Linking ecological knowedge to sustainability initiatives in research universities

Background/Question/Methods

Sustainability is the subject of a major campus-wide initiative at ASU.  The Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) is the center of this effort, which includes on-campus projects, off-campus initiatives, and sustainability education through the new School of Sustainability (SOS).  GIOS evolved from the life- and social-science oriented Center for Environmental Studies.  The focus is on interdisciplinary solutions to sustainability challenges being faced by the ASU campus, by Metro Phoenix, and worldwide.  GIOS’ success derives in part from being the umbrella for a diversity of large, extramurally-funded programs, including the Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research project, Decision Center for a Desert City, and two IGERTs on Urban Ecology. GIOS also contains ASU’s Decision Theater, a visualization facility used to inform policy decisions for all sorts of sustainability issues.  On-campus sustainable business operation programs, coordinated by GIOS in partnership with the University Treasurer, include renewable energy, water conservation, green purchasing, food service, and transportation.  Sustainability education at ASU centers on the undergraduate and graduate programs of SOS, but also includes joint programs with departments spread across the university’s four campuses.  SOS has more than 40 core and affiliated faculty representing a broad range of traditional disciplines.  Students at all levels experience an education geared towards creating a new generation of transdisciplinary sustainability professionals who graduate with knowledge and experience in applying their education to solving real-world problems. They take advantage of the strong ties that SOS and GIOS have with the corporate, government and NGO sectors.

Results/Conclusions

Sustainability is not a new concept.  At the same time, sustainability is not the same as the environmentalism of the 1960s & 70s.  Inherently interdisciplinary, it is focused more broadly, and seeks to achieve economic and social goals as well as environmental ones.  At GIOS and at ASU in general, we are focused on: 1) continuing to expand the boundaries of sustainability science and research; 2) applying sustainability knowledge by providing solutions to real world problems at campus, local, regional, national, and international scales; 3) communicating sustainable practices to policy-makers, managers, and the public; and 4) educating a new generation of professionals at both the undergraduate and graduate levels trained to seek transdisciplinary sustainable solutions.