Earth Commons GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
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— POPE FRANCIS, 2015 ENCYCLICAL LETTER, LAUDATO SI’
“We need only take a frank look at the facts to see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair...I urgently appeal for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.”
Through the Earth Commons— Georgetown’s new Institute for Environment & Sustainability—we are setting out to address the world’s greatest environmental and sustainability challenges by accelerating education, research, and action. We will empower diverse, problemoriented teams to discover through collaboration. We will prepare young leaders across all fields to be stewards of a healthier planet. And we will develop scalable strategies to green the university, broader community, and planet.
Georgetown’s commitment to caring for our planet is deeply rooted in responsibility, opportunity, and urgency. We are called to protect our “common home.” We have extensive expertise, broad campus engagement, and an unparalleled location for strategic partnerships. We know the actions we take in the next decade will determine the future of all of earth’s inhabitants.
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The launch of the Earth Commons in February 2022 was more than 30 years in the making. Drawing on decades of momentum and expertise, the institute is now poised to transform how Georgetown thinks about—and acts on—our planet’s most dire challenges.
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February: Georgetown launches the Earth Commons, 2020
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Georgetown welcomes Dr. Peter P. Marra, a leading environment and conservation expert, as director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative, the Laudato Si’ Professor in Biology and the Environment, and professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy
University achieves 71% carbon footprint reduction, 6 years ahead of target the Future(s) Initiative launches Core Pathway on Climate Change
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2022 Kennedy Center performance co-conceived by Earth Commons artist in residence, photo by Wolf Hertzberg
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The Earth Commons’ activities will be anchored by thematic “Commons,” interdisciplinary centers with dedicated faculty and staff that will convene students, scholars, artists, practitioners, and internal and external partners around major environmental challenges. These Commons will increase research collaboration, support experiential learning, attract talent, and drive change—on Georgetown’s campuses; in our Washington, D.C., community; and around the world.
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An ecosystem of expertise and action
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The Earth Commons is creating hands-on learning experiences that prepare diverse leaders to drive environmental reform. We will offer an array of new courses and degree programs that teach students across schools and disciplines to understand the environmental impact of their work and advocate for sustainable practices, regardless of their future vocation.
With donor support, the Earth Commons will provide rich learning experiences and scholarships for our emerging degree programs, starting with the MS in Sustainability Management.
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We are designing a full suite of programs at all levels, beginning in fall 2022 with a Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management—a jointly offered degree that blends principles of environmental science with a foundation in business management. Plans for a global, experiential undergraduate program are building momentum, structure, and interest. Undergraduates will rotate through the thematic “Commons” to build broad understanding of environmental issues and dive deep on specific interests through intensive, faculty-mentored research and consulting projects.
Photo: Healy Circle discussion with Rodney Stotts (left), bird expert and environmentalist
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Experiential programs provide Georgetown students with concrete contexts for understanding scientific principles and real-life problems, and a firsthand view of environmental challenges affecting communities around the world.
The Walsh School of Foreign Service’s India Innovation Studio offers a model for how Earth Commons courses will take students into the field. Through the course, operated in partnership with the government of Maharashtra, students designed, prototyped, and implemented solutions to one of India’s critical development problems: drought.
Through hands-on lab assignments, they delved into the science of drought and designed politically feasible solutions. They then traveled to Mumbai, meeting with small-scale farmers, large-scale industrial agricultural hubs, and activists—and ultimately presented their findings to the chief minister of Maharashtra.
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Addressing drought in Maharashtra, India
The class was team-taught by Mark Giordano, an environmental scientist, professor of geography, and Earth Commons faculty affiliate, and Irfan Nooruddin, professor of Indian politics, partnering with a design specialist and stakeholders on the ground in India. Focusing on specific aspects of drought, students worked in groups, mentored by experts from international organizations and NGO partners.
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Philanthropy will enable the Earth Commons to accelerate the work of existing faculty and to meet an ambitious goal to bring up to 15 additional scholars and practitioners to Georgetown across the next three years. Gifts can also create seed funding for new research projects, outreach, events, and performances exploring environment and sustainability issues.
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Georgetown is home to dozens of scholars already working on a broad range of issues critical to the environment, and we are actively expanding our bench of experts. The Earth Commons will bring policy, law, medicine, humanities, arts, and social sciences into conversation with the sciences to produce meaningful change. From Georgetown’s campuses to remote areas around the globe, the Earth Commons will fuel interdisciplinary research that produces scalable solutions.
Reducing the environmental impact of concrete
Few people realize that concrete production is responsible for 10% of humancaused carbon dioxide emissions. Revolutionizing concrete production is essential to meeting greenhouse gas targets: there is no other material in sight that can replace concrete to meet society’s needs for housing, schools, and infrastructure.
Until recently, scientists have struggled to develop “green” formulations of concrete (those that emit less CO2) and allay builders’ concerns about strength and durability. Two Georgetown faculty—Emanuela Del Gado of the Department
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of Physics and Marlene Towns of the McDonough School of Business—are poised to change the narrative.
Research breakthroughs by Del Gado’s team have shed light on cement hydrates, the most important component in concrete (its “glue”), creating an opportunity to design a more sustainable, more durable, and stronger material.
Towns is partnering with Del Gado to build on these insights, developing behaviorchange and communications strategies promoting green concrete. The team will develop a framework to assess and enhance awareness about the business challenges and opportunities of green concrete—and, in the process, show new ways that science, technology, policy, and business professionals can collaborate for maximum impact.
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Action Solutions that meet our planet’s pressing needs
We also recognize that environmental leadership must start on our own campuses. Working handin-hand with Georgetown’s Office of Sustainability, the Earth Commons will turn our Hilltop and Capitol campuses into a living laboratory, where teaching and research move to implementation, drastically reducing the university’s impact on the Withenvironment.donorsupport, we will make the most of our Washington, D.C., and global locations, delivering our insights into the corridors of power and transforming Georgetown’s campuses into a source of scalable solutions.
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The Earth Commons will prioritize problem-solving, transforming research into policy, policy into law, and law into change on the ground. Interdisciplinary teams of faculty; students; and partners across industries, governments, and NGOs will pursue solutions in service to the world.
Solving complex environmental challenges requires not just transcending traditional academic silos, but engaging stakeholders well beyond the university’s walls. The institute will develop innovative externships, allowing students to work in environmental organizations in D.C., across the country, and abroad on real-world answers to critical needs.
Photo: Solar panels atop Georgetown row houses
The partnership between the Earth Commons and the Office of Sustainability will enable the university to reimagine what it means to be a truly green institution. It also will create hands-on learning experiences for our students as we infuse sustainability into our daily operations, incubate sustainable living practices in our residence halls, and engage our entire community in the care of our common home.
We are also exploring experiential learning in our residence halls, starting with Georgetown’s new 11-story downtown student residence hall at 55 H St. NW The building—whose design targets the ambitious LEED Platinum certification—will be home to Georgetown’s first sustainability-focused living-learning community, where students share and deepen their passions through social, educational, and reflective activities.
One vision for these “living laboratories” is a Hoya Community Farm, managed by a full-time gardener and a cadre of student gardeners on the Hilltop. The farm would utilize sustainable growing techniques and share its harvest with the Georgetown community. It also could form the basis for a new and exciting curriculum around food security.
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Building the model for a green urban campus
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— JOHN J. DEGIOIA PRESIDENT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
“Protecting our environment and addressing climate change are defining issues of our time. At Georgetown, we are deeply committed to understanding and responding to these issues— promoting research and teaching on the environment— and to taking steps as an institution to address our environmental impact.”
To learn more or contribute to the Earth Commons institute, please contact us at giving@georgetown.edu.
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This is a defining moment for our planet and the university’s environment and sustainability ambitions. Donor support is essential as we work to advance as an environmental leader and drive rapid change. Join us as we prepare generations to be the stewards our planet needs.
Help turn Georgetown’s strong foundation into a greener future.