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WOHESC

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WOHESC is March 5-7, 2025

The Washington Oregon Cascadia Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) is a platform for inspiring change, facilitating action, and promoting collaboration around sustainability and social justice within the Cascadia region's higher education institutions. Educational sessions, meetups and networking opportunities empower participants to advance action steps to create change. Solutions shared at the conference are tailored for implementation in our unique political, social, economic and environmental climate.

WOHESC 2025 Theme - Cultivating Sustainable Communities

While communities often feel like things that simply are, it takes care and thought to cultivate them with intention. Communities also occur at multiple levels—from a neighborhood or town to a campus, to the communities we build with the more-than-human world, among others. WOHESC 2025 will focus on creating enduring communities in higher education that are environmentally conscious and socially responsible. Such practices may involve fostering a culture of sustainability, promoting ethical practices, and encouraging collaboration among students, faculty, and staff to address environmental and social challenges. In addition to sharing ways that we are cultivating sustainable community, we will also bring curiosity and questions: What are the benchmarks or warning signs to know if a community is sustainable? What does “cultivation” of community look like, and what are the best practices or innovations? When should community be as wide as possible and when is it better for it to be focused? How can we embrace an understanding of community that includes not only those we are near or not only those who are like us, but also a greater number of humans and other beings from the natural world? Last, how is the community that is WOHESC being cultivated for sustainability?



WOHESC Social Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement
The organizers of the Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) recognize the interconnection of environmental and social justice problems and the societal structures that cause them both. We know that sustainability efforts to date have often ignored the voices of certain stakeholders and are built on existing inequalities. The WOHESC program aims to do better by presenting sustainability thoughts, research, and initiatives that focus on just and equitable economies, healthy and clean environments, and inclusive and fair societies. We are mindful of the fact that the most vulnerable and marginalized people will experience the worst effects of a changing climate. We assert that creating a more just and equitable world is fundamental to tackling sustainability issues. We strive to weave diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout conference thematic elements, speakers, and attendees to uplift the perspectives of those working at the intersections of social justice and environmentalism to create a more sustainable world for everyone.

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Washington Oregon Cascadia Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) Program Announced