Beyond Offsets: Innovative Approaches to Achieving and Exceeding Our Climate Commitments

Climate change is a defining issue of our time, and colleges and university are leading the way by setting ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets. Many of us are even striving for carbon neutrality under the President’s Climate Commitment. To meet these targets we take measures to reduce our footprints, or do “less bad”. In this situation, we often reach a point where no more reductions are possible, and to meet our targets we need to consider purchasing offsets or renewable energy credits. But instead of spending money in these abstract ways that leave very little room for student interaction, could we focus on doing “more good” – identifying ways we can improve the environment and the community around us? Could we use the money spent on traditional offset programs to support these projects? And, can we somehow quantify these impacts and include them as part of a holistic “less bad and more good” sustainability strategy? These are the questions this workshop will explore. Two thought leaders in this space will give a short presentation on the ways they are thinking beyond offsets, from calculating and flourishing your handprint in addition to reducing your footprint to onsetting instead of offsetting travel emissions to have real impacts in local communities. Then we will spend the remainder of the workshop brainstorming and discussing how we might apply these concepts to rethink our own approaches to offsetting campus emissions. The goal will be to use this as a seed conversation to begin a larger dialogue

Adolescent Dating Violence Prevention and Intervention in a Community Setting: Perspectives of Young Adults and Professionals

Adolescent dating violence (ADV) is a significant community problem. In this study, we examine the perspectives of two groups (young adults who experienced ADV as teens and professionals who work with teens) on ADV prevention/intervention in a community context. We interviewed 88 young adults and 20 professionals. Our research team used Thorne’s (2008) interpretive description methods to determine participants’ perspectives on community views on ADV, community ADV prevention/intervention programs, and ideal ADV prevention/intervention strategies. Participants perceived most communities as being blind to ADV. They perceived prevention programs as unavailable, inappropriate, or impersonal. Young adults indicated that professionals should use a gradual approach with teens experiencing ADV. Participants suggested that ideal prevention programs should include personal development and education. Helping professionals can use these findings to develop effective community-based ADV prevention/intervention program

Workplace stress, burnout and coping: A qualitative study of the experiences of Australian disability support workers

Disability support workers (DSWs) are the backbone of contemporary disability support services and the interface through which disability philosophies and policies are translated into practical action. DSWs often experience workplace stress and burnout, resulting in a high turnover rate of employees within the non-professional disability service workforce. The full implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia is set to intensify the current challenges of attracting and retaining DSWs, as the role becomes characterised by greater demands, ambiguity and conflict. The aim of this study was to explore DSWs' perceptions of enjoyable and challenging aspects of disability support work, sources of stress and burnout and the strategies they use to cope when these issues arise. Twelve DSWs workers providing support for adults living with intellectual and physical disabilities were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed a superordinate theme of 'Balance' comprising three sub-themes: 'Balancing Negatives and Positives', 'Periods of Imbalance', and 'Strategies to Reclaim Balance'. Participants spoke of the rewarding and uplifting times in their job such as watching a client learn new skills and being shown appreciation. These moments were contrasted by emotionally and physically draining aspects of their work, including challenging client behaviour, earning a low income, and having limited power to make decisions. Participants described periods of imbalance, wherein the negatives of their job outweighed the positives, resulting in stress and sometimes burnout. Participants often had to actively seek support and tended to rely on their own strategies to manage stress. Findings suggest that organisational support together with workplace interventions that support DSWs to perceive the positive aspects of their work, such as acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches, may help to limit experiences of stress and burnout. The further development and evaluation of emotion-focused workplace therapies, and interventions that consider organisational (macro) factors is suggested

Book ReviewCounselling Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (second edition)Part of the Counselling in Practise Series, edited by Windy Dryden, associate editor E Thomas Dowd

Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2004, 16(2): 131–13