SCUP Annual International Conference

Mark J. O’Gorman’s presentation stuck out amid the normal conference fare. He wasn’t in town to discuss “successes” or “best practices.” His talk had the word “failure” in the title.

“Whatever scorecard you’re using to talk about sustainability…it’s not good enough,” O’Gorman said Tuesday at the Society for College and University Planning Annual Conference, meeting this week in Montreal. The full title of his session was “Reconciling a Sustainability Failure: Green Planning But No Green Building.”

O’Gorman, an associate professor of political science and environmental studies at Maryville College, in Tennessee, used his college’s example as an avenue into his argument that student demand for sustainable campuses is cresting – to tsunami proportions, to use his metaphor – and, for today’s students, “very good isn’t good enough.”

Labels: sustainability