Author: Dan Collins

President, Telluride Institute | Professor, Arizona State University
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MountainFringe

Please join us for a series of “mountain resilience” films concurrent with the 2018 MountainFilm Festival.  We are calling the project “MountainFringe.”  It features films by WSCU professor Jack Lucido, videographer Kaard Bombe, and John D. Liu and many more.  See the attached MountainFringe Schedule3.

mountainFringe_collins

Telluride Institute’s Dan Collins plays VJ at the Ghost Town venue, Telluride, CO, May 25 – 28, 9 – 10:30 pm.

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India Night

THE WESTERN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY “MOUNTAIN RESILIENCY” COURSE IN THE HIMALAYAS PRESENTS:

India Night

Thursday, March 29, 2018
6:30-8:30
Western, Kelley Hall

Join us for the Grand Opening of the new School of ENVS in Kelley Hall for a fund raising dinner with facilitated conversations about the “Mountain Resiliency” India Trip and Raffle of Great Gunnison Items!

Proceeds to go to supplementing travel expenses to establish a Sister City relationship between Gunnison and Majikali, India.

Dinner conversation topics:

• Installing a water system in the Himalayas, and Himalayan water issues in general
• Enhancing Western’s emerging role in the United Nations Mountain Partnership
• Developing a Sister City for Gunnison
• Incorporating mountain resilience strategies in the Gunnison community upon our return

mem@western.edu for $15 advance tickets

$20 day of
$10 kids
$5 raffle tickets

Come and enjoy good food, prizes, and conversation about the trip.

POSTER FOR THE EVENT
INDIA NIGHT

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Mountain Resilience Coalition Kick-Off

On March 7, 2018, representatives from the Aspen International Mountain Foundation, the Telluride Institute, and the School of Environment and Sustainability at Western Colorado University, hosted a kick-off event at the Lifton-Zoline residence in Telluride, Colorado for the new “Mountain Resilience Coalition” (MRC).  An overview of the MRC vision was provided by Karinjo Devore (AIMF), Audrey Marnoy & John Lifton-Zoline (TI), and John Hausdoerffer (WSCU) and examples of possible projects were shared by current students from WSCU.  Please share the video below:

 

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John Hausdoerffer on Wildness

On March 6, 2018, John Hausdoerffer presented a talk at the Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, Colorado on the subject of “Wildness.”

Hausdoerffer is the dean of the School of Environment & Sustainability at Western  Colorado University in Gunnison, where he also directs the Master in Environmental Management program and serves as a professor of Environmental Sustainability and Philosophy. He is also a fellow with the Center for Humans and Nature in Chicago, where his co-editor Gavin Van Horn works. Wildness features creative nonfiction essays that explore the spectrum of wildness found in wilderness areas, on working landscapes and in urban communities. The book merges culturally diverse voices to delve into the evolution of “wildness,” including Hausdoerffer and Van Horn, as well as Gary Snyder, Vandana Shiva, Wes Jackson, Robert Michael Pyle, Robin Kimmerer, Aaron Abeyta, Winona LaDuke and Roderick Frazier Nash. In addition to selections from his book, Hausdoerffer shared mountain-focused scenes from his co-produced documentary series “Wildness.”

Hausdoerffer was joined in Telluride by Western State climate action specialists Corrie Knapp and Abel Chavez, as well as representatives of the the Aspen International Mountain Foundation (AIMF) and the Telluride Institute. This newly fashioned team (collectively called the Mountain Resilience Coalition) actively builds an energized network to connect mountain communities for the sharing of resources and solutions to urgent problems.