Sustainability and the College of Social Sciences go hand in hand. First, CSS offers the most sustainability courses for undergraduate students at UH Mānoa and is leading sustainability community engagement opportunities for students and faculty. Second, CSS has been selected by a global network of universities, the AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), to lead one of its Centers on Sustainability Across the Curriculum.
So it’s no surprise that the 2025 Sustainability Workshop for university and college faculty, instructors and graduate students is being headed by two CSS faculty members.
Aya H. Kimura, a professor of sociology and senior advisor to the dean on sustainability, and Ulla Hasager, CSS director of civic engagement and senior advisor to the dean on engagement, are leading the workshop, assisted by Madison Owens, a CSS alumna who studied political science, ethics and sociology.
Owens, a co-founder of the Environmental Justice Club at UH Mānoa, said climate change “affects us all, and addressing it requires collective action across all sectors of society.”
Added Kimura, “Hawaiʻi offers a unique vantage point in thinking deeply about climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental justice issues. Educators around the world are grappling with how to address these issues in teaching, and we are glad to be a part of the global efforts by leading this workshop.”
The second annual Sustainability Workshop will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 1-2, 2025, at the UH Mānoa campus. The first day features an interactive workshop. On the second day, participants will explore a Native Hawaiian forest restoration site, Waiakeakua, in the back of Mānoa Valley.
Invited to register are university and college faculty and instructors, and graduate students. Deadline to register is Friday, January 31, 2025.
Guest speakers include Kamakana Aquino, CSS Native Hawaiian coordinator for Hui ʻĀina Pilipili: Davianna Pōmaika’i McGregor, professor emerita in the CSS Department of Ethnic Studies; and Charles “Chip” Fletcher, interim dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at UH Mānoa and director of the Climate Resilience Collaborative research team.
For general workshop inquiries, contact Aya H. Kimura at kimuraa@hawaii.edu or Ulla Hasager at ulla@hawaii.edu. For questions about workshop logistics, contact Madison Owens at msowens@hawaii.edu.
