Sustainability and Climate Change across the Curriculum
Interested in changing curriculum toward sustainability issues such as climate change? This conference will introduce participants to frameworks for integrating sustainability into academic courses.
National and local organizations have joined forces to support a conference to inspire faculty and other formal and informal educators, including graduate students, to integrate social, economic and environmental sustainability into undergraduate education. Educators from across academic disciplines and the community will work collaboratively to introduce and enhance sustainability content in new and existing courses across the curriculum.
The gathering is organized by University of Hawaiʻi faculty and staff and is sponsored by the national Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the national Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities’ (SENCER) Center for Innovation West, the EPSCoR-funded Transcending Barriers to Success in Economics (TBSE), the Western Region Continuums of Service Conference 2025, the UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences, and CERENE at Kapiʻolani Community College.
Date: Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21, 2024
Location: UH Mānoa campus
Conference Schedule
The conference in Honolulu spans two days, with a one-day participation option. Cost is $150 for the conference or $75 per day. *
Day 1: Saturday, April 20, 2024
- Arrive at the UH Mānoa Campus by 8:15 am
- Registration
- Light breakfast served
- All-day conference (9 am to 5 pm)
- Lunch provided
Day 2: Sunday, April 21, 2024
- Field trip
- Arrive at UH Mānoa campus by 8 am
- Visit a Native Hawaiian restoration project
- Return at 1 pm (+/-)
* The registration fee is waived for UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences faculty, lecturers, graduate assistants, graduate students, and participants from the Asia Pacific Region. Fellowships are available for Community College participants. Additional fellowships may become available. All participants must cover their own travel and lodging expenses.
Conference Facilitator: Krista Hiser
Krista Hiser (Ph.D.) currently serves as the Senior Lead and Advisor for Sustainability Education at the Global Council for Science and the Environment. Formerly the Director of the University of Hawaiʻi System Center for Sustainability Across the Curriculum, she is also the host of AASHE’s Ultimate Cli Fi Book Club and teaches writing at Kapiʻolani Community College, with an emphasis on sustainability and climate change education. Her doctoral degree is in Educational Administration from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Guest Speaker: Kamakana Aquino
Kamakanaokealoha “Kamakana” M. Aquino is from Waimānalo, Oʻahu and is the Native Hawaiian Coordinator for Hui ʻĀina Pilipili: Native Hawaiian Initiative in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Social Sciences. Kamakana coordinates and supports Hawaiian-centered programs in teaching, learning, service, and scholarship, including the College’s Nā Koʻokoʻo: Hawaiian Leadership Program for students, and Hulihia: Decolonizing and Indigenizing Social Sciences Curriculum Program for College faculty.
Guest Speaker: Katy Hintzen
Katy Hintzen is a Coastal Resilience Specialist with the UH Sea Grant College Program. She is also the Project and Partnership Coordinator for the Ulana ʻIke Center of Excellence, and specializes in helping coastal communities prepare for and adapt to climate change impacts across the Hawaiian Islands. In a team partnership with Kua’aina Ulu ʻAuamo and Paepae o Heʻeia, she worked to develop Kūlana Noiʻi, a set of guidelines for building and sustaining reciprocal partnerships between researchers and Native Hawaiian resource stewards. Katy continues to work to incorporate the values and guidance of Kūlana Noiʻi into institutional practices and curriculum.
Guest Speaker: Diana Liverman
Diana’s research has focused on the human dimensions of global environmental change and her main research interests include climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, and climate policy and mitigation especially in the developing world. Her current projects on climate justice include the role of women in climate science, climate and poverty in Tucson, and climate in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She is also working with the Earth Commission to envision safe and just targets for the earth system and is an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report author and editor.
Conference Facilitator: Aya H. Kimura
Aya H. Kimura is a Professor of Sociology, Senior Advisor to the CSS Dean, and Director of the University of Hawaiʻi Center on Sustainability Across the Curriculum. She has an MA in Environmental Studies (Yale) and a Ph.D. in Sociology (University of Wisconsin-Madison). Her books include Radiation Brain Moms and Citizen Scientists: The Gender Politics of Food Contamination after Fukushima (Duke University Press: recipient of the Rachel Carson Book Award from the Society for Social Studies of Science) and Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods (Cornell University Press: recipient of the Outstanding Scholarly Award from the Rural Sociological Society).
Conference Facilitator: Ulla Hasager
Ulla Hasager is Director of Civic Engagement for UHM’s College of Social Sciences and Senior Advisor to the CSS Dean. She leads engaged curriculum creation as well as professional and program development across communities, institutions, and disciplines, for instance leading the innovative Mālama I Nā Ahupuaʻa service-learning program which is internationally recognized as a model for sustainability education. Ulla coordinates SENCER Hawaiʻi (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities), is co-director of the national SENCER’s Center for Innovation West, and a member of the Hawaiʻi planning team for the Continuums of Service 2025 conference.
Field Trip to Waiakeakua
The field trip will take the participants from the UH Mānoa Campus to the Native Forest Restoration site, Waiakeakua, in Mānoa Valley. The field trip will start at 8 am. Be ready to get muddy!
Workshop Registration
Faculty, graduate students and educators from all academic disciplines and institutions are invited to apply for this workshop on Sustainability and Climate Change Across the Curriculum.
Please register by March 15, 2024.
Confirmations will be emailed in late March.
Conference participants will benefit in the following ways:
- Examine the concept of sustainability, its varied interpretations, and connections with different fields of study.
- Work with the local environment and community to teach a sense of place.
- Create new or modify existing courses to integrate sustainability across the curriculum.
- Learn how to use your campus and its sustainability programs as teaching resources.
- Explore transdisciplinary connections to other faculty and programs within your institution and beyond.
- Share resources for developing and enhancing sustainability content in courses.
- Gain knowledge on climate change and ideas on incorporating related issues in courses.
- Obtain a digital certificate of completion for promotion dossier or other career purposes.
Additional Details
UH Mānoa is an AASHE Regional Center for Sustainability Across the Curriculum and the home of the administration of SENCER Hawaiʻi, which has a leading role in making the work of Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities transcending the natural sciences and integrating indigenous knowledge, the social sciences, and the humanities.
The conference will be facilitated by Krista Hiser, who currently serves as Senior Lead and Advisor for Sustainability Education at the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE); Ulla Hasager, Co-Director of SENCER Center for Innovation West, UHM-CSS Director of Civic Engagement, and Senior Advisor of Engagement for the CSS Dean; and Aya H. Kimura, Senior Advisor of Sustainability to the Dean of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and UHM ASHEE representative.