Barnard College
IN-49: Innovation C

In October and November 2020, the Office of Campus Sustainability and Climate Action, in collaboration with the Student Government’s Committee on Sustainability, organized a series of three Campus Conversations. These discussions, attended by over 100 individuals, including students, faculty, and staff from diverse departments, aimed to refine the objectives outlined in Barnard’s Climate Action Vision.

Each conversation focused on a specific topic including Emissions from Air Travel, Sustainability and Access, and Integrating Climate into the Curriculum. Participants were provided with a comprehensive document beforehand, outlining the questions for the community, scientific basics, Barnard’s history on the topic, and approaches adopted by other institutions. The sessions began by ensuring participants had a clear understanding of this document, followed by in-depth presentations involving voices from across the campus.

Crucially, these discussions involved a groundbreaking approach: a Citizens’ Assembly, comprising 16 members representing students, faculty, and staff. This assembly, a first of its kind in the United States, to the best of our knowledge, included individuals who attended all three conversations and five additional assembly-only sessions for deliberation. These members, chosen as a representative sample of the community, engaged in a consensus-building process facilitated by an independent moderator, Dallase Scott. The assembly was tasked with generating recommendations based on their reflections and the community conversations they witnessed.

The Office of Campus Sustainability and Climate Action has since used this guiding document to help shape our planning and priorities.

This initiative marked a significant milestone, emphasizing the importance of inclusive and democratic decision-making processes in addressing climate issues at educational institutions.