The UD Sustainability Plan
It’s time for UD to be a leader in sustainability. This is how we could do it.
Plan Overview
Why establish a Sustainability Plan?
Sustainability Plans enhance existing University priorities by reframing challenges for creative solutions, focusing technical and pragmatic expertise, and engaging the campus with the long-term vision of leadership. Many University campuses discover untapped opportunities, recruit and retain talent, reduce operating costs, and generate funding with their Sustainability Plans.
What value is there in a Sustainability Plan?
The Council will assess the current status of sustainability on campus and direct all future priorities and activities via the Sustainability Plan. The Council also aligns the sustainability interests of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the Office of the Executive Vice President and the Office of the Provost.
Establishing an Office of Sustainability
Reaching sustainability goals through operational efficiency and excellence.
Building Financial Resilience
Minimizing costs and generating revenue through innovative funding mechanisms and sustainability projects.
Promoting Collaboration
Bringing together different university and community stakeholders for a comprehensive sustainability plan.
Following the E.C.O. Wheel
Establishing 8 Environmental Core Objectives (ECO) to guide our sustainability efforts.
We’re behind, but we have a plan.
As the increasing impact of climate change continues to threaten our planet and exacerbate inequities, the University of Delaware must be a model of environmental response and resilience. The Sustainability Council is actively leading this charge.
Significant changes must occur to make this happen. Our research shows that the University of Delaware is trailing the sustainability efforts of comparator institutions. Using the sustainability benchmarking tool from the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), UD discovered that our sustainability performance ranks in the lower 25th percentile of all AASHE-rated institutions. This puts UD at a financial, social, and moral disadvantage as it seeks to attract top-quality students and faculty.
In order to keep pace with – let alone lead – our peer institutions, UD must immediately invest substantial, consistent, and permanent resources into its sustainability initiatives. That’s why the Sustainability Council created a plan that outlines the financial, academic, and institutional changes that must happen to make this possible, starting with the absolutely necessary establishment of an Office of Sustainability.
The Council is also proud to introduce the E.C.O. wheel: A wheel that outlines the eight “Environmental Core Objectives” of the Sustainability Plan. The core objectives are connected by the Office of Sustainability, the central mechanism that oversees, coordinates, and enacts the initiatives in each category.
The E.C.O. Wheel
We Want to Hear Your Voice
Want to voice your support for the Sustainability Plan? Want to get involved with sustainability efforts on campus? Send your thoughts or get involved by emailing sustainability@udel.edu.
