Thanks to supporters on Sanibel Island, the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education (CESE) at Florida Gulf Coast University has succeeded in meeting the “Haffenreffer Challenge.”

Peter and Mallory Haffenreffer continued their annual tradition of matching any donation made to the Center up to a total of ten thousand dollars. The Challenge was issued in April during the Center’s Seventh Annual Fundraising Celebration at the Haffenreffer’s beautiful Sanibel Island home. The celebration welcomed many prestigious guests who enjoyed African-themed decor, South African wine and locally grown food.

The vision of the Center is embodied in their recent publication, “This Sense of Awe and Wonder,” which was passed out as a gift to guests. This collection of Rachel Carson Distinguished Lectures from 2004-2010 offers insightful, original lectures delivered to an FGCU and Southwest Florida audience. The lecture series brings public intellectuals to Southwest Florida and opens up discussion for issues such as sustainability, ethics, democracy and literature.

For access to the booklet please visit our website at www.fgcu.edu/cese/events.html or contact Sanibel resident and Center Director Peter Blaze Corcoran for a free copy by e-mail at cese@fgcu.edu or by phone at 239-590-7166.

Through the generosity of the Haffenreffers and fellow contributors, the Center is able to make progress in their many endeavors. Currently the Center is working on an international network of research centers involved in the scholarship of education for sustainable development. The Center has taken a leadership role in the creation of the network which will serve as a creative and innovative space to strengthen the task of mainstreaming sustainability in higher education institutions. It will work to promote international and intergenerational collaboration, connect innovation hubs on campuses, and serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas.

The Center also helps supportenvironmental and sustainability education projects by issuing mini-grants to FGCU faculty and staff. They give special attention to education projects that incorporate the Earth Charter and that share similar goals with the Center.

A recent project funded by the Center’s mini-grant program involved sending over 30 students to Washington DC to attend Power Shift 2011. Power Shift is a youthful movement that represents “standing together to reclaim our democracy from big corporations and pushing our nation to move beyond dirty energy sources that are harming the health of people and the planet.”

Looking ahead to next year, the Center is already busy making preparations for next year’s Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture weekend which will run Feb. 16-18, 2012. In addition to the lecture, the ambitious weekend will also include the Center’s 8th Annual Fundraising Celebration.

The Center extends its gratitude to all those who contributed toward the Center’s best fundraising season ever! Contributions from the Sanibel community allow the Center to continue its “work toward realizing the dream of a sustainable and peaceful future for earth through scholarship, education and action.”

For more information about the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education, please visit our website at www.fgcu.edu/cese.