IF YOU GOWhat: ‘Worldchanging: A User’s Guide’Where: Hendricks ChapelWhen: Today, 4 p.m.How much: Free

One of the minds behind ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will be at Syracuse University on Tuesday to discuss environmental issues on a smaller, everyday scale.

As part of the University Lecture Series, environmentalist Alex Steffen will speak at Hendricks Chapel at 4 p.m. about the need for environmental change and sustainability. He will also discuss his book, ‘Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century,’ from which information was drawn to be used in Al Gore’s documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ said Esther Gray, senior administrator for student affairs and the lecture series organizer.

Steffen is the founder and executive editor of the award-winning Worldchanging Web site that focuses on finding sustainable solutions to environmental problems. The decision to invite Steffen to campus was made more than a year ago, Gray said. She said Steffen will appeal to students and faculty because he has a great deal of experience in the field of environmental sustainability.

‘Sustainability is something that is present throughout all disciplines at the university,’ Gray said.

Chris McCray, director of the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Collaboration Laboratory at The Warehouse and an industrial design professor, said he believes Steffen’s visit to campus will be valuable because many people do not understand the importance of environmental sustainability yet. Steffen has a strong understanding of the subject, McCray said, and has been one of the leaders of thought about sustainability for many years.

He said those working and studying in industrial design specifically must take notice of Steffen’s message. ‘The topic pertains to all of us,’ he said. ‘We all need to listen and pay attention.

‘We must make serious, conscious changes,’ McCray said.

McCray also said various other leaders in the field contributed to Steffan’s book, which earned him an even wider audience. His book is widely used by professors in the industrial design department at SU to promote sustainability to students, McCray said.

COLAB will host a fireside-style chat after Steffen’s talk at Hendricks. McCray said although a real fire cannot be built inside the building, a PowerPoint image of a campfire will be displayed during the conversation.

‘The fireside chat is designed to be a source of collaborative communication between Steffen and the audience,’ McCray said.

The chat will be composed of a small group of students from the industrial and design programs, as well as students from a local middle school who were invited, McCray said.

‘The chat will be in a more casual space where Steffen will be able to talk back and fourth in a conversational style with the students and express what he believes in and represents.’

eamaher@syr.edu

Published on March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm