Once again, the recent Sustainability Festival at Laney held on April 23 inspired, educated and engaged hundreds of people, gathering our community around the concept of sustainability. The Peralta Sustainability Committee and everyone who helped to plan and facilitate the festival deserve our deep appreciation and admiration. 
In two sections of English 1A this spring, students and I have been looking into the concept of sustainability. We have found that many institutions share a sense that sustainability involves much more than the ecological or environmental concerns that come to mind first for most of us.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development emphasizes consciousness of needs and limitations, “in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given.” 
The United Nations “Sustainable Future” page asks, “How can we help people move out of poverty and get good jobs, while protecting the environment? How can we make sure that everyone can get the water, food and nutrition they need? How can we shape our cities so that everyone can enjoy a decent quality of life?” (All three institutions derive their definitions from the UN’s 1987 Bruntland Commission Report, Our Common Future.) 
Clearly sustainability is a concept that seems to connect some, if not nearly all, aspects of human life.
I’d like to invite everyone in the Laney College community to collaborate on a year-long ‘rolling seminar’/’integrated learning assignment’ focused on what sustainability means in the fullest sense: How does sustainability relate to economics, culture, STEM fields, and journalism in a self-governing society? How does sustainability connect with business, investment, public policy, and entrepreneurship? What are the psychological dimensions of sustainability? Sociological? Historical? Philosophical?
This college-wide emphasis could tap into every discipline and every instructor’s curriculum, as well as practical aspects of students’ lives and every service area on our campus in terms of capacity, efficiency, ergonomics, and stress-management, as well as ‘traditional’ ecological aspects. 
The invitation is being issued this spring so people have time to think and plan for next fall. Please join me in launching this important campus-wide initiative.
For more information, and/or to express your interest in joining this collaborative effort, please contact me.
Chris Weidenbach is a Laney faculty member. Email him at cweidenbach(at)peralta.edu