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ASU Charter

ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.


Prospectus

ASU’s sustainability strategy is formed by five focal areas: education, outreach, research, solutions and operations. Our prospectus, Sustainability @ ASU, provides an overview of ASU’s efforts to advance sustainability in these areas, both across the university and beyond.


SOS Signature Brochure

The School of Sustainability prepares students to view complex problems and solutions systemically, work collaboratively with people of differing perspectives, and create strategic solutions for a desirable, more sustainable future.


Sustainability Highlights 2018

This edition introduces the new Global Futures initiative at ASU and celebrates the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation exceeding 500 Sustainability Scientists, Scholars and Fellows — experts from diverse fields who are accelerating the pace of discovery and solutions in sustainability. It also highlights the institute’s growth and impact as it works to combat climate change, transform food systems, lead sustainability solutions, and build local and global partnerships.


Sustainability Highlights 2017

This edition gives an update on the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation’s impact and progress in 2017. From creating a new Sustainable Foods degree to continuing the upward sustainability student enrollment trend, building international connections, and conducting award-winning research, this review highlights the institute’s growth on a global scale.


Sustainability Highlights FY 2017

This mid-year review gives a sampling of the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation’s reach and impact. It includes a map of select research sites throughout the world, detailing the Sustainable Development Goals furthered at each. Highlights span topics from extreme weather events to new initiatives, from K-12 outreach efforts to student immersion projects abroad. Icons throughout the piece indicate the SDGs advanced through these endeavors.


Sustainability Highlights 2016

This edition highlights the School of Sustainability’s 10th Anniversary, marked with a Wrigley Lecture by author and food activist Michael Pollan, a Rescued Food Feast and a Festival of Sustainability @ ASU. It also details ASU’s participation in promising partnerships likes the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes – which unites member universities around the world in the advancement of solutions to our greatest challenges – and covers ASU’s contributions to the fight against climate change.


Sustainability Highlights 2015

This edition features School of Sustainability professor Arianne Cease, who was named to the Popular Science “Brilliant 10” for her work with locust swarms and their connection to sustainability. A team of ASU researchers debuted a new multi-national partnership to improve urban infrastructure. The edition also highlights sustainability scientist Sonja Klinsky’s active participation in the historic COP21 talks, as well as new research that reveals online education is an important driver in sustainability solutions.


Sustainability Highlights 2014

This edition features School of Sustainability doctoral alumna, Christa Brelsford, who took her division’s 2014 World Champion title for USA Paraclimbing after losing her leg in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It also highlights significant milestones for Sustainability at ASU, including the Executive Master of Sustainability Leadership’s first cohort, the formation of the Resource Innovation and Solutions Network – a collaboration with the City of Phoenix – and the inauguration of the Sustainability Solutions Festival at ASU.


Sustainability Highlights 2013

This edition welcomes sustainability innovators Christopher Boone, Gary Dirks and Rob Melnick into new leadership roles at the ASU Wrigley Institute. The School of Sustainability partnered with Dell to engage students in a hands-on corporate sustainability environment. It also features the first graduate of the Master of Sustainability Solutions program, Karen Kao, who was also graduate convocation speaker. School of Sustainability alumni won the Sparky’s Membership Mania award for the largest increase in alumni membership for the year.


Sustainability Highlights 2012

This edition celebrates the formation of the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at the ASU Wrigley Institute, as well as the founding of the nation’s first Sustainability Honor Society. School of Sustainability Dean Sander van der Leeuw was named the 2012 United Nations “Champion of the Earth for Science and Innovation.” The edition also features the installation of the PowerParasol, which provides shade for over 800 parking spaces in Tempe.


WSSI Report

Since March of 2012, the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives has developed an ambitious set of programs focused on creating, supporting and celebrating sustainability solutions. This report details those programs and their far-reaching impact.


Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015, 193 countries agreed to adopt a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This piece provides a glimpse at how ASU and its Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation are advancing these goals throughout the world.


Thought Leader Series Book

Serving as both the hub of sustainability at ASU and an aggregator of impactful knowledge, the ASU Wrigley Institute created the Thought Leader Series in 2011. The series invites essay contributions from a diverse pool of sustainability’s most celebrated thinkers and problem-solvers, who offer expertise that prompts reflection, provokes the imagination and encourages action. The following collection reflects contributions through 2015.


Sustainability Operations Review

Sustainability is one of ASU’s core values. This annual review details the university’s advances in operational sustainability – particularly toward its overarching goals of climate neutrality, zero solid and water waste, active engagement and principled practice – for fiscal year 2016.


Temozon Report

In 2004, ASU President Michael Crow convened a meeting in Temozón, Mexico, that mobilized a small but distinguished group of intellectual leaders who were exploring a new idea – sustainability science. It was at this meeting that the seeds for the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation and its School of Sustainability were planted.