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A newsletter for the MA in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development program at Hawaii Pacific University
Message from Professor Art Whatley A Note from the MA/GLSD Chair
Educating global lead- Dr. Regina Ostergaard-Klem
ers is a rewarding and
humbling activity! Aloha and welcome to the 7th edition of
Each new GLSD cohort
come to campus ready
Spotlight on Sustainability (SOS). It
to help lead the world seems like it was only yesterday that the
off the suicidal path of first issue was published. Time certainly
endless growth found flies when youre having fun, and Ive
in modern day capital- enjoyed every minute of the five years
ism. This past fall and since I started teaching in the GLSD pro-
spring semesters, co-
horts arrived largely gram! Now in my second semester as
aware that by changing their minds they actual- GLSD program chair, I am honored to
ly change the world. Many have already made write this welcome message for the cur-
the change and now indeed are changing the rent SOS. I invite you to peruse the sto-
world. Roy Haskins is involved in a rooftop gar- ries, take in the photos, and follow the
dening business committed to local food produc-
QR codes to see where they lead you!
tion; Ave Lambert is a local freelance chef who
uses only locally grown organic produce in her
creations; James Harris is interning on an organ- Every year, I am impressed by the dedication and commitment of
ic farm aspiring to reconnect the young to the our GLSD students. I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit that com-
land; Aka Assoumou, our Fulbright student from pels them to research new topics, travel to new places, connect
the Ivory Coast, will lead environmental change with new people, and tackle innovative projects. Every year, I
in his country when he returns; Evelina Tcholok-
ova remains committed to environmental policy
marvel at how the students cultural and professional diversity - as
improvements in her home country of Bulgaria, well as the breadth of ideas and interests they share with one an-
Nate Albritton is fervently committed to com- other - forms into a cohesive group. No doubt, this is a network
munity building by innovating social networking, that will last well after the graduates have left Ft. Street Mall be-
and this 7th edition of SOS exemplifies his pas- hind. This edition of SOS captures all these fantastic characteris-
sion to lead effective change. There simply is tics happening right now. Thanks to Nate Albritton for all his hard
not room enough here to mention the many oth- work and social networking that have not only made this edition
ers who are changing the world. To be sure, all
are pursuing a path aimed at creating a sustain-
possible, but also will continue to capture these great stories on
able future. I know of no better way to be TheSustainableLeader.org well into the future. Also, Id like to say
spending my time than working with this vision- a special thank you to Dr. Art Whatley, the father of the GLSD pro-
ary and committed group of students. I am filled gram. Without his vision, drive, and leadership, the GLSD program
with gratitude for the opportunity. would not be what it is today.
These days we hear a lot of talk about Amidst the many chang-
sustainability from organizations such as es that have occurred at
government, businesses, and countless Hawaii Pacific Universi-
other institutions. This is wonderful and ty over the past several
sorely needed, but eventually this talk months, sustainability
must turn to action. Otherwise its just
continues to move for-
talk. So how is sustainability being lived
out and implemented at Hawaii Pacific ward with strong sup-
University (HPU)? February 13, 2014 ob- port from students,
served the one-year anniversary of one of faculty, and administra-
Photo by Chris Aguinaldo
HPUs most tangible sustainability proj- tion at all levels. With
ects. Just a year ago on the Hawaii Loa the university facing
campus in Kaneohe, students and profes- budget problems due to a decrease in student enrollment,
sors rolled up their sleeves to break HPU was forced to make the difficult decision to downsize
ground on HPUs very own rain garden. and eliminate some staff positions. The fact that HPUs sus-
tainability staff made it through this transition
Rain gardens pro- demonstrates that this is a valued position,
vide a simple way and will play a role in helping the university
to protect water achieve the objectives of its new strategic
sheds by reducing plan. I would like to take this opportunity to
the pollution that update the HPU community about the numer-
inevitably travels
ous advances in sustainability that have oc-
with urban and
residential area curred, are underway, or being planned for
storm water run- the future.
off. Without
proper manage- Last spring Hawaii Pacific University was rec-
ment, the rain that falls on our roofs ends ognized by Governor Neil Abercrombie, along
up washing over yards and streets, taking with twelve other organizations across the state of Hawai'i, as
with it fertilizers, pesticides, tar, rubber a Hawai'i Green Business. This was an acknowledgement of
and other pollutants from road surfaces. the hard work and dedication to sustainability of several HPU
The runoff eventually ends up in our
staff, faculty, and stu-
streams, bays, and oceans, wreaking hav-
oc on the delicate ecosystems there. dents that have helped
implement sustainable
practices at the Hawai'i
Rain gardens help to mitigate this runoff Loa Campus, and has
pollution problem. A flat-bottomed de- helped build the mo-
pressions dug at the outflow of roof run-
mentum to reach the
off and planted with native Hawaiian
vegetation provides a place for the water point we are at today.
to pool. The roof runoff is then retained Since receiving this
in the rain garden where the plants and award last spring, HPU
Photo by Chris Aguinaldo
soil help to reintegrate the water into the has also received local
immediate local ecosystem. This pre- and national recognition
vents the water from trav- for our food waste reduction practices by joining
elling its course to the the EPA Food Recovery Challenge. We have also
ocean and taking with it all implemented another successful HPU Kukui Cup
the pollutants along the
energy competition for Hawaii Loa Campus resi-
way
dents
Read the whole story here Read the whole story here
SOS p.2
New Students
Hi, everyone! Im Aka, from Yamoussoukro, the Live, travel, adventure, bless, and dont be Aloha and Malama Aina! Ive been working in
lovely capital city of Cte dIvoire (a West sorry. Jack Kerouac. Thats me except I sustainability here on Oahu since 2008. I was
African French-speaking country). I just joined occasionally apologize. drawn to the islands, after being a chef in San
the MA/GLSD program in Fall 2013. Before Francisco and learning about Slow Food in Italy.
coming to Hawaii, I completed a postgraduate My name is Aaron McDonald and my road, the I had an epiphany after being awarded the
program in community development at the one that has lead me to my Global Leadership Chefs Collaborative Scholarship for an organic
Technology and Business Institute in and Sustainable Development studies, had me farm & goat cheese dairy retreat. We learned
Yamoussoukro called ISCAE, focusing on tools for finishing my BS in Engineering at Tennessee how to grow and harvest produce, milk cows,
basic management and harnessing local Technological University in 2003. I was ready to make cheese, mill grain, bake breads, humanely
resources for effective decision-making. be in the real world and felt life beckoning, so I slaughter ducks and goats, and even use a
answered the way my passionate, yet broke and barter system. Afterwards, I studied
I have a strong curiosity for sustainability. I pragmatic, twenty-two year-old self knew how. I permaculture and built an off-the-grid
started to dig more into the realm of moved to Chicago and took a corporate job in subsistence farm in Central America to show
sustainability because there is a poor technical sales. With a few dollars in my pocket how easily it can be done and replicated.
understanding of the term in my home-region. and a traveling job I was able to see most of the
You see sustainability appear in most of the US from the big cities to the back country My BA is from the University of Washington,
public speeches and texts, but they generally industrial towns that reminded me of my Seattle, in International Studies: Comparative
tend to be connected with environmental childhood in the rural mountains of Tennessee. Religion which took me abroad to Italy and all
awareness and agricultural development. A couple trips to Europe, a promotion to product over Western Europe where I learned the
Sometimes, the diverse interpretations led to manager, and three winters later I was ready to preciousness of conviviality and sharing time
confusion and chaos, and the ordinary citizen move again. A product marketing position with a with friends and family around the table. I
would look on sustainable development as just large semiconductor company brought me to believe this is what our culture is missing:
another fashionable term! As I am aiming at both Austin, TX the city where no one forces you to healthy, shared meals.
making a clearer sense of what sustainable grow up. I spent two years indulging in Austins
development is and contributing to social graces of live music, festivals, and a Hawaii is the perfect microcosm for local food
disseminating informed knowledge about it constant flow of new people. I also, advanced systems. We import so much of our food (92%)
locally, I have been given the opportunity by the my career, was promoted to business that changing our production, distribution and
Fulbright program to come here development, learned an eating habits will make an
to Hawaii, one of the reputed incredible amount about global immediate and extensive
shrines of sustainability... business, traveled a lot more, impact...
and took my first trip to Asia
Read the whole story here Read the whole story here Read the whole story here
SOS p.3
The Value of MA/GLSD
I graduated in 2007 from the HPU Awhile back Nate Albritton wrote a really good article on the business case for sustainability. If
MAGLSD program. I was already in youre reading this, its a pretty good assumption you agree with Nate. It makes sense for Business
business for over 20 years in Hawaii
(the big, aggregated version) to embrace sustainability. It decreases costs on energy, materials, and
and operated a printing and
waste disposal. It also reduces risks, such as a loss of resource access and damage to brand
publishing company. As this business
generated much waste I was looking reputation. It even gives individual businesses first-mover advantage over their competition. All that
for a plan to do it makes perfect sense to meand probably to you as well. Id like to look at things from
better. I signed up with the other direction though, and ask is there a sustainability case for business?
HPU and this changed the
way I did business and my
What exactly does a sustainability case for business mean? To me the older phrase
entire future. Making our
world and the businesses business case for sustainability means business people should be looking at how to use
that hold up our economy sustainability to improve Business. A sustainability case for business on the other
sustainable started to hand means people in sustainability should be looking at how to use business to improve
make more sense. The
Sustainability. This street can easily run both ways, but we all have to be willing to
core was to find how to
challenge our assumptions.
make this process
profitable because the
majority of businesses I came to Sustainable Development through the MBA program at Hawaii Pacific
would not change unless University. When I joined HPUs GLSD program I heard my fellow students talking about
money is made in the process of
doing research on natural processes, running non-profits, and helping government develop better
change. In our operation in Honolulu
regulations to keep business in check. I dont recall ever hearing anyone say anything about working
we implemented many changes from
simple recycling to the more complex in the business community. With my background in the military and business I found this a little
social sustainability program. After shocking. What was their problem with business?
the first year we saw a solid impact in
quality improvements, happy
employees and waste reduction
equivalent of 5 40 containers a Give me a place to stand, and
month. Besides waste reduction,
waste was sold for profit to be reused
(cradle to cradle). I shall move the Earth with it.
I am no longer in the
printing and publishing -Archimedes
business but in the
sustainability business Now dont get me wrong, I highly value the contributions of such research. If it wasnt
which is very rewarding. for the research our predecessors undertook we wouldnt have the understanding of the
We have now offices in
natural world that we do. This understanding has allowed us to see the effects of the
Germany, USA, West
global environmental system and develop visions of how humans (and our economies)
Africa and South
America. There are should fit into that system. These are critical if we are to make the needed changes.
many projects to talk The problem (as I see it) with pure research is that while we have a solid idea of what
about but there is one we need to do, further research only seeks to refine those answers. Im not saying we
we are very proud of. We
shouldnt refine what is needed, but I believe it is more important to get more people
have a plantation in
onto the sustainability movement and acting on those ideas.
Togo, West Africa which is a picture
book example of sustainability. This
project gives work to hundreds of Im constantly amazed at what non-profits have been able to accomplish. The level of dedication
local people, generates oil from oil people bring to the sector is incredible. Ive seen volunteers and low-paid staff
nuts to run equipment
help so much in everything from feeding the hungry to healing the sick to
and wiped out conflicts
rehabilitating and protecting the environment. There is definitely a lot of great
due to the fact that
people have work work going on...
Read the whole story here Read the whole story here
SOS p.4
Alumni
Lauren Ballou
Environmental Planner
VHB (consulting firm)
Paula Lombardo
PhD Candidate (Sustainability Education) Rachel James
Prescott College Constituent Services Liaison
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's Office
Charlene Felkley
Marine Operations Coordinator
National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa
Read more alumni stories here
Each of these can be accessed via the links above or at http://research.hpu.edu/ppapers.htm when on campus.
SOS p.5
Careers in Sustainable Development
Hawaii Pacific Universitys (HPU) Annual First Annual Hawaii joined in 2009.
(MA/GLSD) is now the first to partner with University of Hawaii we could do and we inspired one
executive director of Envision Manoa and attended their green another about the possibilities.
Hawaii a non-profit with 10 years club then called Sustainable Through networking, I was able to
of social entrepreneurship in UH. There is no one brand of quickly learn about whos doing
Hawaii. We recently sat down with sustainability, Jamshidi says. I what. My peers and I now fill
Ms. Jamshidi and asked her how she just wanted to learn everything several positions in the community
came to find herself in the position there is, specifically how to make jobs which didnt exist before. This
as a social entrepreneurship leader green jobs accessible to all people. is a part of a new economy we
Envision Hawaii intern from HPU after her internship these skills (including her
Leaders for a Sustainable Future with the Department of Business, networking skills) when she was
Student Sustainability Coalition Economic Development and Tourism hired as the Program Coordinator
of Hawaii (DBEDT), where she worked in the for Smart Sustainability Consulting
Sustainabilityility Association of Energy Efficiency Branch with fellow a local
Hawaii MA/GLSD alumna Jon Chin. sustainability
Green Drinks Honolulu We asked Jamshidi to describe her consulting firm...
Transition Oahu
experience with networking in the Read the whole story here
SOS p.7
Leaders for a Sustainable Future
SOS p.8