Collaborating across diverse disciplines and practices to identify and create solutions that conserve and help manage biodiversity for the long term.

The Center brings together individuals and groups — from academia, nonprofit, policy and corporate sectors — to achieve common goals of conservation biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources in the 21st century.

The Center integrates ASU’s longstanding leadership in biodiversity research with the capabilities and expertise of groups and organizations outside the university to ignite conversations in creative and meaningful ways. Through these relationships and partnerships, the Center centralizes research to achieve biodiversity outcomes.

Transformational solutions for urban water sustainability transitions. The Decision Center for a Desert City advances scientific understanding of environmental decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

Established in 2004, DCDC conducts climate, water and decision research and develops innovative tools to bridge the boundary between scientists and decision-makers.

With a focus on water sustainability and urban climate adaptation, DCDC researchers work to develop and implement decision-support processes for environmental decision-making. Through an integrated approach to research and education, DCDC trains a new generation of scientists who work successfully at the boundaries of science and policy and builds bridges between science and policy.

Supporting the development of more equitable, diverse and resilient food systems at all scales – from local to global – that can adapt to evolving uncertainties and opportunities, and enable sustainable societies.

ASU’s Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems works to ensure food security by enhancing equity, efficiency and resilience of food systems locally and globally. Through unique collaborations and partnerships that demonstrate community-based social embeddedness and global transformational, we deliver real-world solutions in public health, governance, technology, and policy.

We combat hunger and food insecurity by driving a use-inspired, transdisciplinary research agenda focused on scalable solutions that enable equitable participation in food systems worldwide.

ASU’s Global Drylands Center engages key actors of dryland stewardship to develop use-inspired research, training and solution for arid ecosystems.

Drylands provide a variety of ecosystem services to support nearly one third of the world’s human population. Global Drylands Center engages the new generation of leaders, students and practitioners capable of implementing sustainability practices into these complex systems.

Our mission is to engage and synergize key stakeholders and institutions leading to global dryland sustainability through solution-oriented research, education and outreach.

Healthy Urban Environments’ mission is to improve thermal comfort and decrease exposure to air pollution for the citizens and communities of Maricopa County.

ASU, in partnership with Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority, has established Healthy Urban Environments as a solutions-focused research, policy and technology incubator. As such, HUE rapidly develops, tests and deploys strategies and technologies for heat mitigation and air quality improvement. In collaboration with practitioners and community members, we will create a healthy city and population across Maricopa County.

Designing and managing the future of planet Earth

PlanetWorks bridges the natural and social sciences as we enter the Anthropocene – the Age of Humans – to help Earth’s first intelligent planetary species develop the capacity to design and manage the complex, interwoven systems of ‘spaceship Earth’.

PlanetWorks is a network of ASU academic units, centers, and individual faculty with a shared vision, building and sustaining a “more than the sum of parts” platform as a way to secure resources, coordinate activities, and project impact in ways that none of us can do alone.

The Solutions Service utilizes the considerable knowledge and research assets of Arizona State University, the nation’s leader in sustainability education, to develop scalable solutions to economic, social and environmental challenges throughout the globe.

Established in 2012, the Solutions Service harness the knowledge and expertise within ASU to develop and deliver scalable solutions for the complex challenges of sustainability that our planet faces.

This is done through a set of synergistic programs designed to solve global problems through a service that creates practical, effective and affordable solutions to help governments, businesses, nonprofits and communities; educate future leaders with the knowledge and skills to move sustainability forward faster; and engage people of all ages with activities and resources that empower them to commit to make the planet better for all of its inhabitants.

Allies addressing a complex problem

We envision a food system that manages phosphorus more sustainably to provide abundant, nutritious food while protecting the health of rivers, lakes, and oceans. Our mission is to be North America’s central forum and advocate for the sustainable use, recovery, and recycling of phosphorus in the food system.

There is no life without phosphorus. It’s in your bones. It’s in your DNA. As a key fertilizer ingredient, phosphorus is essential for global food security. We recycle only a small fraction of the phosphorus we use, nearly all as unprocessed manures whose over-application pollutes our waterways. The Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance is a nonprofit organization driven to innovate and implement solutions to the phosphorus challenge.

A global organization transforming the consumer goods industry to deliver more sustainable consumer products.

Comprised of more than 90 members – including non-governmental organizations, civil society and corporations from all corners of business – The Sustainability Consortium is housed in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. The global organization develops transparent methodologies, tools and strategies to drive consumer product sustainability.

Our members and partners include manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, service providers, NGOs, civil society organizations, governmental agencies and academics, each bringing valuable perspectives and expertise.

Sustainable Urban Climates for Improved Quality of Life in Cities

The Urban Climate Research Center (UCRC) employs a collaborative social/physical science framework to address critical issues in the urban atmospheric environment. The UCRC seeks to advance fundamental knowledge of processes in the urban atmosphere, and related interactions among urban systems.

The center integrates social and physical science in this domain to develop and test urban design/management policies and strategies that enhance the productivity, health, and sustainability of urban populations. End point concerns for this center include extreme heat, air quality, flooding & drought, urban ecology, and infrastructure services including energy, water, and transportation.

The WE Empower Challenge is a global business competition for women entrepreneurs who are advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and inspiring entire communities to create the world we want by 2030.

We honor innovative women entrepreneurs who are supporting and achieving the SDGs through sustainable business practices and inspiration for others to follow suit.

We invest in the most inspiring and transformational women entrepreneurs – providing access to seed capital, unique trainings, capacity building, a network of their peers, visibility and credibility for their work.

We ignite awareness among a global community of stakeholders of the valuable contribution women entrepreneurs can make in contributing to the SDGs and the obstacles they still face.