COMMITTEE CREATION GUIDE
USD OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
CREATING A SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE A guide to starting your own committee to promote sustainability and social responsibility on campus and beyond
SUSTAINABILITY AT USD Our world faces increasingly complex and urgent challenges that affect our environmental, social and economic wellbeing. Responding to these challenges in a holistic manner is the essence of sustainability, and the University of San Diego recognizes its responsibility to be part of the response. The USD Office of Sustainability seeks to create a university culture that embraces environmentally and socially responsible practices and processes through student action, faculty research, curricula, and daily operations, resulting in lasting change that will transform the university and society. To help catalyze this cultural change, the USD Office of Sustainability has launched several initiatives. In 2016, USD published a Climate Action Plan which set goals for
reducing the university's carbon footprint; this will be updated in 2020 as we rise to meet the new challenge established by President Harris to achieve climate neutrality by 2035. The Office has created programs to educate students and employees on ways to make their daily work and living practices more sustainable. USD also adopted Pope Francis’ Care for Our Common Home philosophy as one of the six Pathways to achieve its mission. Many students and employees seek ways to live and work more responsibly, and some departments have created sustainability committees to support this. We encourage you to get involved in these and other sustainability initiatives on campus. The Office of Sustainability is here to support your efforts, and we look forward to working with you to meet the urgent challenges of the 21st century.
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