The beginning of another school year is always an opportunity for a fresh start, and after an incredibly rough 2020 so far, we sure do need it. A year ago at this time, we were staring down challenges that haven’t subsided, but they have either been temporarily obscured by the rising tide of 2020 or they have been magnified by the circumstances of this past year. The pandemic has exposed fissures in our structures and systems. COVID-19 has led to steep declines in global greenhouse gas emissions this year, but even steeper annual reductions must continue every year this decade in order to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures. Systemic racism has again become a focal point and the Black Lives Matter movement has pushed us to confront systems of oppression embedded in our society, organizations, and schools. While greenhouse gas emissions have fallen due to lockdowns, a decrease in air travel, and a slowdown in industrial activity, the pandemic has presented us with new waste challenges as mountains of single-use PPE pile up.
At the college, many folks have been rethinking systems for how to live, work, and study in the COVID-19 era and many are working to find the solutions at the intersection of sustainability, health, and safety. In some cases, this time has presented opportunities to realize greenhouse gas emissions reductions and to reconsider systems and processes. At the same time, there are also many solutions that increase energy use and waste - where the sustainable path has not yet been identified. The Zilkha Center continues to work with campus partners to seek solutions that prioritize people and the environment. You can read more about the opportunities, challenges, and nuances in the COVID impacts on sustainability section below.
We look forward to re/connecting with you all, whether we do so outfitted in masks or via video meetings, and working with you to create a more sustainable Williams together.
Sincerely,
Mike and Caroline
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BLACK LIVES MATTER
The Zilkha Center reaffirms our dedication to the work of antiracism and stands in solidarity with others locally, across the country, and the world to condemn systemic racism and police brutality. We will continue to add our voice to the ever-louder chorus, and within our spheres of influence, actively work on personal, interpersonal, and policy levels to counter embedded white supremacy. As always and into the future, our goal is to transform systems and structures to create a truly more equitable, livable, and sustainable world. Let’s keep repeating it and use these words to inspire action within us and others: Black Lives Matter. READ THE FULL STATEMENT
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COVID & SUSTAINABILITY
This spring and summer, folks across the college have been working on the innumerable pivots necessary to make the college work. The Zilkha Center has been working with our colleagues to support sustainable operations and also keeping track of how the pandemic and our decision-making has impacted sustainability in ways that a) decrease our environmental impact, b) are in opposition to our sustainability goals, and c) are a mixed bag. Read the full summary of just a few of those impacts here.
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STRATEGIC PLANNING
The momentum of the push to finalize the strategic plan was slowed due to COVID, but the Zilkha Center has been working with the Provost and colleagues across campus to continue to advance innovative sustainability solutions. We are beginning to lay the groundwork for more specific and detailed plans addressing the different sections of the sustainability working group draft that will set specific targets and propose strategies for hitting those targets.
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PROGRESS TOWARD 2020 GOALS
In 2015, President Falk and the Board of Trustees committed to reducing ghg emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by the end of 2020. During our most recent emissions check-in - the 2019 fiscal year (FY19) emissions report - the outlook didn’t look promising. A significant chunk of the gap will be covered by the Farmington Solar Project, an off-campus utility scale project that is a collaboration between five New England Colleges.
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CARBON OFFSETS
With the 2020 goals also came a commitment to carbon neutrality. What is carbon neutrality exactly? It means that for every ton of carbon emitted here we will pay for one ton to be reduced elsewhere. In practice that means that the college will buy carbon offsets to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions that it has not yet eliminated - most noticeably from burning fossil fuels in the central heating plant and from college-related transportation.
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NEW ZILKHA CENTER DIRECTOR
We are excited to have Tanja Srebotnjak join the Zilkha team as the new director this coming January. We will share more from Tanja at that point, but for now, here is a brief note: My name is Tanja Srebotnjak and I’m the incoming Director of the Zilkha Center. While January 4 will be my official start date, I can’t wait to connect with you—virtually or in-person—and advance sustainability at Williams! You might ask who I am and how I got into the sustainability field? Let me start by sharing a couple of important life markers. READ MORE
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SUMMER INTERNS
Student involvement in sustainability at the college is a crucial component of the Zilkha Center’s change management work. We have been fortunate to have another strong contingent of interns last academic year and a flexible group this summer who worked remotely and in partnership with stakeholders across campus. While we will share more about the work they completed over the course of the fall, start by watching the Environmental Module created by our intern Haley Jefferson ‘23 this summer which welcomed the incoming class and provided a framework for how to be sustainable at Williams. After that, check out the beautiful portraits painted by Artist-in-Residence Ana Laura Delgado Fernandez ‘22, depicting the environments that impacted each of the subjects (her fellow interns and friends!). Last, watch Aniah Price ‘22’s video that captures reflections on Environmental Justice and what the intern group learned this summer.
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE GRANTS
The current COVID-19 crisis brings more attention to inequities within the United States and around the world, acting as a threat multiplier to pre-existing global problems. The climate crisis is another threat multiplier heightening ongoing challenges our communities are facing. How does your community respond in difficult times? What challenges are being addressed through advocacy, organizing, individual action, businesses, cross-sector collaborations, legislation, education campaigns, etc that you would like to investigate?
After going remote, the ZC entered into a collaboration with the DC and CLiA to launch a Community Resilience Grant program that asked students to interview people and groups working on building capacity and making their communities more resilient in times of crisis. The mini-grants were split equally between the students doing the research and the organizations engaged in the issue. The content of student projects ranged from food insecurity in NY to faith, race, & the church to covid impacts on local businesses in the Berkshires. The projects range from storymaps, podcasts, research papers and are definitely worth checking out.
VIRTUAL ROOT 2020
First-Year participants learned about climate change inequities plaguing an indigenous community in Louisiana; environmental injustice as a result of governmental neglect in Florida; and modern-day efforts to end racism and discrimination in the food system. Our wonderful Root leaders were there every step of the way and played instrumental roles in supporting First-Years alongside our dedicated staff members. The three virtual sessions were recorded so please watch them to learn more about each of these issues:
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Community-Based Environmental Justice
With Devon Parfait, future chief of Grand Calliou/Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, current Williams student and Williams Mystic alumni
Environmental Justice at Williams College – A Multi-Disciplinary Approach
With Ruby Bagwyn ’23, an undergraduate, a scholar of Africana Studies Professor James Manigault-Bryant, and a geoscientist Professor Jose Constantine, helped uncover a plot by government agencies in Florida to keep an African American community exposed to toxins in their water.
Farming While Black
With Cheryl Whilby from Soul Fire Farm, working to end racism and injustice in the food system
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ZILKHA CENTER ACADEMIC-YEAR INTERNSHIPS
APPLY BY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13 @ 11:59PM
We are currently hiring students to work on campus sustainability this year in a number of paid internship positions. Interns will focus on moving our campus to more sustainable food sources, getting to zero waste, educating the campus community through digital communications and stewarding gardens on campus. All the position information and the application can be found here!
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