Penn Sustainability’s annual Earth Week will return to campus from April 18-24.
The sustainability-centered programming includes volunteer clean-ups, workshops, and panel discussions. This year’s theme — “Inspire Informed Action” — aims to bring together students, faculty, and local organizations to promote environmental awareness and action.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, sustainability manager at Penn Sustainability Noah Swistak highlighted a new event — the Red Day Readiness Workshop — which will feature an April 20 discussion about campus resilience and energy conservation on days with extreme heat.
“We’ve never actually brought people together live, in a room, and ran a workshop like this about what individuals can do and how they can be empowered to make a difference,” Swistak said. “A lot of little things could add up to some big environmental change.”
Events like this align with the institution-wide goals outlined in Penn Sustainability’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 4.0, according to Swistak.
“It takes everybody — all of the student body as well as staff and faculty here — for us to realize these big goals that we’ve set for ourselves,” he added.
The Penn Climate Launch Party celebrating the organizations new office at the Kleinman Energy Forum will also occur on Monday. The same day, Environmental Group at Penn will host its annual GreenFest, which brings together student organizations and local groups to showcase sustainability-related projects and provide opportunities for engagement.
Tuesday’s programming will include a tour of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, a flower bouquet workshop, and Annenberg Climate Communication Flash Talks.
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Wednesday’s events will feature 60-second lectures about artificial intelligence, a clothing swap, outdoor journaling and yoga, and multiple birding walk.
Professor of practice at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy Heather Boushey will deliver a Thursday talk focused on the economics of climate change, which was rescheduled from Energy Week earlier this month.
The Alt Protein Project will host a plant-based food fair — a first for Earth Week — on Friday. The same day, Penn’s culinary team will host a food-based panel discussion.
Morris Arboretum & Gardens is hosting multiple Earth Week events — including a Thursday birding walk and panel on the historical roots of botany in the United States.
In an interview with the DP, Assistant Director of Adult Education at the Morris Arboretum Stephanie Bruneau explained that Morris’ mission in its year-round programming is to “connect plants, people, and place.”
She said that Earth Week at Penn serves as an opportunity to showcase a “sampling” of various program offerings at Morris.
“Just think of the ways that we’re connected with the natural world in all that we do — from the choices that we make with our food, with our transportation, or just the way that we observe and participate in the world around us,” Bruneau added.
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Staff reporter Danna Cai covers climate and sustainability and can be reached at cai@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies biology. Follow her on X @dannaacai.
