The Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN), established in 2013, is a nonprofit institution declared by the United Nations University as a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) in Sustainable Development in Education. This makes it one of 138 worldwide and only one of three located in the US. Specific values of GPSEN include education, the environment, the economy, and equity as well as UN’s Sustainable Development goals. Per requirements established by the UN, the core purposes of GPSEN include:
1. Governance – addressing issues of RCE management and leadership
2. Collaboration – addressing the engagement of actors from all levels of formal, non-formal and informal education
3. Research and development – addressing the role of research and its inclusion in RCE activities, as well as contributing to the design of strategies for collaborative activities, including those with other RCEs
4. Transformative education – contributing to the transformation of the current education and training systems to satisfy ambitions of the region regarding sustainable living and livelihood.
It is unclear from the website how many organizations are involved or partnered with GPSEN, but it does not appear to have a huge following yet. However, in the GPSEN 2014 report, the key organizational leadership is described as a collaboration between Portland Community College, Portland Public Schools, Portland State University, and Wisdom of the Elders. Half of GPSEN is made of institutions of higher education. Furthermore, one of the contacts listed is Judy Walton – AASHE’s original Executive Director.
This demonstrates a few key things. First, institutions of higher education continue to be leaders in sustainability movements, particularly in sustainable education. This makes sense with the increasing emphasis on sustainability programs and ratings on college campuses. Also, the connection between AASHE and GPSEN continues to show how prevalent AASHE and a few key minds are in current conceptions of sustainability in the US. Despite this, GPSEN’s emphasis on collaboration in the Portland area and connection to RCE’s worldwide will hopefully lead to more ideas and innovation in sustainability thought.
GPSEN is an especially interesting case because of its location right in our backyard at Lewis & Clark College. They are an institution that we may want to consider talking to in order to see a different perception for how sustainability is shown on a college campus. If nothing else, we should be aware of any events put on or news published by GPSEN, and they are someone we can share the results of our research with in order to gain greater perspective.