North Carolina State University - Chancellor James L. Oblinger

Welcome to Raleigh and AASHE 2008                                                                                                                                  

I would like to welcome you to Raleigh, North Carolina and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s 2008 Conference.  North Carolina State University is honored to be a host institution for this groundbreaking conference. The topic for this conference, Working Together for Sustainability -- On Campus and Beyond, is a fitting title for what our future holds.  For academics and campus operations, interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration across departments, schools and communities are the keys to our successes in sustainability.  At NC State, we are leading by example and action towards sustainability through our research, education and outreach on and beyond campus.                                    

We have declared 2008 the Year of Energy at NC State, bringing together students, faculty, staff, and business and industry representatives across all of our departments to focus on a unified agenda of energy and the environment.  We are walking the walk in many ways, such as requiring all new construction to be LEED-Silver, becoming an Energy Star Partner, being an LED (light-emitting diode) university, growing our University Sustainability Office, and signing the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. The core principles of sustainability are being integrated into daily life here at the university.

I know that each one of you will take home sustainable lessons learned from your time here, apply them in your personal and professional life and share them with other persons outside your field of expertise.  It is through our choices, collaborating across disciplines, that we can have significant impacts on our campus and our greater community.  As doers and thought leaders of our higher education institutions, it is up to us to chart this new territory of interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches.  These approaches are the principles on which our sustainable future rests. 

Again, welcome.