ND Energy is pleased to announce its 17th annual Notre Dame Energy Week Plus from Monday, September 11, to Friday, September 22, 2023, offering a broad range of events focused on important topics and current issues surrounding sustainable energy. For questions, please contact Anne Berges Pillai at apillai@nd.edu. For a complete schedule of events and details, please visit the link below. See the complete schedule at a glance here. 

Earn points for your dorm toward the Sustainability Cup (sponsored by Student Government)! Every event you participate in will earn points. The dorm with the most points wins!   SpeakersSept 11, 4-5 p.m., Carey Auditorium, Hesburgh Library, "The Challenges of Moon Colonization" Sept 13, 7-8 p.m., Eck Visitors Center Auditorium, "Confronting the Climate Crisis Across the Disciplines" Sept 20, 7-8 p.m., 140 DeBartolo Hall, "Adding Solar to the Mix: Notre Dame's Energy Landscape" Sept 21, 7-8 p.m., Carey Auditorium, Hesburgh Library, "ND Energy Bouts: Round 3" ToursSept 12, 4-5:00 p.m., South Bend, Pure Green Farms Tour (RSVP required)Sept 14, 4-5 p.m., Ignition Park, Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory Tour (RSVP required)Sept 20 and 21, 12:30-1:30 p.m., on campus, Notre Dame Power Plant Tour (RSVP required)Career DevelopmentSept 18, 11:30-12:30 p.m., What's It Really Like?: Working for Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (RSVP required)Sept 18, 12:30-1:30 p.m., What's It Really Like?: Working in Nuclear at Kinectrics (RSVP required)Sept 18, 5:30-7:30 p.m., 8th Floor, Duncan Student Center, Notre Dame Sustainability Expo Sept 20, 9-10:30 a.m., 512 Duncan Student Center, Energy Summit Panel DiscussionSept 22, 2-4 p.m., Golden Gateway Reception (RSVP required)Special EventSept 15, 1-2:30 p.m., Room 1, N135 Duncan Student Center, SustainaStyle: Unthreading Fast Fashion

Join the Office of Sustainability for a walk around campus to experience the beauty of Notre Dame. Participants will learn about some of the sustainability initiatives and investments happening at the University! Only 20 spots are available, so don't wait to sign up! You can register for the tour at this link: https://forms.gle/pVAq8jGQE2rEuEAs7This event is open to the public and will be weather permitting. Unable to attend the tour in person? Experience it virtually.

Do you have comments or questions about the recycling program on campus? We want to hear from you! The Office of Sustainability and Building Services are collaborating to offer a listening & learning session to discuss the current landscape of recycling and waste management efforts on campus. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP via this link. 

Calling all faculty interested in exploring how they might modify existing courses or create new courses to have a focus on sustainability. This session will introduce Dr. Grace Wang, a consultant from AASHE (the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) who is a specialist in training faculty in the art of developing sustainability-focused courses in any and all academic disciplines. She will explain her methods and initiate conversations leading to how you might conceive of sustainability issues to include within your own discipline-specific courses. Following this session, you will be invited to join a series of three one-hour workshops led by Dr. Wang during academic 2023-24, and a culminating day-and-a-half workshop during the “dead week” after spring finals. In these workshops, Dr. Wang will guide you through developing your own new course, or revising an existing course, to have a sustainability focus while still fulfilling your regular disciplinary teaching obligations. The workshops will include ample time for brainstorming and sharing ideas with your colleagues who are also participating. Course development grants of up to $6,000 will be available for salary and/or materials as you work through the final details of your new or revised course over Summer 2024, in anticipation of offering the course in academic 2024-25. Every discipline has something important to offer as we face issues in sustainability and, especially, climate change. With the methods you will learn in this series of workshops, you will be empowering your students to be part of the solutions. The informational session will be held on Friday, September 29, 12:30-1:30 pm (location TBA), with Dr. Wang joining us via zoom and free plant-powered Chipotle available beginning at 12:15 for you enjoyment. Please register HERE so that we can get a count for ordering food and, if you are not able to attend in person, you can receive links for live zoom participation and a post-event zoom recording.   If you choose to participate in the full program, the follow-on developmental workshops will be held: Friday, Nov 10, 2024,12-1 PM Friday, Feb 23, 2024,12-1 PM Friday, April 12, 2024,12-1 PM Tues, May 14, 9 AM-4 PM and Weds, May 15, 9 AM-12 PM   If you have any questions about the content or intent of these workshops, please feel free to contact the Director of the Sustainabilty Minor, Phil Sakimoto (psakimot@nd.edu), or for questions about logistics, Program Coordinator Gabrielle Cretcher (gcretche@nd.edu). We hope to see you there!     Registration Information           The deadline to register for the informational session is September 27th.           Register here.      Originally published at susminor.nd.edu.

Why is Mona Lisa Smiling? The Re-imagination of the Corporation is meant to be a catalyst for intelligent discourse on the role of business in society. The film explores the shift away from shareholder primacy toward a purpose-driven, stakeholder-focused model of capitalism. Informed by the lessons and parallels between our time and the Renaissance — a global pandemic that prompted reciprocal free market relationships and expanded philosophical mindsets, fueled by the democratization of knowledge and power — the film makes the case for more inclusive capitalism and lays the foundation for the re-imagination of the corporation. The film stars CEOs and thought leaders who delve into what is required to evolve corporations and why it is essential to our collective future. Hosted by Mendoza College of Business.

As part of the annual St. Francis Week celebration, Global Day of Action, an initiative of Notre Dame International, will take place on Wednesday, October 4. To celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, members and friends of the Notre Dame International community around the world will be responding to Laudato Si's call to care for our common home with local action. The theme for this year’s Global Day of Action focuses on reducing our waste. We are encouraging everyone to consider how we can reduce waste in our everyday life, whether that means reducing energy consumption, reusing and repurposing materials and relying less on single-use items, purchasing and consuming fewer materials, or donating unwanted goods and food. Staff and students at our global locations are invited to host an event such as an environmental service project, a litter pick, a seminar, a group reflection, or prayer service to gather people in our local community together to act on and reflect on our role in caring for our earth. This year, NDI is thrilled to partner with the Student Government, who will host a campus-wide community clean-up effort. “We challenge everyone to gather a team—be it your office mates, friends, fellow dorm residents, or faculty cohort—and spend an hour outside together for a trash pick-up. The pick-up can take place wherever you are on this day. You might be amazed at what you find! We want to see your group and the trash you collect! Be sure to tag your group photos and weird finds @sustainableND and @NDinternational on Instagram with #FrancisFest. If you are on campus and need trash bags, please stop by the Sustainability Office at 100 Mail Distribution Center for free bags!” - Lizzie Stifel, Director of Sustainability Please join with Notre Dame students, faculty, staff, and alumni around the world as we make a collective effort, inspired by St. Francis, to protect and conserve this beautiful place we call home. Global Day of Action forms part of the annual St. Francis Week celebration and is sponsored by Notre Dame International and supported by the Office of Sustainability and Student Government. #FrancisFest #GoFurther

Come celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi! A Green Mass will take place in honor of our common home.  Fr. Robert Lisowski will preside over the mass, and Fr. Martin Lam Nguyen will provide the homily.  Who was St. Francis? St. Francis was declared a saint in 1228. On 29 November 1979, Pope John Paul II declared Francis the patron saint of ecology. On 28 March 1982, John Paul II said that Francis' love and care for creation was a challenge for contemporary Catholics and a reminder "not to behave like dissident predators where nature is concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us." The same Pope wrote on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1990, that Francis "invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon – to give honour and praise to the Lord. The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples." In 2015, Pope Francis published his encyclical letter Laudato Si' about the ecological crisis and "care for our common home, which takes its name from the Canticle of the Sun that Francis of Assisi composed. It presents Francis as "the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically."

In response to the upcoming release of Pope Francis' environmental exhortation, members of the Notre Dame community will gather for a 30-minute panel discussion. Featured panelists include: Moderator: Geory Kurtzhals, Senior Director of the Office of Sustainability Panelist: Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C., Vice President & Associate Provost; Associate Professor of Political Science Panelist: Phil Sakimoto, Director of Sustainability Minor; Professor of the Practice, Department of Physics & Astronomy Panelist: Tyler Popa, 3rd year M.Div. student, Campus Ministry Panelist: Lizzie Stifel, Student Government's Director of SustainabilityPreceding the panel, the DVT will host a viewing of Let There Be Light, a short planetarium program commissioned by the Vatican as part of their exhibition Energy for Our Common Home at the 2017 International Expo Future Energy. Let There Be Light is a joint production of Notre Dame’s Digital Visualization Theater and the McGrath Institute of Church Life Following the panel, we will gather for dinner and conversation in Jordan Hall of Science. Space is limited to 100 people, so don't wait to register for this event! R.S.V.P. via this link.  This event is co-sponsored by Campus Ministry, the Center for Social Concerns, Catholic Social Tradition Minor, College of Science, Kroc Institute, Minor in Sustainability, and  Department of Theology.

South Bend Mayor James Mueller will be on campus to discuss intersections of community, justice, and sustainability in the region. Be sure to bring your lunch!Hosted by the Center for Social Concerns  

The University’s shred provider, Shred-it, in conjunction with the University Archives, is offering a free, secure and confidential document shredding event for Notre Dame faculty, staff and retirees.   A Shred-it truck will be parked in the parking lot of the Mason Services Center, which is located off of St. Joseph Drive behind the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. The truck accepts paper only, so please be sure to remove any binders, binder clips or non-paper items before the event (staples and paper clips are acceptable). For the courtesy of others, we ask that you limit your personal shred material to no more than five file-size boxes. We also ask that you remain with your material until it is in the shred truck as Notre Dame cannot be responsible for papers left unattended.  We will be happy to recycle your empty boxes after the event so feel free to leave these behind. Please contact Sarah Joswick, Archivist for Records Management, with any questions at: sjoswick@nd.edu or 574-631-4028. *this event will be held rain or shine

After three years of successfully hosting a virtual conference, AASHE invites you to experience the highly anticipated AASHE 2023 Conference & Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, from October 29-31, 2023! Join them for a transformative journey as they unveil a trailblazing program to empower higher education sustainability professionals. Engage in this immersive learning experience while gaining innovative strategies to transform your institution effectively. Discover key opportunities, accelerate sustainability efforts, and forge connections with like-minded leaders. Register now to secure your spot and shape the future of sustainability. The conference will debut a new program tailored to provide higher education sustainability change-makers with an immersive learning experience that provides new ways of thinking and strategies to transform their institutions more effectively. AASHE will also delve into key opportunities and leverage points for advancing sustainability efforts. And, since we’ll be in person, there’ll be abundant opportunities to network and forge deeper connections with fellow sustainability leaders. Learn more and register HERE

After three years of successfully hosting a virtual conference, AASHE invites you to experience the highly anticipated AASHE 2023 Conference & Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, from October 29-31, 2023! Join them for a transformative journey as they unveil a trailblazing program to empower higher education sustainability professionals. Engage in this immersive learning experience while gaining innovative strategies to transform your institution effectively. Discover key opportunities, accelerate sustainability efforts, and forge connections with like-minded leaders. Register now to secure your spot and shape the future of sustainability. The conference will debut a new program tailored to provide higher education sustainability change-makers with an immersive learning experience that provides new ways of thinking and strategies to transform their institutions more effectively. AASHE will also delve into key opportunities and leverage points for advancing sustainability efforts. And, since we’ll be in person, there’ll be abundant opportunities to network and forge deeper connections with fellow sustainability leaders. Learn more and register HERE

After three years of successfully hosting a virtual conference, AASHE invites you to experience the highly anticipated AASHE 2023 Conference & Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, from October 29-31, 2023! Join them for a transformative journey as they unveil a trailblazing program to empower higher education sustainability professionals. Engage in this immersive learning experience while gaining innovative strategies to transform your institution effectively. Discover key opportunities, accelerate sustainability efforts, and forge connections with like-minded leaders. Register now to secure your spot and shape the future of sustainability. The conference will debut a new program tailored to provide higher education sustainability change-makers with an immersive learning experience that provides new ways of thinking and strategies to transform their institutions more effectively. AASHE will also delve into key opportunities and leverage points for advancing sustainability efforts. And, since we’ll be in person, there’ll be abundant opportunities to network and forge deeper connections with fellow sustainability leaders. Learn more and register HERE

Do you have comments or questions about the recycling program on campus? We want to hear from you! The Office of Sustainability and Building Services are collaborating to offer a listening & learning session to discuss the current landscape of recycling and waste management efforts on campus. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP via this link.