In a push to better coordinate disparate elements of the environmental movement on campus, students, faculty and administrators gathered Monday night to discuss strategies for improving sustainability efforts.

The three-hour workshop was held by a steering committee that included student representatives from EcoAction, the Georgetown University Student Association, the Meditation House and Georgetown Energy.

According to GUSA Secretary of Sustainability Jessie Robbins (SFS ’12), one of the driving forces behind the workshop’s organization, this event has been in the works since last spring.

“It seemed like there was a lack of awareness of energy issues on campus, but at the same time, there was a concern for what the university was doing for the environment,” Robbins said. “We thought what better way to get some momentum going than to have a planning forum on all student input on sustainability issues.”

According to Robbins, the event was the first step in a larger plan to implement new sustainability initiatives. The findings from Monday’s discussion will be recorded in a detailed report to be sent to administrators in the spring.

The conversation will then shift to a town hall meeting with student leaders and faculty, at which point the work of coming up with timelines and implementation strategies for the initiatives will begin.

Robbins added that underclassman interest is extremely important to the plan’s success.

“When you look around this room, most of the students are young,” she said. “They will be the ones who will make things happen two or three years from now.”

Audrey Stewart, Georgetown’s sustainability coordinator and the committee’s adviser, said she was thrilled to see a high turnout of both students and administrators at the event. “I’m so excited to see the student enthusiasm,” she said. “I think this will be a great opportunity for the sustainability initiative to learn more about what is interesting to students.”

Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, kicked off the event.

“When we speak about men and women for others, we at Georgetown can expand that to not simply fellow students but also to the natural world,” O’Brien said. “We have to properly steward what we have been given. We steward the natural world given to us today, but we also are stewards for future generations.”

Director of Student Programs Erika Cohen-Derr emphasized how important sustainability issues have become in her work with student organizations. She urged students to find the best way to communicate with faculty members in order to ensure that their efforts will not be lost.

“We want you to think about how you can connect all of us so that the energy you expend to make this a more sustainable campus will continue,” Cohen-Derr said.

For the second half of the event, students divided into discussion groups that focused on more specific issues, such as energy efficiency, food sourcing, purchasing and procurement, waste management and transportation. Following a series of brainstorming sessions, the groups recorded their ideas and shared their key findings with the others.

Scotie Conner (MSB ’15), one of the GUSA senators who attended the forum, said he hopes that Georgetown can begin to put green efforts first.

“I really care about creating a more sustainable society, and I think that universities are a great area for that because we can really harness the energy of young people to make positive changes,” Conner said.