Since its foundation in 1996, Shell GameChanger has practiced its open invitation to innovative ideas that have the potential to impact the future of energy. On November 13, GameChangers Henk Mooiweer and Hans Haringa visited Arizona State University to discuss how the program is working toward increasing innovation at Shell by turning ideas into reality. The lecture was made possible by the co-sponsoring of ASU LightWorks and the Center for Science and the Imagination.

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According to the latest report compiled by ASU's Sustainability Solutions Services, a program within the Global Institute of Sustainability’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, the City of Phoenix has not only reached its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal, but has exceeded it. The goal, set in 2008, was to reduce emissions from city operations by 5 percent below the 2005 levels by 2015. By 2012, the city managed to reduce emissions by 7.2 percent three years ahead schedule.

"This is great for Phoenix and I’m very excited to see that we may be able to double or even possibly triple the reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions by 2015," says Mayor Greg Stanton. "We are making Phoenix a cleaner and healthier place to live and work."

City advancements include energy-efficient street lighting, landfill methane capture systems, alternative fuels, wastewater upgrades, solar power projects, and building retrofits.

In anticipation of its 10-year anniversary, Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) has released a major new report, "Advancing Science in Support of Water Policy and Urban Climate Change Adaptation at Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City: A Synthesis of Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, Water, and Decision-Making Under Uncertainty." The report summarizes the center’s major achievements in research, education, and community and institutional outreach since its founding in 2004.

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and organized under ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability, DCDC is focused on water sustainability, urban climate adaptation, and decision-making under uncertainty. The center pursues research, in close collaboration with stakeholders, to create a more sustainable future. Research and modeling efforts analyze interacting factors such as population growth and economic development, climate change and variability, water supplies and demands, and governance to inform water management and other environmental decisions among diverse stakeholders.

This report was authored by co-investigators Kelli Larson, Dave White, Pat Gober, Craig Kirkwood, V. Kerry Smith, Margaret Nelson, and Charles Redman, along with research professional Sally Wittlinger.

"This synthesis of DCDC findings was essential for us to back up and say, ‘What have we learned from it all, and where are we going next?’" says Kelli Larson, the report’s lead author and a co-principal investigator at DCDC.

Since its founding, DCDC participants have published over 340 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and supported 69 graduate students who have authored 18 doctoral dissertations and 17 master’s theses. In addition, more than 70 undergraduate students have been involved in DCDC’s research through the Internship for Science-Practice Integration, the Community of Undergraduate Scholars program, and other research assistantships.

"The most challenging and complex sustainability problems facing society today—like climate change—require a new approach to science," says Dave White, DCDC principal investigator and co-director. "We must combine interdisciplinary science within the university with meaningful stakeholder engagement. This ‘transdisciplinary’ approach is reflected in the report, which synthesizes DCDC’s most important findings across a diverse range of disciplines and identifies the most pressing new issues."

The report recaps the history and role of DCDC within scientific and policy dialogue and then plunges into the research results that have been produced over the years. A major theme is the challenge for cities to provide and maintain secure and reliable water supplies despite an uncertain future that will likely include warming temperatures, reduced precipitation, and more extreme weather events such as droughts, fires, and floods.

"Key findings across DCDC research have revealed uneven spatial and social vulnerabilities to water scarcity and other risks, as well as inevitable tradeoffs and uncertainties in decision-making," Larson says. "To cope with the complexities of environmental change, collaborations, and social learning across different actors—such as scientists and policy makers, water managers and land use planners—is essential for urban sustainability."

The report covers topics ranging from climate models used to predict how climate change affects water supplies and demands to analyses on risk perceptions and policy attitudes regarding water resource sustainability. DCDC participants have also contributed substantially to the ASU portfolio of research into climate dynamics including the potential for climate change scenarios to affect regional water resources, in addition to localized urban heat island (UHI) effects and especially their impact on water resources. This work has involved analyzing how urban land-use and land-cover patterns interact with climatic factors to affect water demands.

One of the signature products of DCDC, WaterSim, is described in detail in the report. WaterSim is a systems dynamics model used by researchers, educators, and decision-makers to explore scenarios of climate change, population growth, and how policy choices could alter water supply and demand in central Arizona.

Since its inception, DCDC has served as a type of "boundary organization" designed to bring together academic researchers with diverse stakeholders to ensure that science is not only credible, but also relevant for decision-making. In this role, DCDC has engaged with its partners through educational activities including joint research projects and collaborative workshops. Many of these activities are highlighted throughout the report.

Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) released a 10-year report, “Advancing Science in Support of Water Policy and Urban Climate Change Adaptation at Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City: A Synthesis of Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, Water, and Decision-Making Under Uncertainty.” The report summarizes the center’s milestones since its founding in 2004.

Under ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability, DCDC has published over 340 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and supported 69 graduate students who have authored 18 doctoral dissertations and 17 master’s theses. DCDC focuses mostly on water risks and decision-making trade-offs amidst climate change.

Arizona State University's LightWorks is funding a comprehensive training program on renewable energy with An-Najah National University in West Bank. The first training session was on Nov. 17 in Nablus, West Bank and attendees included the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, officials from the Palestinian Energy Authority, and university representatives including Global Institute of Sustainability Scientist Mike Pasqualetti.

"The objective of this course is to develop a comprehensive training program on renewable energy," says Sayfe Kiaei, director of Connection One and professor in ASU's School of Electrical, Energy and Computer Engineering. "The participants included representatives from energy industry, utility companies, policymakers, and energy sectors. After a one-week successful training program at An-Najah, there will be a one-week course at ASU."

Palestinian energy professionals will meet in 2014 at ASU to complete the training.

The recent uprising of innovative energy technologies is profiled in a Phoenix Business Journal article by reporter Hayley Ringle. Currently, "homegrown" power is replacing utility-based power, making large corporations like Arizona Public Service (APS) struggle to keep up. Emerging technologies like solar, wind, and battery storage are driving down costs and making more people turn to renewable energy. Several experts from Arizona State University weigh in, including the Global Institute of Sustainability's Mick Dalrymple and Harvey Bryan.

Self-sufficient home and business owners with rooftop solar have created a heated energy environment in Arizona, with utilities fighting against it.

"When you’re generating kilowatt-hours behind the meter, for yourself, you’re taking away kilowatt-hours that would ordinarily be sold by the utility," Bryan says. "You’re competing with them in a way."

Time will only tell if utilities catch-up with technology.

"One thing is for sure: No industry that has fought to slow or prevent technological innovation has won in the long run," says Dalrymple. "It is not a winning strategy."

A Thought Leader Series Piece

By Peter Byck

Note: Documentary filmmaker Peter Byck joined the School of Sustainability as a professor of practice this semester. His position is jointly shared with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he is now teaching students how to create their own clean energy documentaries.

Can good storytelling lead us to a low-carbon economy? And can I help students become good storytellers? These questions have led me to Arizona State University to become a joint professor of practice for the School of Sustainability and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Greeks had an expression that I will roughly paraphrase: “The storyteller rules society.” So the power of good storytelling is clearly not a new idea; but, storytelling has been a tough nut to crack for the folks who aspire to guide us to a low-carbon economy. I think the reason is simple enough: The scientists, engineers, and thought-leaders focused on sustainability are good at what they do; they just are not trained in storytelling. That’s why Carl Sagan became so well-known – a brilliant scientist and a fantastic storyteller – a powerful combination.

For me, documentaries are an excellent way to get a story told. Films aren’t the only storytelling game in town, to be sure, but they are incredibly accessible and easily disseminated now with the World Wide Web. And great documentaries actually change society. The Thin Blue Line proved that by using DNA, many people on death row were actually innocent. Super Size Me literally showed that too much fast food is, indeed, bad for one’s health; at least it was damaging for the filmmaker and his liver.

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To help achieve Arizona State University's Zero Waste by 2015 goal, Sun Devil Athletics will host its first-ever zero waste football game this Saturday, Nov. 30 against the University of Arizona Wildcats at Sun Devil Stadium. From then on, all athletic games and stadiums will be zero waste.

Limited trash cans will be available, making game-goers choose between green compost bins and blue recycling bins. Fans can throw away food, liquids, and serviceware (plates, napkins, utensils) in green composting bins while bottles, cans, and paper programs go in blue recycling bins. Representatives from University Sustainability Practices will be on hand to answer questions and educate the public.

This season, each home football game this year has averaged over 60,000 attendees, which creates 25,000 to 30,000 pounds of waste.

The Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office Algae Program visited ASU on Nov. 19-20 to host its Algal Biofuels Strategy Workshop for interested stakeholders, scientists, industry professionals, and government officials. ASU staff and faculty from the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI), the AzCATI-led Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3), and the College of Technology and Innovation attended the workshop as well.

"ATP3 welcomed this opportunity to display our capabilities and talents to the workshop attendees and the U.S. Department of Energy," said Gary Dirks, director of ATP3 and the Global Institute of Sustainability.

Participants applied their knowledge in hands-on training sessions at AzCATI, learning about the current progress of algae research, barriers to algae-based fuels, and metrics.

Samson Szeto is a senior in the School of Sustainability. A product of Barry Goldwater High School in Phoenix, Ariz., Szeto will graduate in December 2013 with concurrent bachelor’s degrees in justice studies and sustainability, along with three minors in geography, Asian studies, and socio-legal studies.

Szeto’s School of Sustainability challenge area is Society and Sustainability.

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On October 30, 2013, Xavier Labandeira, professor of the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Vigo and Director of Economics of Energy, presented a lecture at ASU Global Institute of Sustainability. Labandeira discussed Spanish policies to promote renewable energy and assessed their effectiveness within a wider energy public-policy context.

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Through a unique partnership between Dell and the School of Sustainability, students get to join Dell’s sustainability team as hourly student workers.

Student sustainability assistants complete ongoing projects, collaborate with other Dell employees, and juggle priorities in an intense corporate sustainability environment. They may get to interact with supply chain management teams in China, business teams in Latin America, employees from within Dell, and people outside Dell, as well.

Since the program’s inception two and a half years ago, more than 15 individuals have participated in the Dell program. Students work from a shared office space in Wrigley Hall, where they are coached and mentored by Bruno Sarda, director of global sustainability operations at Dell, and adjunct faculty at the School.

“Bruno throws you in, and supports you,” says Jaleila Brumand, an alum of the program. “It was a great experience for me.”

The second Empowerment for Peace through Leadership in Agribusiness and Sustainability (EmPeace LABS) conference trained agriculture and community leaders from developing countries in Jalgaon, India on October 20-26. Sustainability Scientists Marek Wosinski and Rimjhim Aggarwal organized the conference with partners Gandhi Research Foundation and Jain Irrigation Systems, Ltd. to explore sustainable agribusiness, leadership and community development, peace, and violence prevention.

The conference brought together young community leaders from 18 countries including India, Rwanda, Nigeria and Lebanon, where hunger strikes the hardest. And where there's hunger, there's violence.

"When people are hungry, they fight for resources," Wosinski says, referencing the 2004 United Nations University Report, "Agriculture for Peace." "If you want to create peace and stability in developing countries, you need to secure food."

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In a Slate Future Tense article, Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Brad Allenby writes how today's technology is masking civilians' understanding of war. Technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology, drones, and communications are steadily increasing the gap between civilians and military professionals and making war more "socially acceptable."

"This is a dangerous complacency in a society where class cleavage and political divisiveness is going stronger, where fewer and fewer institutions provide opportunities that cut across self-selected communities of interest and ideology, and where the divide between civilian and military cultures is already dangerous and growing wider," writes Allenby, also a Lincoln Professor of Engineering and Ethics and Founding Chair of the Consortium on Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security.

To compensate for the dangerous gap between experienced military personnel and volunteers, Allenby suggests reinstating the draft. A draft would also improve the public's understanding of battle practices, policies, and methods.

Rud Moe, a 2013 School of Sustainability graduate, is now the hospital sustainability specialist for Stericycle. Using the knowledge he gained while at ASU, Moe advises Stericycle on how they can promote less wasteful medical practices at hospitals.

"In the past, most of a hospital's trash was disposed as hazardous medical waste, which requires expensive and environmentally damaging processes like incineration," Moe says. "In some cases, dangerous pharmaceuticals are just thrown down the drain and eventually end up in local ecosystems or in our water supply. Stericycle provides hospitals with the training and infrastructure needed to properly sort their waste and increase recycling, which helps the environment, saves the hospitals money, and reduces the strain on landfills."

Like most students in the School of Sustainability, Moe enjoys making a positive impact on the world.

School of Sustainability students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend this Thursday's Study Abroad Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Memorial Union, Arizona and Ventana rooms on the ASU Tempe campus. Study abroad program experts will be on hand to answer any questions regarding ASU's 250 study abroad opportunities. Also get a first-person point of view and advice from students who traveled abroad last year.

New 2014 programs include faculty-directed trips organized by the Global Institute of Sustainability.

"Students who study abroad tell us that they, on average, have an easier time securing a job upon graduation because they have a ‘stand out’ academic experience on their resume," says Adam Henry, ASU’s Study Abroad Office interim director. "Students indicate that they gain new knowledge and expertise, independence, cultural understanding, the opportunity to discover new places, and a competitive edge upon graduation ... while at the same time receiving ASU course credit."

Arizona State University is the 2014 location for the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Annual Meeting taking place on March 21-23 on the Tempe campus. CGI U promotes and encourages the millennial generation's motivation towards positive change and impactful entrepreneurship by funding student-created projects and initiatives.

"This conference is building upon the worldwide movement for social entrepreneurship and change that’s at the core of the millennial generation," said Kaitlin Fitzgerald, student director of Changemaker Central. "ASU is a great place for that because we are a university that prides itself on showing students how to take the resources and opportunities at their disposal and apply them to real-world challenges."

School of Sustainability students are encouraged to apply by Nov. 22 with ideas related to one of five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. For questions, email changemaker@asu.edu.

Emma Huizar-Felix, a 2012 graduate of the School of Sustainability, moved from her home state of Mexico to pursue more opportunities and a higher education. She settled in Arizona and ended up double majoring in design and sustainability and minoring in landscape architecture. From a young age, she knew hard work and determination could get her anywhere.

"For young people in Mexico to start on their own path, it’s really hard. If I had stayed there, I would always have worked in my Mom’s business, or my Dad’s," says Huizar-Felix. "I didn’t really want that. I wanted to grow more and be able to prove to myself I can do a lot on my own."

In the future, Huizar-Felix hopes to open her own business and consult on sustainability in Mexico. She wants to help lower energy costs and consumption in businesses much like her parents'.

On Oct. 29-30, ASU hosted 10 members of the senior Vietnamese government and industry officials from the Vinh Phuc Province to collaborate on future projects that will ensure the sustainability of Vinh Phuc. The province is quickly becoming the go-to for manufacturing and foreign investment.

"As part of our province's growth plan, we are looking for partners in development, especially in the United States," says Phung Quang Hung, chairman of the Vinh Phuc People’s Committee. "We greatly appreciate the goodwill and assistance the leadership and staff at Arizona State University has accorded to our delegation. We look forward to working with ASU and the Vietnam Higher Engineering Education Alliance in drawing up a cooperation plan in the field of education and training and other areas of development."

The memorandum of understanding will first bring about collaboration on sustainability efforts then move on to biomedical engineering, public policy training, and sustainable tourism.

Dr. Cruz-Torres is a Senior Sustainability Scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability, a faculty member in the School of Sustainability, and an associate professor in the School of Transborder Studies. Before coming to Arizona State University, Dr. Cruz-Torres was a consultant for a National Science Foundation Bio-complexity Project focusing on the links between human and biophysical processes in coastal marine ecosystems in Baja California, Mexico. She was also a Visiting Scholar in the Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Artic and Subarctic (MESAS), an INGERT-NSF funded program within the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks. She has researched the social and environmental dimensions of fisheries and aquaculture development in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Florida. In addition to her professorship at the School of Sustainability, she is a former President of the Political Ecology Society.

1. Can you describe the first time when you became interested in sustainability?

As a child growing up in coastal Puerto Rico, I became aware at a very young age about the importance of protecting our forests, rivers, and marine ecosystems. Living in a tropical island has many challenges: it rains almost every day; plants grow quickly; there is lots of sunlight; and the ocean gives us islanders a strong sense of identity. Both of my grandfathers were farmers who relied on the land to make a living and to support their families. They instilled in me an appreciation for the natural environment, and I spent most of my childhood listening to their stories about storms and hurricanes and how these impacted their crops.

Later on in college, I chose to major in marine biology and that’s when everything I learned as child made lots of sense. I took courses on coastal resources management and marine policy that opened up my eyes a to the enormous impact we have on the environment, and how we need to protect our natural resources in light of all the economic development taking place on the island.

2. What made you want to become a professor?

My teachers were always my greatest inspiration. In particular, my college and graduate advisers made the biggest impression on me. They are both very accomplished scholars in their fields—one a marine botanist, the other a human ecologist. Both are engaging, encouraging, caring, and have long, exciting, and fruitful academic careers. They are also very bright and very strong women who faced many obstacles in life but who have also accomplished a lot. I still keep in touch with them.

3. Can you describe your teaching style?

I like for my students to be active learners; to come to class with questions, ideas, participate in class discussion, and to challenge me and themselves.

4. What do you hope your students will learn in your classes?

I teach a variety of classes, but I would like for my students to learn about the common challenges that we face as humans and how we deal, respond, or adapt to these.

5. How can your research interests like gender and transborder studies achieve a more sustainable future?

I have broad research interests, but my focus is the study of the political ecology in fisheries-dependent communities. Small-scale fisheries in particular contribute to food security, but few studies have addressed the role of women and gender in shaping access to fishing resources in Latin America or the Caribbean.

From my long-term research in Northwestern Mexico, I learned that once fishing resources are depleted, households struggle to find other viable livelihoods. Women share a large part of the responsibility for sustaining their households and when they cannot continue to secure sustainable livelihoods within their communities, they often consider migration as the last recourse.

In some of the coastal communities I studied in Sinaloa, Mexico, entire families are now migrating to the US-Mexican border region searching for work in the maquiladoras (assembly plants). Others rely on the remittances sent back home from family members living in the U.S. Thus, the transnational ties between Mexican people on both sides of the border become more important as their relationships spread and expand.

6. In what ways does your current research as a professor contribute to the field of sustainability?

My current research focuses on fisheries and their contribution to food security in rural and urban settings. I hope it can contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationship between coupled human and natural systems, and how this is mediated by power relations and local and global environmental changes.

7. What is the global sustainability challenge that concerns you the most and why?

Food security. Food production needs to adopt better management practices, particularly in regard to water quality, land changes and tenure, and the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems. Local ecological knowledge is key in the development of a more integrated and egalitarian natural resource management model, especially in the southern countries. Food distribution also needs to be more equitable on both hemispheres.

8. Finally, what does the word “sustainability” mean to you?

Sustainability is a both a challenge and a goal that could have the potential to lead to a better quality of life for all humans, our physical environment, and the overall planet.