Sustainability experts speak at Founder's Day Symposium | Interactive feature

Happy birthday, Ben Franklin.

The Founder's Day Symposium commemorated Ben Franklin's 303rd birthday on Friday, capturing Franklin's values of "distinguished scholarship and global citizenship," said University President Amy Gutmann.

The event consisted of a panel - moderated by Gutmann - of five academic specialists who spoke about environmental sustainability.

"One of the signature strengths of Penn is that we are united in our commitment to this topic," said Gutmann.

The panel included Astronomy and Astrophysics professor Gary Bernstein, City and Regional Planning professor Eugenie Birch, Architecture professor William Braham, Earth and Environmental Science professor Robert Giegengack and Legal Studies and Business Ethics and Management professor and Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership director Eric Orts.

In support of Penn's initiative to go green, Giegengack said that neglecting to improve environmental sustainability would pose "a long-term threat to the survival of the ecosystem."

The panel discussed how Penn could teach sustainability and reached a general consensus that it was important to first understand problems, such as global warming, and then to use that understanding to solve those problems.

"It is important to infuse the topic of sustainability in our teachings," said Birch. She added that doing so was especially easy in her field because the concept is such a central issue.

The panel agreed that it is important for Penn to integrate knowledge across disciplines to increase sustainability.

According to Gutmann, "We have to make it sexy in some way."

During the last portion of the event, members of the audience - which included students from all four of the university's undergraduate schools, many of the graduate schools, alumni, professors and directors - asked questions of Gutmann and the panel. Gutmann expressed surprise to see so many students not pursuing a profession in sustainability despite their interest in the topic.

First year School of Design graduate student Stephen Vanleer, who noticed the diverse nature of the audience, said, "It's great to see a number of disciplines working together to address this common issue."

According to a statement from vice president of Facilities and Real Estate Services Anne Papageorge, recent successful initiatives Penn has undertaken to go green include Recyclemania, PennMoves, PennGreen Freshman Orientation and research and energy-saving analysis by Penn Design's TC Chan Center.

"We have done some good work, good enough to receive the highest grade given by the Sustainability Endowments Institute," said Papageorge, "but there is more work to be done and everyone has a role and responsibility in this effort."

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