Planets LEARNING & CULTURE CLIMATE & ENERGY MATERIALS MANAGEMENT & FOOD SYSTEMS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

Campus Sustainability Plan

LEARNING & CULTURE

Learning and Culture identifies ways to connect social justice and environmental sustainability to the University’s research, teaching, and public service mission and into the campus culture. Several key considerations framed the development of the goals, strategies and actions for this topic. The first was a noted deficiency in previous campus Sustainability Plans, which identified technical and operational goals for the campus, and included very few targets to address issues related to justice and/or inclusion. The second consideration was changing student demographics at UC Santa Cruz and the need to frame and express sustainability in a way that reflects diverse lived experiences in order to improve student success and retention. The final driver was an increased effort across the UC system to engage students, staff and faculty in sustainability and climate change learning and action through the Carbon Neutrality Initiative. The goals and strategies under this topic provide mechanisms for engaging students, staff, faculty and the Santa Cruz community in sustainability through research, curricular and co-curricular efforts, outreach, education and collaboration; identify opportunities for integrating prosperity, equity, and fairness into our campus’ business and operations; and strategies to encourage the use of the campus as a living laboratory for academic research on sustainability and justice issues.

Inclusive Sustainability: 

In 2015, PoCSC coined the term inclusive sustainability that:  

  • Disrupts the idea that the university and the formally educated are the gatekeepers of knowledge 
  • Acknowledges efforts made by PoC to advance sustainability 
  • Recognizes that many sustainability efforts have historically ignored and discriminated against communities of color 
  • Embraces different cultural approaches of caring for the environment
  • Emphasizes intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches

For PoCSC, inclusive sustainability must begin as a framework for student success, retention, and building community in higher education.

Read the full Campus Sustainability Plan and the 2017-2022 Progress Report to learn what we have accomplished.

GOAL 1:
Create and sustain a campus climate and culture that values inclusive sustainability.

GOAL 2:
Support inclusive sustainability in the local and broader community so that community members may thrive.

GOAL 3:
Support student leadership efforts that strengthen a culture of inclusive sustainability.

GOAL 4:
Develop new and expand existing curricular educational experiences around inclusive sustainability.

MATERIALS MANAGEMENT & FOOD SYSTEMS

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Materials Management & Food Systems encompasses the purchase, use, and disposal or recycling of goods, as well as growing, consuming, and composting of food. These issues are interdependent: the campus waste stream is largely composed of materials and food that were procured or grown by the campus. In addition to sustainability challenges related to the procurement of materials or food and how it is disposed of or repurposed, each of these topics also have social justice implications, such as the distribution of university spending to local and diverse vendors; the labor conditions for people who grow the food our campus eats; and the environmental degradation that can occur in communities where products are recycled or sent to landfill.

2019 ZERO WASTE UPDATE: In 2018-19, the campus started directly feeling the impacts of major shifts in the global recycling market for plastics. As a result, the campus experienced a significant increase in recyclable materials going directly to the landfill. The campus-wide waste diversion rate fell from 60% in 2018 to 51% in 2019. Addressing this issue is a top priority, and additional Strategies and supporting Actions have been developed for 2019-20 to support a strategic response to this issue. See Strategies 2.6 and 2.7 in the current plan to learn more.

Read the full Campus Sustainability Plan and the 2017-2022 Progress Report to learn what we have accomplished.

GOAL 1:
Increase both Environmentally Preferred Product purchases and Real Food purchases by five percent until 2022.

GOAL 2:
Achieve and maintain the UC Office of the President Sustainable Practices Policy goal of Zero Waste.

GOAL 3:
Improve food security and access for the campus community, and reduce student food insecurity by 50 percent.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

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Natural Environment & Infrastructure highlights the interrelated nature of campus lands and physical infrastructure and explores synergies related to the operational topics of Transportation, Land & Habitat Stewardship, Watershed & Stormwater, and Water Conservation.  Drivers include human use of lands, including facility development and potential enrollment growth, campus infrastructural upgrade needs, the scarcity of local water resources and supply, as well as parking and traffic constraints.  A number of key topics emerged within Natural Environment & Infrastructure: to utilize the gift of the exquisite diversity of campus natural lands and built environment to benefit the UC’s primary mission of teaching and research through student experiential learning opportunities; to intentionally working to build a culture of stewardship on campus; and to ensure the preservation and conservation of campus’ natural resources through creatively working to meet and exceed UC Office of the President goals.  

Read the full Campus Sustainability Plan and the 2017-2022 Progress Report to learn what we have accomplished.

GOAL 1:
Conduct an assessment to address intersectional campus infrastructure needs that include and support sustainable transportation systems, reduce water consumption, manage stormwater, and steward campus natural and cultivated lands.

GOAL 2:
Meet the UC Office of the President Sustainable Practices Policy goal to reduce potable water usage by 36 percent by weighted campus user by 2025 from a 2005-08 baseline.

GOAL 3:
Reduce commute travel mode impacts relative to a 2017 baseline by: reducing Scope 3 commuter greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2022; reducing commute vehicle miles travelled (VMT) five percent by 2022; and reducing per capita parking demand 10 percent by 2022.

GOAL 4:
Involve all students in experiential learning in the natural and built environments that comprise the campus as a living laboratory.

GOAL 5:
Elevate and sustain a campus climate, culture, and brand that values stewardship.

CLIMATE & ENERGY

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Climate & Energy addresses the Carbon Neutrality Initiative, a systemwide challenge issued by President Napolitano for all campuses to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 for their onsite sources of combustion, such as cogeneration and boilers, purchased electricity and the campus vehicle fleet.  The campus recently completed an extensive planning process to develop a carbon neutrality strategy that resulted in a report called the Climate and Energy Strategy (CES).  The Climate & Energy Committee considered the recommendations from the CES report and incorporated them into the CSP strategies and actions, and also considered behavior change, education and student experiential learning.  “Carbon Neutral Operations” looks beyond electricity and fuel use to consider carbon impacts of existing and planned operations.  “Energy Efficiency in New & Existing Buildings” seeks to reduce energy use and emissions associated with existing and planned labs, administrative buildings, housing, and other campus facilities.  Renewable Energy is mainly focused on solar, as solar is one of the most cost-effective and reliable technologies available to support carbon-free energy generation.  The Campus Fleet mainly focuses on light-duty vehicles as this is where the most efficiency can be gained.  Energy Conservation is focused on energy savings that can be achieved through education and behavior change.  While these goals are definitely ambitious, we hope the strategies and actions provide tangible next steps.

Read the full Campus Sustainability Plan and the 2017-2022 Progress Report to learn what we have accomplished.

GOAL 1:
Support the UC Office of the President Sustainable Practices Policy goal of achieving carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2025.

GOAL 2:
Achieve net zero emissions for all new capital projects.

GOAL 3:
Improve the energy efficiency of campus buildings by 10 percent below a 2010-2012 baseline (in kbtu/sf).

GOAL 4:
Reduce energy use by 10 percent, over a 2010 baseline, through energy conservation programs and practices (in kbtu/sf).

GOAL 5:
Pursue the Carbon Neutrality Initiative through the university's core academic mission of research, teaching, and public service.

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