2019 Community Engagement Conference

2019 Community Engagement Conference Recap

More than 650 faculty, staff, students and community partners attended the 2019 Community Engagement Conference: Partnering for a Resilient and Sustainable Future. The conference featured more than 120 presentations, posters and panels/keynote speakers, including Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland.

The 2019 Community Engagement Conference was made possible by ENGIE-Axium and Ohio States Alumni Association, Corporate Engagement Office, Discovery Themes Initiative, Graduate School, Office of Government Affairs, Office of International Affairs, Office of Outreach and Engagement, Office of Research, Office of Student Life, Office of Undergraduate Education, Sustainability Institute, Wexner Medical Center, OSU Extension, and the Ohio Water Resources Center.

2019 Community Engagement Conference Proceedings

The 2019 Community Engagement Conference proceedings are available in Ohio State's Knowledge Bank. All of the presentations in the proceedings have abstracts and author contact information.

2019 Community Engagement Conference in the News
Check out videos of the plenary sessions at the 2019 Community Engagement Conference:
Welcome and Opening Panel

Welcome from Ohio State University President Dr. Michael V. Drake

Panelists: Rebecca Karason, Director of Energy & Sustainability, Huntington Bank; P.G. Sittenfeld, Cincinnati City Council Member; David Abbott, Executive Director, The George Gund Foundation

Moderator: Josh Knights, Director of Partnerships, The Ohio State University Sustainability Institute

Day 1 Plenary Panel

This panel focused on the university role in local and regional sustainability and how universities can effectively partner with community stakeholders to make progress towards sustainability solutions.

Panelists: Geoff Dabelko, Associate Dean and Director, Environmental Studies Program, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, Ohio University; Shoshanah Inwood, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, School of Environment and Natural Resources and InFACT Discovery Theme, The Ohio State University; Marianne Krasny, Professor and Director, Cornell University

Moderator: Elena Irwin, Professor/Faculty Director of the Sustainability Institute, The Ohio State University

Day 1 Keynote, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin

Keynote speaker Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Environmental Policy Expert

Day 2 Plenary Panel

This panel focused on the emerging challenges to safe drinkable, fishable and swimmable waters.

Panelists: Robert Davis, Director, City of Cleveland Department of Public Utilities; Ken Heigel, Assistant Executive Director, Ohio Water Development Authority; David Rankin, Executive Director, Great Lakes Protection Fund

Moderator: Linda Weavers, Professor/Co-Director of the Ohio Water Resources Center, The Ohio State University

Student Sustainability Panel

Student Panel Introduction: Matt Couch, Associate Dean for Students, Office of Student Life

Moderator: Marie McConnell, Major: Environmental Policy and Decision Making

Panelists: Matt Griffin, Major: Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability: Sustainability and Business; Dominique Hadad, Major: Integrated Systems Engineering; Timothy Kirby, Major: Mechanical Engineering; Gina Hnytka, Director of Sustainability Education and Learning, Sustainability Institute

Provost's Discovery Themes Lecturer Mary Robinson

Keynote Speaker: Mary Robinson
One of the world's most respected advocates for climate justice and Ireland's first woman President, Mary Robinson leads the Mary Robinson FoundationClimate Justice, a center for thought leadership, education and advocacy for the poor and disempowered in the world that are disproportionately threatened by climate change. A sought-after speaker whose TED Talk received a standing ovation, President Robinson has moved audiences around the world with her passionate and hopeful call for all nations to work together to fight for a sustainable future. Her new book, Climate Justice, has received glowing reviews from former world leaders and the environmental and human rights community. Barack Obama, awarding Robinson the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, praised her as an advocate for the forgotten and the ignored, noting that she has not only shone a light on human suffering, but illuminated a better future for our world.

Moderator: Mike Thompson, WOSU