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2009 Americas Region Conference

For a week in late April, 100 delegates from 16 schools wrestled with the question: Is sustainable attainable?

Hosted by the Hotchkiss School, in Lakeville, CT, USA, the conference was rooted in the theme of the 2008 International Conference in Canada, and sought to further discussion about sustainability across society – environmental, economic, cultural, and political sustainability.

The outline of the conference was presented as follows:

Balancing Act: is sustainable attainable?

Sustainability is often seen as a critical component of any solution for the complex problems of the 21st century.  We strive to create economic, environmental, cultural and political systems that are sustainable, but differences in opinion and clashes of values can obscure the path to this goal. When such conflicts arise we need to learn to pose thoughtful, pragmatic questions that invite others into discussion, and then work collaboratively to find balance between our individual values and collective goals.

During the week, delegates were challenged by a number of speakers and activities to think about how sustainable the systems in their private and school lives are.

“Slow Food” advocate Alice Waters asked the conference to think of fresh, healthy, local, affordable food as a right, not a luxury for all citizens, regardless of their income level.

U.S. Congressman Chris Murphy, one of the youngest members of the House of Representatives spoke about the power of youth and “Yes” in the face of overwhelming odds.

A day was spent in New York City, looking at the IDEALS in action – nine separate groups were divided along the themes of Green Planet New York, Follow the Food, and Democracy in Action.  After a day of subway rides, meetings, walks through neighborhoods, and working side by side with New Yorkers, the entire group met for  dinner and view of the city from the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

On Thursday, the Round Square Delegates joined in with the annual Hotchkiss Eco-Day activities, and heard from Rick Duke of the Natural Resources Defense Council on ways businesses can “do well by doing good” with energy conservation.  The action part of the day included going out into the local community to clean up roadsides, pull alien plant species, and help farmers with their spring planting.

A particular focus of the conference was on the Democracy pillar, and a day’s program was dedicated to thinking  about what Democracy means beyond the voting booth. CNN correspondent Frank Sesno asked the audience what they cared about, and then challenged them to take advantage of the power of new media to tell the story of the issues that matter and make a difference in their communities.  

Patrick DeSouza, former Director of Inter-American Affairs in the Clinton administration, presented on the Fifth Summit of the Americas, and encouraged the Americas Region schools to get involved in implementing the recommendations of the Summit.

Hotchkiss students premiered a film made in partnership with award-winning documentary film-makers Global Village Media as part of their Civic Life project. This film “Democracy Beyond the Voting Booth” looked at how a community rallied together to fight pollution in their waterways and towns. This film is available online at the Civic Life website – see below for the link – and other Round Square schools are encouraged to participate in the project.

The conference finished with a Contra Dance, a traditional New England and Canadian form of dancing, and with all delegates planting an apple and pear orchard at the Fairfield Farms section of the Hotchkiss campus. The fruit of these trees will sustain the Hotchkiss community for many years to come!

We encourage you to visit the conference page, conference blog, and the links below for more information.

Conference Web Pages:

http://www.hotchkiss.org/AboutHotchkiss/RoundSquareAmericas09.asp

Conference Blog:

http://hotchkissmedia.org/rsnyc/rsblog.html

Conference Speakers, with links to more information about their projects:

http://www.hotchkiss.org/AboutHotchkiss/RoundSquareSpeakers09.asp

Additional Resources:

Civic Life Media and Democracy Project

http://www.civiclifeproject.com

PlanetForward.com – a website for student films on environmental issues:

http://www.pbs.org/planetforward/

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