Sustainability News

Tempe, AZ – The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) announced today that Sheila Bonini will be stepping down as CEO to take a position at WWF and Euan Murray will be the new CEO effective December 1^st.

In her two years as CEO of TSC, Bonini has led a transformation of the organization to position it to leverage the tremendous scientific-based work through retailer implementation. Under her leadership TSC now has more than 1,700 suppliers using its tools, covering over $135 billion in retail trade. More suppliers are reporting daily, and 2016 should be TSC’s biggest year yet as more retailers join TSC and Walmart continues to expand. In addition to continued implementation at scale by Walmart and Sam’s Club, TSC has deepened its partnership with Kroger and is implementing with other major retailers in North America and Europe. Bonini has helped raise the level of the mission for TSC to drive impact across consumer product supply chains and produced TSC’s first ever Impact Report.

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At the first-ever meeting of the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes, ASU President Michael Crow described both the depth of the challenge at hand and his excitement to join forces with other universities to make sustainability both a value and an outcome.

The twenty men and women in the room, representatives of eleven universities around the world, had traveled to Tempe to do just that: work together to create sustainability outcomes on a global scale, and at a pace that our current challenges mandate. It was clear from the dialogue over the course of their two days together that this was the goal of every founding member.

The Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes is an international network that transforms ideas into action. By joining the consortium – a nonprofit, member-governed organization – members enjoy the benefits of collaboration, international connectivity and the catalytic effect that contributes to sustainability impact.

A Thought Leader Series Piece

by Leon Billings & Thomas Jorling

Note: As the two senior staff members who led the Senate environment subcommittee during the 1970s, Leon Billings and Thomas Jorling are widely regarded as pioneers of the "Golden Age" in environmental policy when Congress developed some of the most influential and enduring legislation – still in effect today.

While electronic media, political commentators and candidates wallow in irrelevancy, our planet’s future hangs in the balance. Actions man has taken over the last century and a half have contaminated the thin patina of atmosphere that we call air.

No, this isn’t conventional air pollution that we have sought to reduce through efficiency and technology. This is climate pollution caused by a group of pollutants called greenhouse gasses, byproducts of man’s use of natural resources to improve the human condition.

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A Thought Leader Series Piece

by Joan McGregor

Food is inseparable from human history, culture and values. It provides significant meaning to people around the world, regardless of nationality. The failure of food systems to recognize these qualities in food contributes to some of the vast inequalities we see today.

A sustainable food system, then, is one that respects historical, cultural and place-based practices. It supports ecological health, considering the current strengths and challenges of a region’s natural resources and protecting them for future generations. Encouraging culinary innovations that contribute to human health and nutrition is another key component.

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In order to meet the energy demands of an increasingly industrialized world, renewable energy systems will require a lot of hardware. This hardware will inevitably become a part of our landscapes – a reality that doesn't please everyone.

That's why a cross-disciplinary team of five scientists – including Senior Sustainability Scientist Mike Pasqualetti – came together to write "The Renewable Energy Landscape: Preserving Scenic Values in our Sustainable Future." The recently-released book seeks to address the tension between conservation efforts and the need to develop sustainable energy alternatives.

The book takes care not to discredit landscape quality concerns, which are typically expressed by the people people living near technologies like solar fields and wind farms. Rather, it proposes a responsible compromise; if sustainable energy is a must, then the infrastructure can be built in a manner where its disruptive effect on the landscape is minimized.

As part of a larger effort to boost the development of solutions for Pakistan’s growing energy needs, the second group of graduate students from Pakistan recently arrived at Arizona State University to study energy engineering.

ASU is coordinating the graduate student exchange program – called the U.S.-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Energy – in an effort to train students to be change agents in helping both countries improve their energy systems. Support for USPCAS-E is part of $127 million investment by USAID to improve Pakistan’s agriculture and food security, as well as access to water and energy.

Senior Sustainability Scientist Sayfe Kiaei, who directs USPCAS-E, believes that ASU is important to the program’s goals because, “The center is a link between ASU’s researchers and international development funding agencies, as well as implementers who are working in developing countries worldwide.”

Historically, policies for agriculture, energy and water have been made in isolation of one another. In reality, these systems are all interconnected – an interplay called the food-energy-water nexus.

As demands on each sector of the nexus continue to grow, the siloed approach to policies involving limited natural resources impedes a sustainable future. That's what a transdisciplinary team of five ASU researchers – including senior sustainability scientists Dave White and Rimjhim Aggarwal – have set out to remedy with a $3 million award from the National Science Foundation.

The team conducts research to build decision support tools that look at the interdependence of these systems and help develop sustainable policies for the future. Each member brings his or her own area of expertise to define, analyze and visualize problems within the  nexus, creating a more complete understanding.

Marketplace solutions work for many needs, but not all of them — particularly some of the most basic ones. That’s what Rimjhim Aggarwal, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Sustainability, found when she considered how affordable access to clean water could be guaranteed.

To find a viable alternative, Aggarwal and Senior Sustainability Scientist LaDawn Haglund began documenting the way court systems have been used to advance water rights in emerging economies with fairly well-developed legal systems: Brazil, South Africa and India. They chose this approach because courts can provide a space for citizens to see that their rights are protected.

By dissecting court cases and sharing what they find, Haglund and Aggarwal are shining light on the power that courts and human rights language can have in advancing the right to water.

As Earth’s population continues to grow, so does the challenge to meet its increasing needs with finite resources. And as stakes rise higher in the fight against climate change, one wonders about next steps: Can policy solve the problem? Or are we in need of an even greater intervention?

Social norms through observation

A study published in Science and co-authored by Marty Anderies – a professor in the School of Sustainability – indicates that social norms may have a greater effect on individual behavior changes than policy alone.

The authors focused on the effect that perceived social norms have on our actions. In doing so, they discovered a “tipping point” where harmful behaviors may turn into exemplary actions. In other words, the point at which there’s hope.

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What makes communities successful in managing their shared resources, such as forests and water?

This was a central question addressed by the late Elinor Ostrom, the founding director of Arizona State University’s Center for Behavior, Institutions and the Environment (CBIE) and the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences.

In her 1990 book “Governing the Commons,” Ostrom – also a distinguished sustainability scientist at ASU – proposed eight principles that contribute to success based on her experience with hundreds of case studies. The principles include, for example, the existence of clearly defined boundaries that delineate who is allowed to use the shared resource, as well as cheap, accessible conflict resolution mechanisms.

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To capture the breadth of work ASU is doing with regard to water in the arid West, ASU Now divided its recent in-depth coverage into three thematic parts: the current situation and how we got here; science and research; and law, policy and challenges.

The series tackles a myriad of subjects, from the dropping levels of water in Lake Mead and the societal changes that mandates, to the merits and pitfalls of measures like desalination and reclaimed water. Along the way, the series features the expertise and research of numerous sustainability scientists and scholars, as well as ASU Wrigley Institute units like the Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research program and Decision Center for a Desert City.

The series concludes with a quote from sustainability scientist and hydrologist Enrique Vivoni, who says, “A place like the Global Institute of Sustainability and DCDC help to serve as a glue for all of us, so that our efforts are bigger than just one professor’s efforts. I think we’re starting to make inroads in increasing our reputation, and attracting great students and doing interesting projects and generating a niche that we can become world leaders in.”

Through funding provided by the Rob and Melani Walton Fund of the Walton Family Foundation, ASU will award a limited number of scholarships of up to $15,000 to professionals applying to the Executive Master of Sustainability Leadership program.

The online program, offered by ASU's School of Sustainability and administered through the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, centers on four specific themes: global context, strategy, communication and leadership. In doing so, it equips professionals from all ranks within an organization with the knowledge and real-world experiences needed to accelerate their careers in sustainability.

The admissions application deadline for those who wish to be considered for this scholarship is Nov. 30.

In a recent report to Congress, the Department of Defense concluded that climate change will increase the risks of environmental degradation, refugee crises, political instability and social conflict.

These challenges are why Arizona State University’s Global Security Initiative is building a new program in climate and national security. Not only will the program be a hub for critical research that will enhance resilience and enable adaptation to climate risks globally, it will also support U.S. national security interests. It will achieve these things by bringing together researchers from a range of disciplines and key partners from universities, national laboratories, think tanks and government.

As Senior Sustainability Scientist Dave White – a Global Security Fellow leading the planning for the new initiative – explains, “This effort will improve our ability not only to anticipate the impacts of climate change but also to develop specific tools and strategies, deploy resources more effectively, build local adaptive capacity, and reduce the risks of social conflict.”

According to Senior Sustainability Scientist Matt Scholz, "Phosphorus is essential to life. It’s in your bones and it’s in your DNA, and it’s the energy currency for the cell."

It follows, then, that agriculture depends on phosphorus too. In fact, a large percentage of the element – typically mined in Morocco – is put into fertilizers used on farms throughout the world. The bad news is that the phosphorus-rich runoff from these farms contaminates waterways and can cause algal blooms, which stifle other forms of life.

The Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance – an ASU initiative that Scholz now manages – strives to collect and recycle phosphorus before it reaches waterways. The hope is to make the phosphorus system cyclical by extracting the element from waste and selling it back to fertilizer companies, eliminating the reliance on a finite supply from other countries.

Carolyn Phillips, owner and chief alchemist of Alchemy Pops, is a 2011 Master of Arts graduate of the School of Sustainability. Her company is based in Texas, and focuses on creating new market opportunities for Texas farmers. She is one of many entrepreneurs who graduate with a degree from the School of Sustainability.

Why did you choose to enroll in the School of Sustainability at ASU? 

In my undergrad, while I was doing my BA in Entrepreneurial Management at Texas Christian University, I took a sustainability-themed graduate level class called “Chasing Carbon” – that got me charted on a path that interested me.

There’s always been a theme in my family and community of support about being a part of the solution. This can be interpreted in a lot of different ways – one being, "if you’re not helping, you’re hurting." Being someone who has an impact and is improving lives is the general theme guiding my trajectory.

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At a September 2016 forum hosted by the ASU Wrigley Institute, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stressed that the country's continued food security is closely linked to its response to increasing climate volatility.

Vilsack and fellow panel members agreed that universities have a large role to play in protecting farms of the future against threats like intense storms, invasive species and droughts. In fact, the current administration has charged universities with ramping up research on climate and water issues, as well as on specific solutions like grazing patterns and drought-resistant crops.

Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Osvaldo Sala, a member of the panel, explained that universities have the capacity to work across disciplines to provide evidence-based solutions. He added that they are also aptly suited to mediate interests among the many stakeholders of shared resources.

Watch Secretary Vilsack's keynote and the first panel discussion from the Fall Forum.

A Thought Leader Series Piece

by Stacy Alaimo

Note: Stacy Alaimo is Professor of English and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she served as the Academic Co-chair for the President’s Sustainability Committee and directed a cross-disciplinary minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies.

She is internationally recognized as a leading scholar in the environmental humanities, ecocultural theory and science studies; has presented plenary talks across the U.S., Canada and Europe; and has served on the prestigious international evaluation panel for Sweden’s major environmental humanities grant competition.

Sustainability plans require data to capture the extent to which universities, businesses, cities and even nation states are minimizing their environmental impacts. Such information is invaluable for tracking the progress of efforts to cut carbon emissions; to reduce the use of energy, water and toxic chemicals; and to reduce waste and pollution.

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For its third consecutive year, the School of Sustainability offers its students a hands-on look into what their future might hold with a career in sustainability.

The Alumni Job Shadowing program, which began in 2014 and continues to grow, gives current students the opportunity to interact with and shadow a School of Sustainability alumnus for a day. The program provides students with insight into not only future career possibilities, but also into the world of professionalism, networking and higher education. Students receive one-on-one attention from their alumni sponsors and can see how their classes apply in the working world.

“This job shadow gave me great insight into how my sustainability degree can be used in a real-world job. This opportunity has rejuvenated my interest in getting a job where I can apply the knowledge I gained from my classes… I believe it has made me confident as a student that my degree is such an intricate part of how a business operates,” says Adrian Nunez, a School of Sustainability Bachelor of Science student.

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Moving up five spots from 2015, Arizona State University was named sixth in Sierra Club's annual "Cool Schools" ranking of roughly 200 colleges and universities.

The ranking lists schools based on a demonstrated commitment to upholding high environmental standards. A few of the categories ASU scored high in are bike facilities, organic gardens, undergraduate programs, student outreach and move-in/out waste reduction.

“For more than 10 years, ASU has demonstrated its fundamental commitment to sustainability,” says Christopher Boone, dean of ASU's School of Sustainability. “We are very pleased to be recognized by the Sierra Club for all of our hard work.”

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“Women approach problem solving as an opportunity to share and bring others along on our journeys.”

This is Julie Ann Wrigley, cofounder of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, giving her take on “the power of parity” to a panel at the August 2016 East-West Sustainability Summit in Honolulu, HI.

Her comments on the ability of women to create solutions were aptly timed.

She delivered them one day before receiving a “Pioneer for the Planet” award, recognized with the likes of Dame Jane Goodall and E.O. Wilson – the “father of biodiversity” – at an event emceed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman. Called the Sustainability Leaders Luncheon, it was co-hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, whose annual congress was also happening in the Aloha State.  

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