Climate change can be looked at from many perspectives: as a moral call to action, a matter of public policy, or a blip in geologic time.

Students and faculty considered these angles and many others at a panel discussion on Thursday that was part of a national teach-in to draw attention to the International Day of Climate Change, sponsored by 350.org.

The National Teach-In provided a forum for professors and students to have a dialogue about global warming. The conversation was geared not only toward promoting awareness, but to propose actions that individuals and the campus as a whole can take to combat climate change.

Robert Turner, professor of economics and environmental studies, and Ian Helfant, associate professor of Russian, gave a lecture titled "Colgate: Where do we stand? What should we do?" It was one of more than a dozen sessions held on campus Thursday.

As the chairperson of Colgate's Environmental Council, associate professor of Russian Ian Helfant tries to practice what he preaches.

Some of the "green" changes Helfant has made to his mid-1970s home include a wood pellet stove, a compost pail in the kitchen, and a water heater that's "so heavily insulated it looks more like a Thermos bottle than an appliance."

Parker Commons was transformed with palpable, focused energy for environmental change for Colgate and the surrounding community as nearly 100 participants converged for the sixth annual Green Summit.

The summit is not a recognized group but rather an open gathering of students, faculty, staff, and community members who want to see environmental change enacted by Colgate.

On Friday, informal groups were formed around individual initiatives. Participants generated practical, short-term goals called Green Strides that will be carried out over the next two months.

Internationally recognized artists interacted with students and faculty members at a weekend symposium focused on finding innovative solutions to pressing environmental problems.

"How can we re-imagine our relationship to natural systems?" asked Natalie Jeremijenko, the keynote speaker of the seminar titled Environmental Art and New Media Technologies: Imagining Sustainable Futures.

All of the weekend's panels, presentations, and performances addressed that question.

Desperate times call for creative measures.

To encourage innovative solutions to environmental crises, the arts and activism are teaming up on campus through a series of events titled Environmental Art and New Media Technology: Imagining Sustainable Future.

"It's a time in history when the old models and ways of doing things are not going to sustain us anymore," said Cary Peppermint, assistant professor of art and art history. "It's the perfect time to consider new ways of working."

Nearly 20 discussions, workshops, and film screenings were held as part of Focus the Nation, a teach-in focused on finding solutions to global warming and to raising the issue's political profile.

The campuswide effort, organized by a team of 30 students and faculty members, resulted in a jam-packed schedule of events that adds to the university's exploration of environmental issues.

Here is a look at some of the day's sessions: