Sustainability News - April/May 2009

by Xavier Matteucci — 05/12/2009

Dear all,
Welcome to the new issue of our newsletter. This issue introduces the new members of the Sustainability Committee (SC) at MU as well as the committee’s agenda for the forthcoming months. This issue also covers the three following topics: First Movie Night within the SC film series, Travelers’ Philanthropy tips towards responsible travel and the Slow Food movement. Any comments or suggestions can be e-mailed to Xavier Matteucci (newsletter.contact@modul.ac.at). A big thank you goes to Dave Leonard for his contribution to this issue. I remind our readers that your contribution is valuable. Thanks again!

I. New members and their agenda

The last University Assembly appointed new members of the Sustainability Committee (SC) at MU. These new members, appointed for one year, are: Anja Hergesell (Faculty), David Leonard (Student), Dagmar Lund-Durlacher (Faculty), Xavier Matteucci (Faculty), Gertraud Moser (Academic Office), Andreas Schweighofer (Admin) and Bozana Zekan (Faculty).

The members of SC have some work ahead of them such as the elaboration of a “concept paper”. A concept paper should state MU’s objectives and strategies for pursuing the sustainability principles, which, in turn, should serve as a guideline for all operational and strategic decisions and actions. Other tasks include the strengthening of students’ commitment to non-curricular activities. In this respect, Dave Leonard is currently establishing contact with the AIESEC network, the world’s largest student organization.

II. Event

The SC first Movie Night will take place on Wednesday, May 27th 2009 in a comfortable setting in room 1.09/1.10.

The event will Begin at 6.00 pm with a BBQ on the terrace & followed at 7.30 pm by the screening of "We Feed the World"

This event is sponsored by Brauunion and Höllinger

III. Tips

“Travelers’ desire to help, interact, and learn from those they meet during their holiday is clearly positive. However, there are sometimes unintended consequences from these good intentions.” To learn about what you can do to help while traveling, have a look at the Dos and Don’ts of Travel Giving :

http://www.travelersphilanthropy.org/resources/documents/TravelGivingDos...

IV. Slow Food

Slow Food is not about food stuff which has been travelling at a slow pace nor is it about eating food slowly! If you cannot grasp the basic concepts behind what is been referred to as Slow Food, then you are better off looking this up now! “Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work”.