A year ago, Penn State officially launched the Sustainability Institute with a mission to facilitate the integration of sustainability into all functions of the University. The vision was to bring together researchers, educators, students, staff and community members to break down traditional boundaries of the classroom and partner operations with community engagement.
"The Sustainability Institute has accomplished much in just one year,” said Craig Weidemann, vice president for Outreach. “Most importantly, it has created a very large umbrella that has engaged students, faculty and staff and has impacted everything from our physical infrastructure to our important research. The approach and outcomes have energized much of the University to participate in our institutional commitment to sustainability."
Sustainability is defined at Penn State as “the simultaneous pursuit of human health and happiness, environmental quality and economic well being for current and future generations.” Because innovation and change are paramount, the Sustainability Institute is open to a wide range of initiatives and supports a variety of projects that embody the three goals: learn, live and lead.
Reinvention Fund
Among its key initiatives is the Reinvention Fund. This internal grant program has awarded more than $875,000 to innovative, change-making proposals from faculty, staff and students. These proposals have come from University Park and several Commonwealth Campuses, including New Kensington, Great Valley, Harrisburg and Schuylkill . These proposals span from making athletics more sustainable to a photographic series regarding Marcellus Shale to a group who bring farmers and the community together—Crop Mobs.