The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will be the latest signatory of the international Talloires Declaration of the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF).

Last year UWSP�s Student Government Association worked with faculty and administrators to pass both the Talloires Declaration (TD) and establish the University Sustainability Committee (USC).

The committee is designed to aid the implementation of the TD, and is comprised of students, faculty, administrators and nonuniversity members, such as the executive director of Midwest Renewable Energy Association, a representative from Wisconsin Public Service, and a representative from the Stevens Point City Council.

Showing his commitment to leadership for the achievement of global environmental literacy and sustainability, Chancellor Tom George will sign the document on April 25 at "Turn Down the Heat," a daylong campus environmental event at the Specht Forum (Sundial).

"UWSP has consistently been committed to responsible use of resources, environmental literacy and sustainability," Tom George stated. "The tenets of the Talloires Declaration fit perfectly with the initiatives we already have underway, as well as those we intend to implement. For example, we began our campus recycling program in 1989, took part in the Wisconsin Energy Initiative in 1992, which resulted in an energy audit of all campus buildings, retrofitted lighting in numerous buildings during the course of the 1990s, and installed low-flow toilets and showerheads in campus buildings and residence halls, to name just a few measures."

The Talloires Declaration was created in October 1990 when 22 presidents, rectors and vice chancellors of colleges and universities from all over the world convened in Talloires, France, to voice their concerns about the state of the world and create a document that spelled out key actions universities must take to create a sustainable future.

Under the Talloires Declaration, UWSP agrees to:

1. Increase awareness of environmentally sustainable development
2. Create an institutional culture of sustainability
3. Educate for environmentally responsible citizenship
4. Foster environmental literacy for all
5. Practice institutional ecology
6. Involve all stakeholders
7. Collaborate for interdisciplinary approaches
8. Enhance capacity of primary and secondary schools
9. Broaden service and outreach nationally and internationally
10. Maintain the movement.

As part of its commitment to Talloires and to the issue of sustainability, the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center within the College of Natural Resources (CNR) will host the "2006 International Conference on Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities," which will focus on how our campus and others from around the globe are implementing elements of the Talloires Declaration. In further pursuit of implementing the Talloires principals, UWSP and the College of Natural Resources have committed to establishing the GEM building with state of the art telecommunication and sustainable design features.

"We hope to plan and construct the facility in such a manner that our campus will receive a Gold Star rating in the Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System," said CNR Dean Victor Phillips.

Lauren McGrath, a freshman from Janesville and chair of the USC, says, "The University Sustainability Committee is unique and innovative in that students, administrators, professors and noncampus members are all working together. They are combining their areas of expertise to work toward the transition to a more sustainable campus, both environmentally and economically. We are investigating the use of cutting-edge technologies (such as geo-thermal, wind, solar and urban gardening) and how they can play a role in creating more viable, earth friendly solutions."

The committee�s Web site is www.uwsp.edu/stuorg/sga/Sustainability/Sustain.htm.

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