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A Framework for the Future

Our Sustainability plan

Foundation of the Sustainability Plan

In 2020, the University of Nebraska System adopted a Five-Year Strategy to help chart our path forward. Included in the original strategy, and reaffirmed in 2022, was the call for a university-wide sustainability plan and goals.

What is sustainability?

We believe sustainability to be the effective, efficient, and responsible use of resources, guided by common-sense principles, to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Why does this work matter?

Nebraskans have always taken pride in caring for the land, water and livestock that keep our people and economy healthy. Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers, after all, are the original conservationists.

What is our commitment?

Nebraskans entrust their university with their most precious resources—natural, human, and capital—and expect us to operate with common sense and prudence. We won’t spend money we don’t have; we will take care of the resources we do have; and we will continually look for opportunities to become more effective and efficient.

Developing common sense strategies to manage our resources within a changing climate will be an important focus for not only the NU System, but all Nebraskans.

Read the NU System sustainability plan.

Download the plan here

Why Create a University-wide Plan?

The four campuses of the University of Nebraska System each have strategic goals or other high-level commitments to sustainability. The aim of the university-wide sustainability goals is to unite efforts across the NU System and leverage the scale of our total operation—including our university community of over 66,000 students, staff, and faculty—to promote and coordinate a culture of sustainability on each campus and across the state.

Our Sustainability Targets

The sustainability plan targets represent actionable goals the NU System can achieve over the next five years. The plan operationalizes our longstanding commitment to do the most with what we have in a responsible way. It reflects our common-sense beliefs and the values of the people of our state.

We aim to double student, staff, and faculty sustainability engagement and cross-campus collaboration by 2027.

Engagement

Engagement

We aim to double student, staff, and faculty sustainability engagement and cross-campus collaboration by 2027.

We aim to adopt measurable sustainability goals and publicize annual progress reports.

Measurement

Measurement

We aim to adopt measurable sustainability goals and publicize annual progress reports.

We aim to maximize the university’s facilities through improved space utilization, modernized infrastructure and other best practices.

Facilities

Facilities

We aim to maximize the university’s facilities through improved space utilization, modernized infrastructure and other best practices.

We aim to reinforce a culture of sustainable procurement across the University of Nebraska System and its four campuses.

Procurement

Procurement

We aim to reinforce a culture of sustainable procurement across the University of Nebraska System and its four campuses.

Read more about each sustainability target.

Download the plan here

President's Sustainability Council

In 2022, more than 80 members of the university community served on the President's Sustainability Council. The Council provided more than100 recommendations for improvements across the university. Some recommendations have been aggregated into university-wide goals; others are best pursued locally and have been shared with campus leaders for consideration for inclusion in campus plans.

Meet the Council Members

Have questions on the sustainability plan?

Email sustainability@nebraska.edu

Key Contacts

Name

Doug Carlson

Associate Vice President for University Services, Chief Procurement Officer and Director, Facilities Planning & Capital Programs

Doug Carlson

Roni Miller

Administrative Fellow

Veronica Miller Portrait

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