UPDATE: Dr. Dan Fernandez has been invited to to make a presentation on CSUMB's innovation credit regarding the Chinatown Renewal Project at AASHE's annual conference in Los Angeles. His presentation is scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 14.

Last summer, CSU Monterey Bay earned a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, known as AASHE.

The rating, awarded in the organization's STARS program, signifies that the university is doing an outstanding job of going green in areas ranging from curriculum and construction to conservation of resources.?

STARS – which stands for Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System – measures and encourages sustainability in education and research, operations and planning, administration, engagement and innovation.

Now, the university has been highlighted in the summer issue of the STARS Quarterly Review, which focuses on innovations in campus sustainability.

The publication focused on the Chinatown Renewal Project, an effort to revitalize a blighted though historically rich neighborhood in Salinas.

In partnership with other organizations, the publication reported, CSUMB has provided leadership, energy, vision and resources to the effort. Hundreds of students and more than 20 faculty and staff members have made a significant contribution to the project.

The article pointed out that sustainability has been a consistent theme in these efforts, which include building a community garden where organic food is grown; starting a Green Jobs Corps; creating a sustainable energy demonstration project; offering workshops on natural building and organic gardening; conducting oral history interviews and collecting historic artifacts; creating job opportunities for the homeless; and opening a computer training lab.

The article concluded: By encompassing social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability, the Chinatown project brings comprehensive solutions to a region that has experienced serious sustainability challenges.

“Going green is certainly an important part of sustainability, but it has to be accompanied by economic and social justice sustainability, “ said Dr. Dan Fernandez, chair of the university’s Division of Science and Environmental Policy.

More photos of the garden are posted in CSUMB’s Flickr gallery