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Sustainability Practices Network

The Sustainability Practices Network is charged with creating a plan for a more sustainable university. The Network is composed of eight work groups and four resource groups that focus on their specified areas of expertise while also collaborating with other groups to support participation in sustainability practices across the university. The structure of the Network engages many disciplines and departments from all campuses to foster innovative ideas for reaching the university’s sustainability goals.

How it works:

Each work group is responsible for developing strategies and goals for a specific area of the overall university sustainability plan. The Network's plan is then sent to the Sustainability Practices Oversight Council for review and submission to the University Executive Committee where it can be considered for adoption by ASU.

Each work group is asked to do the following in developing its part of the plan:

• Discuss and understand the role of the group and develop a final list of participants to the Sustainability Practices Oversight Council for review (First Task).

• Engage the ASU Community in the evaluation and goal setting process through at least two different information gathering methods such as surveys, focus groups, town halls, behavioral observation, or other engagement.

• Develop the vision and mission, as well as their supporting goals, that will guide the activities and actions of the working group. Visions and missions should provide the foundation for formal action plans to reach the primary goals of Carbon Neutrality, Zero Waste, Principled Practice, and Active Engagement.

• Identify and document the components covered by the working group. For example, Building Design and Planning might cover electrical systems, plumbing and water, operating hours, construction materials, and purchasing, among others. Each group should then assess the current state of each component area to set a baseline.

• Develop goals and targets for each identified component in the group's area.

• Evaluate how the groups components connect to other working groups as a system. Using the previous example, the Building Design and Planning group would have water and water handling systems in common with the Water working group.

• Review the university’s current sustainability policies, programs, and practices that apply directly or indirectly to the group's, paying particular attention to issues spanning all groups such as: health and wellness, fiscal stability, and productive work/learning/living environments.

• Identify best practices for each component and opportunities/recommendations for improvements. Each opportunity/recommendation should be categorized as short-term (1 to 3 years), mid-term (4 to 10 years), or long-term (more than 10 years).

• Identify resources needed to achieve goals for each recommendation and the estimated return on investment (ROI) — including both financial and soft returns that would be realized.

• Identify new policies or policy changes needed to achieve goals.

• Identify specific challenges or risks associated with each goal.

• Prioritize recommendations and goals.