UHMC Sustainability Committee

On Tuesday, February 16 the UHMC Sustainability Committee met to discuss the Sustainability Plan for UH Maui College. One of the topics for discussion was whether the sustainability plan should include upholding Native Hawaiian values, and if so than how? The committee voted unanimously to incorporate Native Hawaiian values into its Sustainability Plan. The committee recognizes that Native Hawaiian values and sustainability values overlap and agree on nearly all issues and a key sustainability pillar is to incorporate local culture into planning and policy decisions. Native Hawaiian values adopted by UH Maui College as core values will be added to the sustainability plan:” aloha, kuleana, lokahi, malama, mana’olana, and pono”. Definitions and info about UH Maui College values can be found here: http://maui.hawaii.edu/about-uhmc/.

The UHMC Sustainability Committee is also planning weekly meeting every Friday from 9:00 – 1:00 in Kalama to organize their Sustainability Plan, Charter and campus sustainability lens project in order to: I) present the plan on Oahu at the 4^th Annual Sustainability in Higher Education Summit on March 10-12, and II) identify campus needs for the 2^nd Annual UHMC College Budget Priorities and Planning Day (CBPP Day) on March 11, 2016. The UHMC CBPP Day is intended to pinpoint critical necessities for the campus operations and student education quality. The UHMC Sustainability Committee is working to find the best resources the campus can use the budget towards to improve the campus.

Students, club leaders, faculty and administration staff are encouraged to attend the UHMC CBPP Day on March 11 from 8:00- 1:30 pm. Lunch will be provided. If you are interested in attending this meeting, please contact Laura Nagle at: llees@hawaii.edu.

The Earth Day Planning Committee met on Tuesday, February, 16 to discuss the upcoming campus Earth Day festival on Wednesday April 20 from 10:00- 1:00 pm on the campus Great Lawn. The Earth Day Planning Committee is looking to organize live music, booths for campus clubs and community organizations, a carnival theme for booths to engage the attendees, prizes, and activities. Bands for live music have not been confirmed, any references for a band to play are welcome. Campus clubs and community organizations are invited to set up a booth at the event; last year there were 25 booths, this year the committees goal is 40 or more. Booths will be encouraged to have a ‘carnival’ theme by having games or contests; such as, ring toss to engage the audience. The Planning Committee is sending out letters requesting prize donations to local businesses for the booths to give out.

The next Earth Day Planning Committee will be Tuesday, March 1 in the Library at 3pm. All students and faculty are welcome to participate and provide ideas for activities and input on the event.