Lawrence Lessig receives two Harvard appointments

December 18, 2008-February 4, 2009 Harvard University Gazette/ 5‘Bicycle Environments’ takes HSPH and GSD students for a rideBy Gervis A. Menzies Jr.Harvard News OfficeAt a time when the United States scramblesto resolve the country’s obesity epidemic,reduce greenhouse gas emissionsand air pollution, and lessen dependency onenvironmentforeign fossil fuels,this semester the HarvardSchool of PublicHealth (HSPH) and the Graduate School ofDesign (GSD) have launched an interdisciplinarycourse that tackles all three problems(and more). Titled “Bicycle Environmentsin the U.S. and the Netherlands/Denmark:Case Studies in the Promotion ofPhysical Activity,” the class uses case studiesto examine how the bicycle communitiesin the Netherlands and Denmark help individualsstay healthy and reduce greenhousegas emissions. One clear objective is to findstrategic ways to make the United Statesmore bicycle friendly in an attempt to addressthese central social issues.The course first got wheels after AnneLusk, a research fellow at HSPH, armed witha grant from the National Institutes ofHealth, spent the past two summers examiningthe environmental characteristics of20 U.S. bicycle paths and their destinations.Inspired by her research, Lusk designed —with the help of Walter Willett, the FredrickJohn Stare Professor of Epidemiology andNutrition and chair of the Department ofNutrition at HSPH — a class meant to educatestudents about the health advantages offlourishing bicycle environments as well asthe structural changes necessary to createsuch environments. The double goal of theclass made a pairing of the HSPH and GSDa natural.Lusk, who said that the U.S. Departmentof Transportation should do more to encourageseparated bicycle tracks, saw theclass as an opportunity to better educate futurehealth experts and future architectsabout successful ways to increase bicycleriding. “We didn’t want it to be a typical classtaught by the Federal Highway Administration,”said Lusk, “so we proposed it to be ‘BicycleEnvironments.’”(See Bicycle, next page)Q&A with Heather HenriksenGazette reporterCorydon Irelandrecently had aconversation withHeather A. Henriksen,the directorof Harvard’snew Office forSustainability.Some highlights:Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard News OfficeWhat’s the mission of the Harvard Office for Sustainability?Our mission is to lead the Harvard University communityin achieving its sustainability goals. We are organizedcentrally as part of the Office of the President inorder to provide (and receive) advice and support acrosseach of the University’s Schools and departments. Wecreate forums in order to facilitate the sharing of bestpractices and new technologies from internal and externalsources. We also develop University-wide outreachand education campaigns, as well as programs andincentives for faculty, students, and staff.Chiefly, we want to work with each of the Schools anddepartments in order to achieve the goals of reducingthis community’s environmental impact. We believethat saving energy, water, and other resources is not onlysmart but is good for the economy, the environment, andis consistent with the Harvard tradition of demonstratingleadership on key societal issues. We will be workingclosely with the Schools and departments to helpthem meet their sustainability goals and promote theirachievements.The office is only a few months old. What’s your focusright now?We’re focused on establishing the implementationframework for the greenhouse gas reduction commitmentannounced this summer. This is an opportunity toreduce our energy usage and have our buildings andtheir inhabitants perform more efficiently.We have convened six working groups made up of representativesfrom each of the Schools and key administrativeareas to help us tackle implementation issues.An executive committee made up of several deans, faculty,and senior administrators will be reviewing therecommendations of each working group over the nextsix months. Our overall goal is that, by the end of thisacademic year, all Schools and units have a clear understandingof the steps required to plan their energyand greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies. Additionally,we are striving to create a coordinated plan toachieve that goal and develop processes to track and reportour progress.We would like to integrate energy conservation and efficiencyinto all University operations, and into people’slives. This saves resources and money. Our officewill play an advisory role, helping define operationaland building guidelines and identifying best practicesthrough the GHG working groups. We will also work toensure frequent and consistent communication regardingthe University’s accomplishments in this areaand help foster behavior changes that lead to reducedenergy consumption and minimized impact on the environment.The Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI) hasbeen absorbed into the new Office for Sustainability.Does it still exist?When the Harvard Green Campus Initiative was createdeight years ago, it was funded in part by a grantfrom the President and Provost, and also offered a feefor-serviceentrepreneurial model for serving schoolsat Harvard on a project-by-project basis. Under theguidance of co-chairs Jack Spengler [Akira YamaguchiProfessor of Environmental Health and Habitation atthe Harvard School of Public Health] and ThomasVautin [Harvard’s associate vice president for facilitiesand environmental services] the HGCI helped Harvardbecome a living laboratory for sustainability practicesand an environmental leader.Through the efforts of the HGCI and the schools, Harvardhas instituted a number of programs and initiativesin partnership with the Schools and units, such asthe Resource Efficiency (REP) program, The Faculty ofArts and Sciences’ (FAS) student peer-to-peer educationprogram, renewable energy projects, UniversityOperations Services’ shuttle bus conversion tobiodiesel, the campus-wide green building guidelines,and continued implementation of environmental educationprograms. The Harvard Greenhouse Gas TaskForce recommended changing the HGCI into a moreformal Harvard Office for Sustainability to broadenand enhance the University’s engagement in sustainablecampus operations.What has changed?The Office for Sustainability oversees sustainability effortsacross the University, including the implementationof the greenhouse gas reduction goals. We’ll keepour flexible service-based programs on the fee-for-servicefront, but the core of what we are doing is to focuson University-wide sustainability efforts. We will accomplishthis by promoting Harvard-wide occupantengagement, offering operational recommendationsbeyond our green building guidelines, facilitating bestpracticeexchange between the University’s Schoolsand units, and encouraging relevant behavior changes.(See Henriksen, next page)