Engagement

Our community is engaged in cocurricular and curricular sustainability activities.

The students, staff, and faculty of Bard College work together to engage in initiatives—both on and off campus—that reflect the College’s sustainability mission. From the hamlet of Annandale-on-Hudson, in the Town of Red Hook, we connect with the nearby villages of Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Tivoli, the City of Kingston, and the greater Hudson Valley. Our view of sustainability looks not only toward green initiatives but also to a larger view of the health and wellness of our community.

Engagement Initiatives

Campus Engagement

Engaging in sustainability issues through cocurricular activities allows students to deepen and apply their understandings of sustainability principles. College-sponsored cocurricular sustainability offerings, often coordinated by the Dean of Student Affairs Office (and partners), help integrate sustainability into the campus culture.
Campus Engagement

Faculty and staff members’ daily decisions impact an institution’s sustainability performance. Equipping faculty and staff with the tools, knowledge, and motivation to adopt behavior changes that promote sustainability is an essential activity of a sustainable campus.

Cocurricular programs and initiatives:
- Student Cubs (Bard EcoCommunity, Community Garden, Outdoors Club, Foraging Club, Code Red) All clubs - watch this video for ideas about sustainable food at your events
- Bard Farm, BardEATS
- SRIC, Sustainability Council
- Recyclemania and the EcoChallenge/ Drawdown EcoChallenge are celebrated annually
- Student orientation includes a Sustainability Resource Fair and opportunity to become BardE3 Certified
- Programs through which students learn sustainable life skills
- Bard CDO has sustainability-focused student employment opportunities through Handshake
- The Class of 2020 took the first Sustainability Graduation Pledge:
  "As I graduate from Bard College, I recognize the imperative for the public and private sectors to bolster climate change mitigation efforts. To that end I pledge to weigh the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider. I will endeavor to make mitigation of climate change and a healthier global environment a priority in my work and civic life."
New faculty hear from the Chief Sustainability Officer about the Global Goals and how they apply to life at Bard.

Trainings and professional development opportunities for faculty & staff
- at lunch sessions or by request
- By being a Bard Sustainable Policy Partners
- Bardians are countering despair by creating a community of practice: every day some learning and conversation, each month a communication to electeds, every year a donation to a not-for-profit advancing the cause. Here’s help for you to form the habits necessary for monthly action: be a Sustainability Policy Partner - fill out this form to let us know how you would like to engage.
Partners:
- Recyclemania with National Wildlife Federation
- EcoChallenge
Public Engagement

Engagement in community problem-solving is fundamental to sustainability. By engaging with community members and organizations in the government, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors, institutions can help meet sustainability challenges. Community engagement can help students develop leadership skills while deepening their understanding of real-world problems and the process of crafting solutions.
Public Engagement
Bard partners through faculty, staff and student connections through entities, events and campaigns.
- Bard CEP offers public programs
- Municipal (Village of Red Hook and Tivoli, Town of Red Hook, Dutchess and Ulster County, City of Kingston)
- Partners: Red Hook Together
- Campaigns: Red Hook 10% Challenge

Engagement Spotlight

Helping Amphibians Cross the Road

How did the amphibian cross the road? With help from local volunteers! Our roads run through salamander and frog habitats here in the Hudson Valley, so volunteers from Bard College, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and other neighboring towns help migrating amphibians cross safely. Volunteers receive training in how to identify and move these amphibians as they make their way to woodland pools to breed on rainy spring nights. Email husted@bard.edu to join the team.

Learn More at NYSDEC

Engagement Programs

Staff and Faculty Sustainable Policy Partners

Staff and Faculty Sustainable Policy Partners
Tell us what not-for-profits and advocacy groups you follow (or would like to follow). We are counting on our faculty and staff to help crowd-source expertise and content updates that will build campus connections to organizations working on climate and sustainability. This new national effort will help build capacity, raise awareness, and make an impact.

Bardians can share the latest information on meaningful and important ways the rest of the community can get involved on relevant issues in real time. Want to be a Sustainability Policy Partner? Fill out this form to provide updates on an organization or an issue you are passionate about. Don’t have an organization but want to get involved? Find one on our list of organizations that need a follower—just email reduce@bard.edu.
Learn more about the program

BardE3s
BardE3s work on improving campus sustainability. They accomplish this by getting training in systems thinking, the circular economy, and the complex interplay of issues related to equity, the economy, and the environment. Led by a student team of BardE3s, the program welcomes students, faculty, and staff participation. We are all BardE3s.
Learn more about the program
Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Bard College supports a federal policy solution known as the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which uses the model known as carbon fee and dividend. As individuals, students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to periodically call, text, and write letters to their congressional representatives about this legislation as we build the political will to solve the climate crisis in a bipartisan manner. A local chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) meets in the Olin Language Center and Kingston Library on the second Saturday of each month, from 12:45 to 2:30 pm.
Learn More about CCL
Sustainability for Staff

Sustainability for Staff
It is the incumbent upon our community to lead through sustainable behaviors that help end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Employees are encouraged to participate in in-person sustainability training offered monthly during lunch, and to use the resources found here. To request a training appointment, please contact us at reduce@bard.edu.

Engagement

Engagement Initiatives

Campus Engagement

Public Engagement

Engagement Spotlight

Engagement Programs

Staff and Faculty Sustainable Policy Partners

BardE3s

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Sustainability for Staff

Engagement Resources

Guidelines and Policies

Actions and Materials