WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., February 12, 2019—Following the lead of Middlebury, a newly created map of Williams’ campus highlights the college’s sustainability initiatives ranging from solar panels to rain gardens. It also provides a self-guided audio tour for visitors to learn more about sustainability—the first of its kind.
Over the course of the fall 2018 semester, Williams senior Korinna Garfield ’19 and Caroline Bruno ’15, sustainability coordinator at the college’s Zilkha Center, incorporated sustainability features into the new map to help raise visibility about how sustainability is integrated into the Williams College campus.
“By exploring all areas of campus and aggregating physical features into a map, I was able to think more deeply about the physical environment that we inhabit and how sustainability has and can continue to shape our interactions with it,” Garfield says.
The map’s features are grouped into categories that include Buildings, Community Engagement, Energy, Landscaping and Grounds, Transportation, Waste and Water. While many colleges have online interactive maps, it is still not common to include sustainability features as part of a spatial representation of the campus.
A key priority for Williams, sustainability is integrated into how the college community experiences the campus’ physical location on a daily basis. Williams undertook this project as a step toward becoming a more inclusive and “sustainable” campus.
As both the map and tour illustrate, a sustainable campus relies on reducing energy emissions, preserving areas of natural beauty and facilitating accessibility for all members of the greater community. The map also directs users to more information which can be found on Williams’ sustainability website.
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