Taking its cue from David Orr’s claim that “all education is environmental education,” this grant initiative built on the central argument that ecologically-focused curricula offer substantial opportunity to provide community college students with access to fluency in both global environmental issues and local, community-based concerns. Environmental knowledge comes in many forms, with ecological, geological, and climatological understandings being forged alongside those that are historical, political, philosophical, ethical, literary, and artistic. Neither the sciences nor the humanities can meet the challenges alone. The Holyoke Community College Sustainability Studies Program draws together a range of disciplines to explore the human relationship to and understanding of nature. The curriculum integrates disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, which offer fundamental, applied, and sustainable solutions to environmental problems. Environmental sustainability is, after all, the ultimate liberal art and science (Frank Rhodes, 2006).

It was this integrative learning approach to teaching sustainability that led to the creation of the six-credit capstone course, SUS 220 Clean Energy and Sustainable Agriculture, the primary objective of this project. Building on the experience, expertise, and success of Sustainability curricula at three institutions of higher education in Western Massachusetts, SUS 220 was team-taught by faculty from Holyoke Community College, UMASS Amherst, and Hampshire College. Their emphasis was twofold: to increase involvement in the fields of sustainable agriculture and clean energy, and to transform ways of thought using high impact educational practices such as co-teaching, project based collaborative learning, and place-based curricula.

We offered SUS 220 three times during the project period. Serving a total of 72 students, many of whom went on to be teaching assistants or mentors the year following their completion. Collaborative learning activities included the construction of solar thermal systems, solar charging stations, mobile refrigeration units, root cellars, greenhouse construction as well as the design of campus solar systems that were later implemented.  Students also designed solar and air source heat pump systems to heat and power newly installed greenhouses. All projects completed by students, either in the shared summer course or in individual courses on each campus, required students to present their findings to a larger audience, both for dissemination of information as well as critique.

While we have continued to increase enrollments in all of our programs, the data indicates that they remain primarily white, but our underrepresented student groups are also increasing. This fall, approximately 25% of students in our Sustainability classes are non-white, including Latinex and African American students. We now have a well-established internship and mentoring component where students from UMass Amherst and Hampshire College continue to serve as mentors to students from HCC. Just as important, this grant has enabled us to develop clear career pathways for students from vocational/technical high schools as well as adult learners through the community college level into four-year colleges and then into careers in both clean energy and agriculture.

This project has enabled HCC to align our Sustainability Programs with our industry partners in clean energy and sustainable agriculture.  Graduates are now working in many local area farms and energy companies.  Our ongoing work with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the local utility companies, has contributed to this goal.  The Mass CEC has been instrumental in providing compensation for HCC students enrolled in internship programs.  Mass CEC also serves to link academic programs with employers in the field of energy.  The Utility companies are primarily interested in energy conservation, but many are also adding clean energy branches, as a number of local utility companies have added large solar fields to their portfolios.  Also, with the addition of solar and the SREC Program, energy aggregators are looking for employees with a background in clean energy. 

In the field of sustainable agriculture, we have also been fortunate to be in western Massachusetts where there is emphasis on the use of better, more sustainable practices in agriculture.  Although there are no large farms in our region, our farmers are expanding opportunities in the area of Community Supported Agriculture farms.  Most of the area farms utilize clean energy resources as well, making our graduates most qualified as they have courses in both fields of study.

Community colleges like HCC need to prepare students not just for a job or career but also for resilience in our rapidly changing society. It is essential for faculty to look beyond workforce development and to integrate environmental knowledge and skills into the curriculum to empower students to face the challenges of creating a sustainable world. Beyond the course content, applied skills, and projects completed, this project insured that all students who completed SUS 220 advanced with a clearer sense of how to create the “triple bottom line” of healthier communities, economies, and ecosystems. While learning skills, they have become better citizens.

Last Modified: 10/22/2018
Modified by: Kathleen Maiolatesi