Carnegie Mellon publishes report on sustainability progress
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Carnegie Mellon University marked a milestone this week in its efforts toward sustainability, equity and social justice.
The university released a new report Wednesday that assesses actions taken to advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 objectives adopted by the United Nations. The SDGs, or “global goals,” aim to “create a more equitable and sustainable planet” by 2030. They include an end to poverty and hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality and several other goals.
CMU’s 73-page Voluntary University Review, as the report is called, is the first of its kind among any institution of higher education. Alexandra Hiniker, executive fellow for the university’s Sustainability Initiative, said it will be used as a starting point to push progress.
Provost and Chief Academic Officer James Garrett launched the initiative during the UN General Assembly in September 2019. He committed to presenting the new report at this year’s gathering, which took place Wednesday afternoon.
“Voluntary reviews are how the world is communicating about the global goals,” Garrett said during his address. “Carnegie Mellon’s Voluntary University Review demonstrates that universities are also a critical partner in achieving these 17 ambitious goals by 2030.”
The university assessed its efforts by doing outreach in the community –including students, faculty and staff – to explain what the goals are and learn what different parts of the university are already doing to address them.
“This is recognition by the university that these global goals can be a useful framework,” Hiniker said, “to figure out what we’re doing now and areas where we may be interested in doing more.”
CMU claims in its report that it addresses all 17 objectives in some capacity. The report names several courses that address goals of quality education; sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure and more. Research publications from the university also related to goals of climate action, health, and affordable and clean energy, among others, according to the report.
“Even though we may see ourselves as a university that focuses on specific technical areas, actually what we’re doing has a much broader impact than we think about,” Hiniker said. “And this is just the initial findings. We’re just scratching the surface.”
One of the reasons for the voluntary report, Garrett said, is to encourage other colleges and universities to embark on similar sustainability initiatives.
“Our hope is that it will spark action at other institutions of higher education,” he said.
Hiniker added that making the report public for all to read allows the university to collaborate with other entities.
“Pittsburgh is unique, in general, in that there are so many different parts of the city that are looking at the global goals,” she said, noting that the city has committed to publishing its own voluntary review. “There’s a lot going on here and there’s a lot of potential.”
Garrett was one of about a dozen speakers from around the country who tuned in for the UN General Assembly via Zoom. Also present was Majestic Lane, chief equity officer and deputy chief of staff for the city of Pittsburgh, who alluded to the city’s history of collaborating across sectors to overcome economic and social depression.