The Sustainability Strategic Plan is the guiding document for sustainability efforts at Brown. The plan arose from the understanding that without immediate, targeted action by Brown and other local and global stakeholders, accelerating climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity will define the 21st century.

Developed in consultation with faculty experts, students, staff and other community members, the plan is a departure from the campus sustainability efforts in recent decades. Rather than outlining broad sets of untargeted initiatives, Brown's plan identifies five key commitments to action in areas that are of utmost global concern and where Brown is best positioned to effect real change. Those commitments are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce nutrient pollution, safeguard human health, reduce water use and associated impact, and curb biodiversity loss.

View the Sustainability Strategic Plan

The plan is the result of over a year of work by faculty, staff and students and incorporates feedback from a wide range of people with a great diversity of interests and ideas. An initial draft was distributed to the Brown community in December 2019. Feedback was collected through a series of public forums and discussions with key stakeholders led by Jessica Berry, assistant vice president, Office of Sustainability and Resiliency and Stephen Porder, associate provost for sustainability. The community feedback was critical for honing the stated goals and for widening the scope of the plan to include more educational opportunities, both at Brown and in the wider Providence community.

A steering committee composed of students, faculty and staff will lead implementation of the plan. The committee will be supported by the Office of Sustainability and Resiliency and will work with existing operational committees and processes to articulate goals and next steps.