The 12th Annual Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference 2017 will be held in Hyattsville, MD, United States on March 26-28, 2017.

The 12th Annual Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference 2017 brings together directors and staff from facilities, sustainability, campus planning, health & safety and business offices, as well as business partners, students and other education stakeholders.

Our work can weigh on us. Sustainability practitioners often get caught up in the mantra of “doing less bad” and can falter under the scientific prognosis for planet Earth. We adopt goals and metrics to help us reduce our environmental impact but it can often feel like our efforts are not enough, that we are not moving the needle. This is the path that everyone knows well. It is weighty and can cause even the most stalwart advocates to burn out.

However, a new world of sustainability is emerging, one that is about “doing more good,” and includes net positive buildings, regenerative design, zero waste, and resilient communities.  Hand-in-hand with this change in philosophy comes an opportunity for “net positive sustainability” to enter our thinking, our work and our connection to campuses. Engaging in sustainability from this perspective allows us, as change makers, to renew our passion for work, restore a sense of well-being through our community connection and regenerate through net positive personal practices.

Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference aims to be the best participant-driven conference you can attend.  We challenge you to embed community building methods and facilitation into your presentations, workshops, and interactions with each other. Let’s transition from PowerPoint and unleash our collaborative selves with World Cafés and Appreciative Inquiry, using our gathered brain trust to find solutions to collective challenges. This year we will envision new possibilities, expand our communities and learn through experimentation as we advance the goal of thriving people, places and planet.