The sixth annual Environmental Issues Symposium will take place on campus this weekend so participants can focus primarily on how to make the College environmentally sustainable.
The symposium, taking place for the first time on campus, will provide workshops for participants to develop their own ideas on how to achieve a self-contained environment.
The workshops are a new addition to the symposium.
Miranda Johnson '97, the event's co-organizer, said in the past the symposiums were more informational than practical.
The workshops have been divided into six design groups -- land and water stewardship, material cycle, energy and architecture, transportation, measuring sustainability and education on sustainability.
Each group will be headed by a diverse group conprised of either an administrator or professor, an alumnus and a student.
After meeting in the design groups, members will write a report recommending how the environment can be improved. The reports will be presented to the administration for possible implementation and further discussion.
"This is the first symposium that will focus on solutions that can be implemented concretely," Johnson said. She said this allows for a more realistic view focusing large-scale problems on a small area.
For example, the transportation design group will look at the community patterns of traffic -- such as faculty commuting -- to recommend changes that will help the environment, Johnson said.
The symposium will also feature a keynote address by William Yellowtail '69, an Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator, on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in 105 Dartmouth Hall. Johnson said the details of the address are unknown, but it will incorporate sustainability, Native American views and general information on what is happening with the environment.
All other panels and speeches will include administrators, alumni, faculty or students.
On Saturday, Everett Blake will call a square dance at Webster Hall. Johnson said the event is to counteract the "we're all gonna die in 50 years" attitude.
The activities of the symposium are open to all students with the exception of the panels, which require prior registration.
In previous years, the symposium was held at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge.
The Dartmouth Environmental Network, also known as DEN, are the primary organizers of the symposium. DEN was founded in 1989 for the 50th anniversary of the Moosilauke Ravine Organization. It acts as a network for Dartmouth students and alumni.
