources of energy, time, and knowledge are misdirected towards violence, terrorism, socially-isolating technologies, and unsustainable consumption, civilization risks destabilization. Yet, there is a powerful opportunity for society if young people can participate positively in all aspects of sustainable development. In order to do so, young people need education, political support, resources, skills, and hope.
The book features 38 essays co-authored by 68 contributors from 25 nations, representing a diversity of geography, gender, and generation.The book also features a Preface from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, a Foreword from former Secretary General of the UNDP James Gustave Speth, and an Afterword from former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers.
Click here to view ordering information from the publisher's website.
Where on Earth is Peter Blaze Corcoran?! (January 2010)
FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw, Vice President Joe Shepard, and Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran visited the Adam Joseph Lewis Center at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, on January 29, 2010. In his book Design on the Edge (2006), Center Advisor David Orr tells the story of how the Lewis Center became the first substantially green building to be built on a college campus. Orr, who serves as Director of Oberlin's Environmental Studies Program, invited FGCU to come visit the building which has attracted worldwide attention as a model for ecological design. The visit to Oberlin College was meant to be educational as well as inspirational; the Center is collaborating with the FGCU administration to continue its efforts to make our campus infrastructure more sustainable.
The 13,600-square-foot Lewis Center relies heavily on the sun for daylight, passive heating, and power - half of which is supplied by an expansive photovoltaic system. The building also features a closed-loop groundwater heat pump system that provides cooling and heating. A wastewater treatment system modeled on natural wetland ecosystems treats 200 to 300 gallons of the building's wastewater each day and is maintained and monitored by students. Designers used energy-efficient components for the building and the materials used were local, non-toxic, and durable. The net result of all the planning and hard work is a building with a measured energy savings of 63% as compared to a traditionally-constructed building. In creating the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, Orr and the designers intended not only to create a place for classes, but also a building that would redefine the relationship between humans and the environment.
In other travels, Peter Blaze visited Ramapo College of New Jersey over winter break to conduct an on-site review as an external consultant to the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. Corcoran conducted a review of Ramapo's petition to offer a Master of Arts in Sustainability Studies. Upon review of Ramapo's proposal, Corcoran recommended approval for Ramapo to "exceed mission" to offer a degree of Master of Arts in Sustainability. Corcoran told the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education that he believed the degree could become a mark of distinction for Ramapo College.
While on his trip, Peter Blaze made a stop in New York to meet with Center Advisor and educational philosopher Maxine Greene. At 91 years old, Greene is unable to travel. However, she continues to teach and mentor students! Greene is a Professor Emeritus in the Teachers College at Columbia University and she is also the author of several books. Corcoran met with Greene to discuss Center news and upcoming events.
Where in the World is Peter Blaze Corcoran?! (November 2009)
Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran traveled to Washington D.C. on November 5, 2009, to participate in “Our Blue Planet, Will it Survive Till Tomorrow? An Environmental Musical.” The musical is set in the year 2100 where the people of Earth struggle with the devastating aftermath of climate change. Corcoran gave the opening remarks for the musical, introducing the Earth Charter and setting the tone for the rest of the production. Corcoran reflected on the world’s increasing social and ecological fragmentation. The production questions whether people and governments can come together to help save our planet and ensure our future. The musical was presented in five acts and combines Japanese music with the classics of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Gershwin along with traditional Western and Japanese dances. The musical was directed by Professor Emeritus of Seikei University Ryokichi Hirono and features violinist Kiyomitsu Obana, actor/choreographer Toshijiro Zenki, actor/singer Tekkan, and actor Hiroyuki Wantanabe.
In other travels, Peter Blaze gave a lecture entitled “The Urgency of Mainstreaming Sustainability in Higher Education: An Ethical Perspective” on October 20, 2009 as part of Georgia Southern University’s 2009-2010 Sustainability Seminar Series. Corcoran used the Earth Charter as the basis of his argument for the importance of ethics in the field of environmental sustainability. The lecture was a great opportunity for the students at GSU to learn more about the Earth Charter and to “realize their own sense of agency [and] their own ability to make a difference.” GSU’s Lisa Legee, Director of the Center for Sustainability in the College of Science and Technology, was excited to host Corcoran, saying, “It is an incredible privilege to host him here at Georgia Southern University… Corcoran’s lecture can help us understand the principles that might lead us to a more sustainable future and help us figure out how to get there.” According to Corcoran, “An integrated ethical perspective can point us in the right direction in solving our sustainability problems…. we have an obligation to future generations with regard these.”
Lisa Legee and Peter Blaze Corcoran at Georgia Southern University’s 2009-2010 Sustainability Seminar Series
Beah's Return to FGCU Helps Make Terry Tempest Williams Student Dialogue a Success
Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, returned to FGCU for the Terry Tempest Williams Student Dialogue on November 4, 2009. The Dialogue seeks to raise awareness among Florida Gulf Coast University students and faculty about critical sustainability issues in our region.
In A Long Way Gone, a chronicle of his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, Beah uses words to create a powerful message of hope in extreme adversity. Incoming FGCU freshmen read A Long Way Gone in 2008 as part of the First Year Experience Readership Project. Beah (third panelist on the right) was also the special guest speaker for the 2008 Convocation.
This year, the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education invited him to join a discussion on how young people can communicate and collaborate for a sustainable and peaceful future. The event explored topics such as digital collaboration toward sustainability, critical engagement with consumer media, and the theme of hope, despair, and the future in environmental rhetoric.
Panelists included Arabella Daniels of the Student/Farmworker Alliance, Cruz Salucio of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (immediate right), and Center Advisor Jacob Scott (bottom right). Jacob participated virtually from Bristol, England using telecommunication software. FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw welcomed the panelists and offered opening remarks. The Dialogue took place on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at 7:00pm in the Student Union Ballroom. Stakeholders, community members, students, and campus leaders congregated outside the Ballroom for conversation and snacks before the event.
The Terry Tempest Williams Student Dialogue is an event for students, by students. The event was free and open to the public. The series focuses on education for a sustainable future, including our role as stewards of our natural, cultural, and political environments. Intended to spark youth action and inspire the intellectual climate among the FGCU and Southwest Florida communities, the initiative fosters an open space for dialogue and student ownership of that dialogue.
Wangari Maathai and Peter Blaze Corcoran address climate change education conference in Nairobi, Kenya
Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran spoke alongside Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on August 31, 2009, in Nairobi, Kenya. Their keynote address was to an invited audience of one hundred diplomats, United Nations officials, local dignitaries, and scholars from African universities gathered for a “Symposium on Climate Change Education and Sustainable Cities.” The symposium was part of the annual meeting of the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) which manages the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD).
Maathai urged her audience to bridge the gap between ethical principles and practice, saying, “We know what to do. Why aren’t we doing it?” Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which for nearly thirty years has worked to improve the lives of poor women through a holistic approach to sustainable development. In 2004, she became the first woman from Africa to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai and Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran after their address to the United Nations Inter-Agency Committee for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
The occasion represented a powerful opportunity to elevate the role of the Earth Charter within the Decade and within UNEP. Maathai and Corcoran challenged UNEP and the IAC to adopt the Earth Charter as an organizing principle for the remainder of the Decade. The Earth Charter is an international people’s declaration of sixteen ethical principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. Florida Gulf Coast University is an Affiliate of Earth Charter International.
Wangari Maathai, Peter Blaze Corcoran, and Akpezi Ogbuigwe, head of Environmental Education and Training at the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
In his speech, Corcoran described the Earth Charter’s development and recognized Maathai’s great contribution to a better future for Africa. “She touches our hearts and minds with her courage, with her commitments to environmental education and self-determination for Africa, and her stubborn hope that governments and intergovernmental agencies will bring about the people’s desire for peace through environmental sustainability.”
