Ecosystems

Food, water and energy are but a few factors to consider when examining sustainability.  We need to look holistically at ecosystems and the services they provide.  We need to ensure that we do not adversely affect part of the ecosystem while trying to find solutions in maintaining healthy ecosystems.  There are many passionate researchers at Illinois investigating ecosystems and their services.

Department of Plant Biology 
School of Integrative Biology 
Illinois Natural History Survey
School of Earth, Society, and Environment
Institute for Genomic Biology

Energy

Illinois is the place to learn about energy; whether it’s energy generation or distribution, traditional sources or alternative sources.  Faculty from all across campus are involved in energy research.

Power & Engineering Systems
CABER – Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research
EBI - Energy Biosciences Institute
SEDAC – Smart Energy Design Assistance Center
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center

Water

Illinois is home to many experts who research the myriad of issues surrounding water.  There are several centers or programs on campus that contribute innovative solutions.

* Illinois Water Resource Center

* Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program

* Water CAMPWS

* Long Term Recovery Council

* Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering

* Illinois State Water Survey 

* National Great Rivers Research and Education Center

Illinois Water Science Center 

The Midwest Technology Assistance Center for Small Public Water Systems

Center for Chemistry and Technology

Center for Groundwater Science

Center for Water as a Complex Environmental System (CWACES)

Center for Watershed Science

Food

The University of Illinois has a distinguished history of research related to food.  The links below will introduce you to the breadth of our food research.  Whether you are interested in food production or distribution, safety or nutrition, Illinois is working to solve the toughest problems.  In addition, we have included some links for sources of local foods and growing your own food.

A few of the programs that you might be interested in are the Illinois MarketMaker, and the University of Illinois Student Farm.

Want to find sources of local food? Try the Champaign Farmers Market, the Common Ground Food Co-op, and the Urbana Farmers Market. Or maybe you want to try your green thumb at growing your own food? If so,University of Illinois Extension has lots of resources to help get you started.

Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition
Agroecology & Sustainable Agriculture Program ASAP
Department of Agriculture & Consumer Economics
Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Department of Animal Sciences
Department of Crop Sciences 
Department of Human and Community Development
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Crop Sciences Research and Education 
Illinois SARE 
Illinois SARE Calendar

In 2009, the University of Illinois completed an extensive visioning process that included input from a diverse set of stakeholders. The resulting document points to Grand Challenges that we will continually address through our sustainability efforts.  Devoted to the following goals, Illinois will become a world leader in creating new knowledge and innovative solutions.

Grand Challenge 1:
Maintain or restore natural ecosystem function while providing essential human services. 

Grand Challenge 2:
To sustainably raise the quality of life for the world’s poor to acceptable levels. 

Unique Strengths of Illinois
During the visioning process, we saw more clearly our unique position as a campus that has strengths in water programs, agriculture, engineering, business, and information technology, to name a few.  A focus on the food/water/energy nexus emerged from this recognition, along with interest by our campus and community in working at the interface of these issues.

Center for the Advancement of Sustainability Innovations, U.S. Army
The CSE is tasked with expanding the strategic partnership between Illinois and the military around sustainability topics and research initiatives of mutual interest. The basis for the partnership was formalized in 2009 via a MOU with the Center for the Advancement of Sustainability Innovations (CASI) in the Office and the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and University of Illinois, Board of Trustees via the CSE. The CSE and ERDC-CASI have pursued several areas of collaboration including the Sustainable Innovations seminar series.

Design & Assessment

The Center for Teaching Excellence has been actively involved in developing and executing the Prairie Project curriculum workshop.  Their expertise in course design and the assessment of student learning has proven valuable to the workshop participants.  Below, you will find resources shared by the CTE.

A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP)Essential Learning Outcomes

AACU High-Impact Educational Practices

Second Nature fact sheet on a framework for sustainability curriculum (download as pdf)

Courses and Syllabi

Participants in the Prairie Project were inspired to include sustainability in their courses.  Below you will find revised syllabi and some example assignments with clear linkages to the Sustainability Learning Outcomes.  In addition, there are resources from other universities that offer similar curriculum workshops and national organizations.  We encourage you to integrate sustainability into your course.

BADM 532 Sustainable Product and Market Development for Subsistence Marketplaces

BADM 533 Sustainable Product Design and Business Plan Development

Example Syllabi for Sustainability-Infused Courses:

Courses of the 2010 Prairie Project Resource People and Participants

NRES 285: Wetland Delineation and Classification (PDF)

NRES 287 ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY – SPRING 2010 (PDF)

Conservation and Ecosystem Health (PDF)

Ecotoxicology of the Northern Hemisphere (PDF)

IB 105: Environmental Biology Fall 2010(PDF) 
IB 105: Environmental Biology Spring 2010 (PDF)

Political Science - Learning Outcomes - Introduction to International Relations (PDF)
Political Science 280 Fall 2010 (PDF)
Political Science 280 Fall 2009 (PDF)

LAS 101 Fall 2010: Environmental Sustainability & World Citizenship (PDF)
LAS 101: Homework 5 on ecological footprinting and environmental sustainability (PDF)

CEE 498: Multilateral Environmental Agreements Fall 2010 (PDF)
CEE 498: Multilateral Environmental Agreements (PDF)

CEE 535: Environmental Systems Analysis II Sustainable & Resilient Environmental & Water Resource Systems (PDF)
CEE 535: Spring 2011 Upper Embarras Project Terms (PDF)

UP 204, Chicago: Planning and Urban Life, Spring 2011 (PDF)
UP 204, Chicago: Planning and Urban Life: Course Description (PDF)
UP 204, Chicago: Planning and Urban Life: Overview (PDF)

External Examples:

Association for the Advanceemnt of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) examples of courses on campus sustainability (PDF)

AASHE course inventories*

AASHE list of Web sites with example syllabi*

Ponderosa Project Web site, containing course syllabi and other resources

Piedmont Project syllabi and course modules

* These sites require a members-only login to the AASHE site. The University of Illinois is an institutional member and you can create an account for free with a uiuc.edu (and hopefully Illinois.edu) e-mail address.

Readings

Below you will find readings collected from experts associated with the Prairie Project workshop.  The suggestions are intended to provide an introduction to the topic of sustainability, however, some provide greater detail. 

Is there a suggested reading or other resource you would like to share?  Please let us know.

Building the Sustainable Community:Is Social Capital the Answer? (PDF)

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s Synthesis report

Understanding the Social Dimension of Sustainability

Beyond Fences: Seeking Social Sustainability in Conservation

The Sustainability Seminar reading list from Spring 2010.

The Sustainability Seminar reading list from Spring 2011. 

A very short primer on ecosystem services by the Ecological Society of America (professional organization of ecologists): 

Ecology of infectious diseases and influences of climate change

Teaching Sustainability Workshop 2013

Providing skills, knowledge, and resources for infusing environmental sustainability into your courses

Sustainability is one of the great global challenges of the twenty-first century. Whether you teach accounting or aerospace engineering, Portuguese or pathobiology, you likely have something to contribute toward addressing this challenge.The Center for a Sustainable Environment will be hosting the Teaching Sustainability Workshop on April 12-13, 2013. Apply here.

Friday, April 12 - Reception
4:00pm
Temple Buell Art Gallery, 111 Architecture Building
Guest speaker David Schejbal, print flyer

Saturday, April 13 - Workshop
Allerton Park & Retreat Center, Monticello 

The workshop will bring together a group of University of Illinois instructors who want to learn more about adding sustainability to the courses they already teach. Participants in the workshop are typically professors and instructors who are curious about sustainability and want to engage it, but who also have too much to do to become experts in sustainability. After participating in the workshop, you will have a:
 

• Working definition of sustainability.

• Framework for understanding the components of sustainability and how each relates to your expertise.

• List of readings and short videos that you can use to prepare your class or use in your class.

• Draft of exercises you might use in your classes and examples of how other instructors have incorporated sustainability into their courses.

• Set of opportunities for exploring sustainability on campus through the landscape, buildings, operations, and transportation.

• Cohort of colleagues who have similar goals about infusing sustainability into their teaching and on-going support as you test your ideas in the classroom.

• Stipend of $500 that you can use however you see fit. 
   

Our goal is to provide you with a set of ideas, concepts, models, and examples that you can modify to fit your courses. You’ll get a list of readings and short videos that you might want to use in your classes. And we will work to craft some initial ideas for exercises that you might use as you teach. 

The workshop consists of five components that are designed to make it as easy as possible for you to add sustainability to your teaching.

1. Teaching Sustainability Reception. There will be a reception on Friday, April 12, 2013 at the School of Architecture, Art Gallery from 4:00-6:30pm. The 2012 participants will receive their certificate for completing the workshop, followed by guest speaker, David Schejbal. This reception will give you an opportunity to network with last year’s participants. 

2. Teaching Sustainability Retreat. We will meet on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at Allerton Park (http://allerton.illinois.edu) from 8:30 to 5:00. This is the main event of the Workshop. We will learn from experts who have the capacity to explain concepts about sustainability in a way that is accessible to those of us who are not experts. During the day, you will develop some initial ideas, lesson plans, and exercises that you can use in your courses. We will serve you a continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks. 

3. Feedback and Revision. During the summer of 2013, we will get together with sustainability experts to provide feedback on your initial plans and course revisions.

4. Fall Check-In. Near the end of the fall 2013 semester, we will get together for lunch to learn from the members of the group who taught their revised courses and discuss the lessons they learned and what they might have done differently.

5. Debriefing. During the spring 2014 semester, we will get together to share experiences, assess results, and make recommendations for how this process might evolve. We’ll get together with next year’s cohort.

Faculty and instructors will receive a stipend for participating in these five aspects of the Workshop. Graduate students and post-docs who will be assisting with modifications of existing courses or development of new courses are also welcome to attend. 

By applying for this exciting and interactive opportunity, Teaching Sustainability Workshop participants agree to:

• Participate in the events above.

• Commit to preparing and submitting a description of the course modification or creation by the end of the retreat, and revising as needed over the summer.

• Provide a final syllabus, course modifications, and brief summary of outcomes from the experience.

Please follow up with Amy Rosenbery (husted@illinois.edu) if you have questions about this opportunity. Based on current plans, we anticipate that 20 instructors will be accommodated. Applicants will be notified by mid-March if they have been selected to participate.

Participant Agenda
Teaching Sustainability Workshop Reception
Friday, April 12, 2013, 4:00-6:30pm, Temple Buell Hall Art Gallery, 111 Architecture Building
4:00pm - "The Changing Nature of Higher Education and the Role of Sustainability Education in the Process" presented by David Schejbal. Print flyer

Sustainability Curriculum Retreat,
Saturday, April 13, 2013 
8:30am-5:00pm, Allerton Park & Retreat Center
More details to come!

This event is supported by the Center for a Sustainable Environment and the Office of the Provost.

Faculty Resources

The Office of Sustainability has collected information from a variety of sources that are useful to faculty who are considering adding sustainability to courses.  The OS has co-sponsored the Prairie Project in 2010 and 2011 with surprising results.  Combined statistics indicate participation by more than 30 faculty, instructors, lecturers from nearly every college.  This translates into teaching some facet of sustainability to 6,500 students per year!  The suggested readings are primarily those recommended to participants of the curriculum workshop.  The courses and syllabi page provides examples from our campus as well as from external sources.  The last section on design and assessment includes valuable resources shared by the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Scholarship of Sustainability - Spring 2014

Campus Series on the Scholarship of Sustainability begins Thursday, February 13

The Scholarship of Sustainability is a series of presentations and discussions that welcomes students, staff and the general public to explore the cultural contexts of contemporary environmental problems. The series is generously sponsored by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE), with contributions from the School of Earth, Society and Environment (SESE), the College of Law and the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics (SLCL).

The nine sessions will be held on Thursdays from 4-5:30pm at Room 149 of the National Soybean Research Center, 1101 W. Peabody Drive, Urbana, beginning on February 13. (There is a one-session hiatus on March 27, which coincides with spring break.) Ample metered parking is available nearby.

The 2014 Scholarship of Sustainability campus series begins with a recognition that human behavior underlies all environmental problems and that our behaviors are complexly linked with cultural patterns and the social institutions based on them. It will probe the root causes of our misuses of nature; consider the tension between animal-welfare and ecological perspectives; take a critical look at market capitalism and its embedded values; consider environmental justice in its broadest meanings; and ask whether and how religious thought can help and hinder environmental reform efforts. The final session will consider new directions for conservation. 

The series leader is Eric T. Freyfogle, Swanlund Chair and Professor of Law. His many relevant writings include Justice and the Earth (The Free Press), On Private Property (Beacon Press), and Why Conservation is Failing and How It Can Regain Ground (Yale Univ. Press). Sessions will also feature other UIUC faculty and community conservation leaders as well as several special guests. All nine sessions are open to the public, and UIUC faculty and graduate students are especially encouraged to participate. The Series is cosponsored by the School of Earth, Society, and the Environment; the College of Law; and the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics.

Readings: Participants can access readings for the series via links at the descriptions of individual sessions below. Readings are also available in spiral-bound form (317 pp.) for $24 from the College of Law Bookstore, 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign (basement SE corner; open from 9-12 and 1-4 M-F). They will also be available for purchase by cash or check at the first two sessions.

Three U of I courses are associated with the series:
 

• ESE 311 Environmental Issues Today
• RLST 270 Religion, Ethics, Environment
• LAW 792 - Section JJ Current Legal Problems

Graduate-level students can participate in the series for academic credit by enrolling in Law 792JJ Scholarship of Sustainability; those interested in doing so should contact Professor Freyfogle at efreyfog@illinois.edu

Outline of Readings

Sessions

February 13 :: Beginning the Search.  Environmental ills involve human misuses of nature.  But how might we distinguish between legitimate use and misuse?  How might we best think about the proper human role in nature?  Is sustainability a useful measure, and what alternatives goals have been proposed? Ultimately, what are the root causes–cultural, cognitive, and material–of our misuses of nature? Speaker: Bill Sullivan, Department of Landscape Architecture. 

Session One Readings

February 20 :: The Costs and Possibilities of Capitalism.  Much environmental change is driven by businesses and other market participants. We’ll consider calls for a new, green industrial revolution.  We’ll also consider ecological critiques of capitalism and market competition and calls for major changes in our economic system. Speaker: Eric Freyfogle, College of Law.

Session Two Readings

February 27 :: Fragmentation and Cultural Flaws. According to environmental historians a major driver of our uses and misuses of nature has been the tendency to fragment landscapes and treat nature's parts as market commodities. We'll look at the issue of fragmentation–physically, legally, and intellectually–and its resulting problems while also considering the limits on our knowledge and its implications.

Session Three Readings

March 6 :: Other Forms of Life. A critical modern assumption is that humans are the only species to possess moral value. Is this morally defensible? We'll explore the considerable differences between animal-welfare and ecological modes of thought, while paying attention generally to the many ways we benefit from other life forms and how we might best think about them. As we'll see, our varied reasons for wanting to conserve other life forms can lead to widely differing policies and actions. Speaker: Dale Jamieson, New York University, Environmental Studies Program. Lecture: "Grass Fed Environmentalism: Living Responsibly in the Anthropocene"

This special event is part of campus Ethics Awareness Week. Ethics Awareness Week is an initiative of the National Center for Professional & Research Ethics and is sponsored by the Graduate College and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, with support from the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society.

Session Four Readings

March 13 :: Climate Change and the Role of Science. Climate change is perhaps the most serious of today's environmental ills. We'll consider the problem and its many implications. While doing so we'll also consider the common claim that environmental policy should be based on sound science. What is science, what are its proper roles, and how and why do we regularly misuse it? Speaker: Eric Snodgrass, Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

Session Five Readings

March 20 :: Seeing and Valuing Nature. Connections with the natural world play a significant role in human well being, and our dealings with nature are shaped by the ways we perceive it and value it. Better ways of living in nature will likely require us to see nature in new, more ecological ways and to appreciate the value of its countless living components and their complex interdependencies. Speaker: Rob Kanter, School of Earth, Society, and Environment.

Session Six Readings

April 3 :: Sharing the Earth. The good use of nature inevitably means sharing the planet in responsible ways. How should social justice enter into environmental issues? How should we divide up the earth's resources and capacities, and what weight should be given to historic patterns of use? Of special interest: sharing the atmosphere and its limited ability to absorb climate-changing gases–the particular topic of this session. Speaker: J. Michael Scoville, Eastern Michigan University, History and Philosophy Department.

Session Seven Readings

April 10 :: Otherworldly Religions. How have religious views affected our uses of nature, and how might religion today push us in good or bad directions? We'll consider historian Lynn White's famous argument and responses to it and also look at how we might evaluate religions–even individual congregations—based on environmental factors. Speakers: Robert McKim, Department of Religion, and Brian Sauder, incoming Director of Faith in Place. 

Session Eight Readings

April 17 :: New Directions for Conservation. Efforts to address environmental ills, off to a promising start in the 1970s and 1980s, have greatly slowed in recent decades, with major problems largely unaddressed and with Congress in political deadlock. We'll look at ideas for a revitalized citizen-led movement to bring about needed major changes and some of the challenges that such a movement would face.

Session Nine Readings

Sustainability education is thriving across many disciplines at Illinois.  Through the efforts of the education task force, the Office of Sustainability provides information on sustainability coursework for both undergraduate and graduate students.  

The Office of the Provost, and the Center for Teaching Excellence assisted in providing the second offering of the Prairie Project workshop,  which helps instructors integrate sustainability into their courses.  The resource pages for faculty include information that was either distributed or collected as a result of participation in the Prairie Project.  

We hope you find these resources helpful.

Illinois Climate Action Plan

In 2008, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. This action committed the campus to carbon neutrality by the year 2050. This Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) describes a path toward the fulfillment of this commitment.

As the flagship public university in the state of Illinois, the campus has a moral and ethical responsibility to lead, to set aggressive goals, to work to meet them, and to serve as a model for the community, state, and nation.

The Plan represents a roadmap to a new, prosperous, and sustainable future for the University. It outlines strategies, initiatives, and targets toward meeting the stated goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Please click here to download a PDF of the Climate Action Plan.

A Letter from our Future Chancellor.

• Academic Resources
  
  • Energy and Sustainable Engineering Program
  • Environmental Fellows Program
  • Environmental Toxicology Program
  • Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems
  • Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation 
    Biology
  • Program in Environmental and Resource Economics
  • Scholarship of Sustainability Series
  • School of Earth Society and Environment
  • Sustainability Courses and Programs
• Campus Resources
  
  • Campus Bike Shop
  • Campus Recreation
  • Campus Recycling Center (Waste Transfer Station)
  • Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD)
  • Energy Liaisons
  • Energy Management
  • Environmental Almanac
  • Environmental Compliance
  • Stewarding Excellence - Energy
  • Stewarding Excellence - Space Utilization
  • Storm Water Management
  • Student Groups
  • Sustainable Student Farm
  • Transportation Demand Management
  • University YMCA Dump and Run
  • Vet Med Esco
  • Wellness Center
  • Infrastructure for the Power Grid

• Community Resources
  
  • Air Pollution Impacts on Infants and Children
  • Bike Project
  • Built Green
  • CCNet
  • Center for Community Adaptation
  • Champaign County Bikes
  • Champaign Recycling
  • Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
  • Common Ground Food Co-op
  • Energy Education Council
  • Environmental Education Just for Kids
  • Farmers Market in Urbana
  • First Street Farmer's Market
  • Greener Choices Products for a Better Planet
  • Habitat for Humanity Restore
  • How to Go Green with your Vehicle
  • Illinois Central College Library - Sustainability 
    Resources
  • Illinois Green Business Association
  • Making Your Home More Energy-Efficient
  • Prairie Rivers Network
  • Preservation and Conservation Association (PACA)
  • Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC)
  • Sustainable Student Farm
  • The Mountain Lakes Organic Coop
  • UI Extension
  • University YMCA Dump and Run
  • Urbana Recycling
  • Water Conservation for Kids
  • Water Conservation at Home
  • Wheels for Wishes
  • Zipcar

• Research Resources
  
  • Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER)
  • Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems (WaterCAMPWS)
  • Energy Biosciences Institute
  • Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
  • Illinois Natural History Survey
  • Illinois State Geological Survey
  • Illinois State Water Survey
  • Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
  • Illinois Water Resource Center
  • Miscanthus
  • Prairie Research Institute
  • Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SED

  State and National Resources
  
  

  • AASHE
  • ACUPCC
  • Chicago Department of Environment
  • DCEO
  • Government Green Pages
  • Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
  • Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN)
  • Illinois Biomass Working Group
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  • National Coucil for Science and the Environment
  • National Wildlife Federation: Campus Ecology
  • Princeton Review
  • Second Nature
  • Sierra Club
  • Sustainable Endowments Institute

Campus and Community Resources

The daily decisions that you make about how to travel, what to eat and drink, whether or not to recycle your trash, what to wear, and a myriad of other decisions all have an impact on the health of our planet. Wondering how your daily decisions could possibly affect the planet? After all, you are just one of 6.8 billion other people living on the planet. And that’s the point. The collective decisions of 6.8 billion people, whatever those decisions may be, will determine if we have enough resources to sustain the health and well-being of ourselves, future generations, and the other living creatures that share the Earth with us.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the surrounding communities have a lot to be proud of when it comes to sustainability. The resources listed in this section are just a sample of what our campus and community has to offer. To get you started, University of Illinois Extension has developed 57 Ways To Protect Your Home Environment.

For a list of academic, campus, community and research groups, please click here.

American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) Pledge

On February 22, 2008, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign became a signatory to the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). We are currently one of more than six-hundred Colleges and Universities that are participating in this endeavor (see the University's official commitment pledge here (download as pdf).

As concern grows about global warming and the potential effects on health, social, economic, and ecological well-being of our world, the University is a prime place to be at the forefront of battling the negative impacts associated with climate change. The University of Illinois hosts high-caliber research and experts in diverse field across campus and seeks to become a model for not only the State of Illinois, but to become a leader in these efforts nationally and globally.

The ultimate goal of the ACUPCC is for campuses to go "climate neutral". During the first year of this commitment, a greenhouse gas emissions inventory was conducted and submitted to the ACUPCC.

Illinois submitted its Climate Action Plan in May 2010.  This plan sets aggressive goals for reaching carbon neutrality.  Facilities & Services is making great progress on the operational aspects of the plan, and the Office of Sustainability is working to connect educators and researchers to many projects associated with the plan.  Moving forward, Illinois will be required to submit updated greenhouse gas emissions inventories (2012) and progress reports(2013) on alternating years.  As reports become available, they will be shared with the public, both in this space as well as on the ACUPCC's website.

Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact

On Friday, August 27, 2010, University of Illinois former President Michael Hogan and former UIUC Chancellor and current President Robert Easter joined Governor Pat Quinn in signing the second Sustainable Campus Compact (pdf) as part of the fifth annual Sustainable University Symposium. The University is the first institution to sign on to the new five-year compact that commits us to continue energy and environmental improvements.

Rankings and Reports

The Office of Sustainability is responsible for coordinating the campus response to a variety of organizations related to sustainability efforts.

ACUPCC

As signatories to the ACUPCC and the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is required to submit data regarding its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and efforts to reduce them.  The ACUPCC requires an emissions inventory within one year of signing, and a comprehensive action plan for reduction within two years of signing.  Illinois is in good standing with the ACUPCC.  

Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact

The Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact was revised during academic year 2010-2011, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the first to sign the new compact and pledged at the Gold Level. Information required for the compact includes actions such as fostering student involvement, green building, waste reduction, new initiatives.

Voluntary Surveys

The University of Illinois also voluntarily submits data to the following surveys – the Sierra Club Cool Schools survey, the Sustainable Endowment Institute Green Report Card Survey, the Princeton Review and Petersons.  Among our Big Ten peers, Illinois consistently ranks in the upper percentile.

As more rankings from reports are released, we will share that information here.

Illinois second among Big Ten in Princeton Review - 8/10/10

Each year the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign participates in a survey distributed by the Princeton Review.  The Green Campus portion of the survey awards scores based on items such as: sustainability education and research, LEED certified buildings and other sustainable operations practices, transportation options, local foods in dining halls, and student involvement in sustainability initiatives. Illinois’ score is improved over last year from 92 to 95, placing us second among Big Ten Universities. To view Illinois’ green survey responses to the Princeton Review, please visit Princeton Review.

Comparison to Big Ten Schools:

Big Ten Sustainability Report

This document provides a comparison of Big Ten conference schools by documenting initiatives, progress, and results in the following categories: administration, infrastructure, energy use, transportation, recycling, and food. This is the first report compiling these facets to view the difficulties and potential solutions to achieve sustainability in large research-based institutions. This report was prepared by students at the University of Michigan. 
Click here to download the full report.
 

Sustainability Task Forces

As a result of the Office of Sustainability’s 2008-2009 visioning process, implementation of programs that fulfill this vision became the focus for the Office of Sustainability.  To aid in the development of an implementation plan, three task forces were created that represented a diverse group of stakeholders.  Members of the task forces included faculty, students, staff and community members with expertise in a variety of disciplines.  

Forum Task Force

The Forum Task Force was charged to create a new forum for in-depth, cross-disciplinary engagement on the sustainability grand challenges.  The product of their work is a recurring offering of the Scholarship of Sustainability Series.  This Series began in the Spring of 2010 and is offered each spring. The Series is open to faculty, staff, students and the community at large. The Series provides an in-depth examination of sustainability issues, with readings and video available on-line.

Operations Task Force

The Operations Task force was charged to create and implement a sustainable campus operations plan.  The committee’s efforts resulted in a comprehensive climate action plan that provides a path toward carbon neutrality by 2050.  The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the first Big Ten University to submit a climate action plan to the ACUPCC.

Education Task Force

The Education Task Force was charged to infiltrate sustainable thinking into campus missions through new education activities.  The Sustainability Education Task Force (SETF) created sustainability education outcomes to serve as a useful resource for enhancing campus course and program offerings related to sustainability. The SETF has also inventoried existing course and program offerings to publish as a guide and identified gaps that can be filled through partnerships with academic departments.

 

2010-2011 Sustainability Task Force Members

Education Task Force - Hide Names and Affiliations

Forum Task Force - Hide Names and Affiliations

Operations Task Force - Hide Names and Affiliations

Operations Task Force

Sustainability Council Members

The Sustainability Council was put in place in 2008 to help lead sustainability efforts at the University of Illinois. The Council is comprised of campus leaders and student and faculty representatives. It provides strategic direction and oversight of the campus sustainability initiative.

2012-2013 Sustainability Council Members