UALR’s Sustainability Committee is launching three new opportunities this month to meet and discuss issues related to the environment.

A new weekly book club met at 7 a.m. Monday, Oct. 12, to begin reading and discussing “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” by Jared Diamond.

The book by Diamond, a professor of geography and physiology at UCLA, deals with “societal collapses involving an environmental component, and in some cases also contributions of climate change, hostile neighbors, and trade partners, plus questions of societal responses.” In writing the book, Diamond said he intended that its readers should learn from history.

The book group will meet at the same time and place each week — Stabler Hall Room 603, the Political Science Conference Room. Sign up for the club at sustainability@ualr.edu.

Dr. Nancy E. Landrum, chair of the UALR Sustainability Committee, said a second group will begin a sustainability discussion course developed by the Northwest Earth Institute. “Sustainable Systems at Work” is available to companies looking for a way to engage employees in an organization’s sustainability initiatives and inspire them to take action.

The program has been piloted by leading companies such as Starbucks and Intel. To date, more than 100,000 people have completed the curriculum.

“This discussion course is all about engaging employees from the ground up,” said Mike Mercer, executive director of NWEI. “Most organizations are launching sustainability initiatives from the top down, which they should. However, for culture and practices to change within an organization, employee commitment is a must. We believe innovation at its best occurs at all levels, and is driven by shifts in thinking.”

The discussion group will meet from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, at a place to be announced. The group will meet at the same time and place on Nov. 1, Nov. 8, Nov. 15, and Nov. 22.

Sign up at sustainability@ualr.edu and receive the reading materials for free.

A third group aimed at students offers a seven-hour discussion course, “Choices for Sustainable Living,” with discussion on ecology, buying food, communities, business and economy, and sustainability. The group will meet from noon to 2 p.m. in Room E of the Donaghey Student Center on four Wednesdays — Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9, and Nov. 16. To join the discussion and receive a free book, email sustainability@ualr.edu.

For more information about all three groups, contact Landrum at nelandrum@ualr.edu.