Robert Kennedy

The concept of sustainability implies a just and responsible interaction with nature, enabling us to meet the needs of human society without harming ourselves, the environment or biodiversity. Considering the pressures of increasing population and worldwide industrialization, we are confronted with the need to create a sustainable future on a global scale. The inaugural program in Wayne State’s FOCIS series was designed to stimulate creative discussion on issues of sustainability from inside and outside the university and across academic disciplines. PDF Overview.

The university welcomed attorney, activist and author Robert Kennedy, Jr., as keynote speaker for this program. Kennedy is president of Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that supports 137 programs defending local waterways from environmental degradation, and chief prosecuting attorney for Riverkeeper Alliance, which safeguards the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries. Since 1983, Riverkeeper has brought more than 300 environmental offenders to justice. Kennedy also is Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic, and was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet.”

Kennedy presented his speech, “Our Environmental Destiny,” on Friday, November 2 in the Community Arts Auditorium, Cass Avenue at Kirby on the Wayne State campus.

As an institution dedicated to the free exchange of ideas and cooperative problem-solving, Wayne State University is committed to providing a forum for the urgent work of imagining, creating and ensuring a sustainable future. This was the first of many events to be hosted in the FOCIS series, bringing internationally respected speakers to Wayne State to discuss topics of global importance.