The Sustainability Next Plan
Georgia Tech’s Executive Leadership Team formed the Sustainability Next Task Force in 2021 with a specific charge: Propose a strategic plan implementation roadmap for sustainability at Georgia Tech over the next 10 years.
The Sustainability Next Plan is the resulting mission critical deliverable of the Sustainability Next Task Force. It is built on the following focus areas of the Georgia Tech Strategic Plan:
Building on 30+ years of sustainability at Georgia Tech, the Sustainability Next Plan presents a newly unified vision for coalescing, implementing, and measuring cross-cutting sustainability initiatives within the Institute. The aim of the Sustainability Next Plan is to provide a path toward establishing Georgia Tech as a leader in equitable, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Explore the Plan
The Sustainability Next Plan features six focus areas, each with specific objectives and strategies for implementing sustainability on campus.
Institute Operations
Lead by example by implementing sustainable operations across campus – ranging from how we manage our facilities to dining and transit services.
Culture and Organization
Foster a culture of environmental stewardship and social equity on campus inherent to the supporting knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, incentives, and organizational structures of the Institute.
Education for Sustainable Development
Produce graduates who are committed to making a positive difference in their communities, their organizations, and the world.
Climate Solutions
Pursue climate action leadership on campus and throughout the region through partnerships, policy, investment, and carbon reduction initiatives.
Leading Sustainability Research
Demonstrate global leadership in transdisciplinary sustainability research to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Living Learning Lab
Leverage our campus as a “living learning lab” and testbed for sustainability solutions and technologies in action.
Process and Implementation
To build such a cross-cutting plan, the Sustainability Next Task Force spent more than six months conducting an exhaustive review of sustainability data gleaned from campus programs, units, and partners. The task force also hosted several townhalls for students, faculty, and staff and met one on one with leaders representing nearly all facets of campus operations to synthesize recommendations that make up the objectives and strategies of the plan. Overall, the process involved engaging with more than 200 key stakeholders and coordinating across all 20 Georgia Tech Strategic Plan implementation teams.
Georgia Tech has committed to implementing the Sustainability Next Plan by allocating $1.25 million in support of plan initiatives and is actively crafting a governance structure to ensure plan progress. The Sustainability Next Task Force is additionally connecting with the Georgia Tech Capital Campaign to further plan development.
Contact
For more information on the Sustainability Next Plan, email us at sustain.gatech.edu.
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