SEED Center Update

The American Association of Community Colleges has passed along this update for the workforce community on the Sustainability Education & Economic Development (SEED) initiative and resource center.

The clean energy and green economy present an unprecedented opportunity to boost American prosperity. Billions of dollars stand to be captured by using energy more wisely, drawing on energy sources that never run out, and developing our world more sustainably. Public and private investment, innovative technologies, government action, and consumer behavior are all driving this new economy. As green jobs continue to grow quickly, community colleges will play a critical role in preparing an educated workforce with the skill sets to fuel and meet industry and public demand.

While a number of community colleges have developed innovative green job training programs, many schools need additional support to extend these opportunities to the nearly 12 million community college students nationwide. The SEED Center is designed to provide the information and national coordination needed for advancing program development and implementation.

The SEED Center offers access to resources such as promising practices and curriculum materials in subject areas including renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building, general sustainability, and more.

In the SEED Community, educators exchange information and ideas using a wiki and topical discussion boards. With a simple login, any community college faculty or staff member may use this feature.

As a start, the SEED Center is focusing largely on four key green economy sectors: solar, wind, green building, and energy efficiency. In time, the site plans to build out other areas that are known to be crucial to job growth, such as sustainable agriculture, geothermal, smart grid technology, water and wastewater, and alternative fuels.