Pac-12 Conference schools and stakeholders will stage their first sustainability symposium Monday on the eve of next week’s Green Sports Alliance in Sacramento. Recycling, energy conservation and sponsorships sales will be just a few of the ways schools will address sustainability on their campuses. Pac-12 Deputy Commissioner & COO Jamie Zaninovich called the one-day forum in Sacramento the first of its kind for schools exchanging best practices. All 12 schools are expected to be represented and around 125 people in all are expected. Most of those will be athletic administrators, but others will include multimedia rights holders, media companies and sustainability officers from the campuses. Zaninovich took the lead on organizing the conference and will deliver the keynote. Former UCLA star and current ESPN Pac-12 basketball analyst Bill Walton will speak, as well as Colorado AD Rick George and CU Environmental Center Dir Dave Newport. CU is considered one of the most progressive schools nationally in terms of sustainability efforts on campus. “We’re looking at what we can do as a conference to promote this,” Zaninovich said. “There’s certainly a lot of momentum around sustainability and schools are looking for more ways to make an impact. We’re trying to catch this wave.” One area the conference will examine is how to generate revenue by providing sponsors with a sustainability platform. Newport said CU has a half-dozen sponsors like Pepsi, Wells Fargo and BASF, sold through rights holder Learfield, whose deals are built on sustainability. Among the speakers is IMG Exec VP/Branded Impact Group Seth Matlins, who will share his experiences on why this is a viable platform for corporations. The group also will see Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, the first LEED Platinum arena. Newport said, "This is an opportunity for the Pac-12 to extend its leadership into an emerging and important space. How do we take the next step? LED lights, renewable energy, local food, energy-saving vehicles. These are just some of the ways we can take the next level.”
