On Saturday, September 21, you’re invited to learn how scientists, engineers, students, and communities are joining forces to solve some of the most complex sustainability challenges of our time. The Southeast Iowa Sierra Club is hosting a conversation with Stratis Giannakouros, Director of the UI Office of Sustainability, at the Lodge in Lake Darling State Park, to talk about inspiring new approaches to creating small-town sustainability.
During his presentation, Stratis will speak about how the University of Iowa is building interdisciplinary teams to come up with solutions for community sustainability. One idea that resulted from this approach was using renewable energy resources such as oat hulls and miscanthus grass to run the UI power plant boilers—an innovation that is expected to help the university reach its goal of a coal-free campus by 2025.
“You can’t solve any of these grand challenges siloed in your own field,” says Stratis. “You have to think across disciplines.”
If a university is its own community of creative minds, why not apply this successful interdisciplinary model to rural communities as well? Stratis certainly believes we can do this by unleashing the power of unfettered imagination to develop powerful local solutions.
“We have created artificial boundaries around disciplines,” Stratis notes. “Would we call Leonardo da Vinci an artist or an engineer? Here is the evidence why we can’t draw hard and fast boundaries around disciplines. The world is made up of complex and interdependent systems, as are the challenges to sustainability. Solving these problems requires complex interdisciplinary approaches [that] transcend boundaries; otherwise, we risk heading down a road where we are actually creating new problems.”
One example of this joint approach is the University of Iowa’s ISSSF project (Interdisciplinary, Scalable Solutions for a Sustainable Future). This educational grant program brings faculty, graduate students, and undergrads together as collaborative teams to address the challenges in securing a sustainable future. The ISSSF project has already applied this collaborative problem-solving model to many of the challenges we face in Iowa, including:
• Building tools for earlier detection of harmful algal bloom in Iowa’s lakes;
• Developing watershed-level criteria for agricultural sustainability in Iowa;
• Developing sustainable food systems that address interest in local and regional foods as an alternative to the conventional food system.
Stratis views Fairfield as a laboratory where sustainability research is already taking place and where models of sustainability are being developed, making it a guidepost for other rural communities. As Fairfield is in the throes of building a new community resilience model, Stratis will explore how to question the old models as well as how to find new ways to capture resources within our community.
Whether you’re an environmental enthusiast or simply curious about making a positive impact, this event promises inspiration and a renewed sense of hope. Please join the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club for this free presentation on Saturday, Sept. 21. A catered lunch is provided at 12:30 p.m., and the speaker presentation starts at 1:30. Please RSVP with your name, contact info, and number of guests for lunch to SEIowaSierraClub@gmail.com.