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Vision
To work towards a more sustainable future by establishing The University of Utah as a leader and innovator in the field of sustainability.
Sustainability as a guiding principle
A state of balance where the relationships between society, economy, and environment are maintained such that the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations of people and ecosystems to meet their own needs.
The role of the University
- Prepare future leaders by researching sustainability strategies and educating about sustainability principles.
- Demonstrate environmentally, socially, and economically responsible practices for the campus, surrounding community, State, and Nation.
- Create and develop innovative solutions for pressing global issues and act as a model for best practices.
- Provide a healthy learning environment where civic engagement and an elevated sense of environmental stewardship thrive in the community.
Objectives of the Office of Sustainability
- Provide a clearing house for exchanging information
- Coordinate sustainability activities
- Promote environmentally responsible practices and encourage sustainable behaviors at the University and in the community
- Identify a baseline inventory of current campus practices and impacts
- Develop a Strategic Plan for enhanced campus sustainability with anticipated cost savings and external funding opportunities
- Explore new projects in purchasing and inventory management, water and energy conservation, and building design
- Create educational resources and project support for campus sustainability efforts by students, faculty, staff, and administrators
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Mission & Goals
Mission
The Office of Sustainability is committed to establishing the University of Utah as a leader in working towards a more sustainable future for the University campus and the broader Utah community.
Our vision is to create a culture of sustainability, shared by campus and surrounding communities, that builds upon the University’s mission to facilitate active and responsible citizenship in the realms of human health, environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic progress.
In recognizing that universities play a key role in preparing future leaders of society, industry, government, and academia, the University of Utah is researching sustainability strategies, educating about sustainability principles, and serving as an example in applying those principles and strategies.
Goals
The Office of Sustainability facilitates sustainability initiatives by serving as an information clearing house while coordinating campus and community efforts. Uniting the many groups and individuals working on sustainability projects helps us move towards greater campus sustainability while sharing the knowledge we gain with other universities and the surrounding Utah community.
Our research, projects and events seek to...
- Lead and coordinate sustainability initiatives
- Demonstrate sustainable behavior in operations and policy that supports a healthy community and learning environment
- Promote environmentally responsible practices
- Foster a culture and ethic of sustainability
- Create successful program models that can be replicated elsewhere
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History
The Office of Sustainability grew out of the Sustainable Campus Initiative, driven by the student group SEED (Sustainable Environments and Ecological Design).
The Co-founders Alexandra Parvaz and Lindsay Clark started the group with the dream of helping the University of Utah progress towards sustainability. SEED created an action plan to bring the different campus stakeholders (faculty, staff, students, administration, alumni, and community members) together to collectively decide which path the U could take to become a more sustainable campus. During the 2006/2007 academic year they launched their Sustainable Campus Initiative.
Read the SEED story pdf
Timeline of events
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Date
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Event
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October 25th, 2006
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Campus Sustainability Webcast, broadcast by The Society of College and University Planners
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November 13th, 2006
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SEED Campus Sustainability Forum I
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January 8th, 2007
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Formation of Sustainability Task Force and drafting of proposal for a pilot year for an Office of Sustainability
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Spring Semester, 2007
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Creation of new class: Interdisciplinary Practicum in Sustainability to design a campus LEED Building
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January 22nd, 2006
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SEED Campus Sustainability Forum II
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February 13th, 2007
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Campus Planning Advisory Committee approves proposal for pilot year of an Office of Sustainability
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March 27th, 2007
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SEED Campus Ecology Mapping Exercise (Co-sponosored with the College of Architecture and Planning)
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April 2nd, 2007
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Campus Sustainability Forum III
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April 16th-21st, 2007
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SEED-sponsored Earth Week
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April 2007
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University Senior Vice Presidents and Presidents approval for pilot year of an Office of Sustainability
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July 1, 2007
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Office of Sustainability Pilot Year Commenced
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August 1, 2008
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Hired full time Administrative Program Coordinator, Marie Martin
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Defining Sustainability
The Office of Sustainability views sustainability as...
"Balancing the relationships between environmental stewardship, economic development, and social responsibility while meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations of people and ecosystems to meet their own needs."
Campus Sustainability
According to Peggy Barlett and Geoffrey Chase in Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change (2004), they explain that "sustainability is not a problem, not something to be solved, but rather a 'vision of the future that provides us with a road map.'
This map helps to focus our attention on a set of values and ethical and moral principles...to guide our actions" (Viederman 1995, 37). Viederman's approach echoes the three domains of sustainability, arguing that our societal goal is 'to ensure to the degree possible that present and future generations can attain a high degree of economic security and achieve democracy while maintaining the integrity of the ecological systems upon which all life and production depend' (37). Sustainability in this instance is not an end point, not a resting place, but a process.
The process of sustainability begins with the awakening to emerging problems caused by conventional norms of behavior (both institutional and personal) and then a discernment of new directions without a specific sustainability checklist" (pp 7).
Paul Hawken's view
In his book, Blessed Unrest (2007), he describes sustainability as, “Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth's two most complex systems – human culture and the living world.
The interrelationship between these two systems marks every person's existence and is responsible for the rise andfall of every civilization.Although the concept of sustainability is relatively new, every culture has confronted this relationship, for better or ill.
For thousands of years, civilizations have not been able to reverse their tracks with respect to environmental damage but rather have declined and disappeared because they forfeited their own habitat.Today, for the first time in history, an entire civilization – its people, companies andgovernments – is trying to arrest the downspin and understand how to live on earth, an effort that represents a watershed in human existence...
At this point in our environmental free-fall, we need to preserve what remains and dedicate ourselves to restoring what we have lost" (pp 172).
Hawken, P., (2007) Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. New York: Viking
