Empowerment
A more open, connected, and innovative Yale
Yale welcomes all voices in fostering a diverse and inclusive sustainability movement.
Yale’s Efforts
- Yale alumni become champions for sustainability in all sectors. Yale Blue Green is a shared interest group for alumni who are engaged in sustainability issues and eager to connect with each other.
- Professional schools and departments across the University host Green Teams to pilot new initiatives and develop Sustainability Action Plans.
What You Can Do
- Join a Yale Affinity Group or Cultural Center and promote the connection between sustainability and social justice. Review the guide to learn more about these connections.
Our Objectives and Goals
Engage and Empower
Engage and empower members of the Yale community around themes of sustainability
In 2023, the Environmental Protection Clinic (EPC) at Yale Law School partnered with the Elevate Policy Lab and Yale Child Study Center to build a model for practicing environmental, health, and economic justice grounded in civic engagement teaching. Supporting disadvantaged communities in accessing resources to advance equity, resiliency, and sustainability, the project educates and engages communities in government decision-making to diagnose challenges and develop solutions. Success prevailed in the partnership’s work with community champions to transform a landfill in Bridgeport into a hydroponic farm and wellness campus.
Sustainability Action Plans
ACHIEVED
By 2020, create and implement sustainability action plans for key academic, cultural, and administrative Yale departments to support the ambitions of the Yale Sustainability Plan 2025.
This goal was achieved in 2020. To date, over thirty action plans (including one for each of the fourteen residential colleges) have been developed. This program has resulted in active engagement in the professional schools, Athletics, the Libraries, Yale’s cultural properties, Operations, Global Strategy, Development, and Alumni Affairs.
Sustainability Literacy
ACHIEVED
By 2020, develop and launch a sustainability literacy initiative for Yale students, faculty, and staff that assesses and improves sustainability awareness and empowers action.
This goal was achieved in 2020, with the development and launch of a university-wide sustainability survey in 2018 and subsequent communication of survey outcomes. The survey was administered again in Fall 2022 to measure progress. In 2023, an interactive data dashboard showcasing Sustainability Survey results over time was added to the Yale Sustainability Data Hub.
Support Diversity and Inclusion
Support diversity and inclusion in local efforts through education and collaboration
Sustainability Inclusion and Justice Initiative
ACHIEVED
By 2018, launch an initiative to promote dialogue about sustainability, inclusion, and justice on campus and in New Haven.
This goal was achieved in 2020 when a subcommittee of Yale students and employees investigated tools to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into sustainability programming. New research centers, including the Yale Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative and the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, offer opportunities to advance connections between sustainability and climate justice at all levels.
Applying an Intersectional Lens to Sustainability Programming
ON TRACK
Since 2020, the Office completes an annual Co-benefit Assessment to track the impacts of our goals pertaining to community well-being and social, environmental, and economic resilience. The Office will report annually on the results of this assessment and progress made from year to year.
The 2023 Co-benefit Assessment can be found in the Sustainability Data Hub. Of our current active goals, three goals had at least one major co-benefit in 2023, eleven goals had at least one moderate co-benefit, and the remaining goals had neutral co-benefits. We continue to actively incorporate co-benefits into sustainability planning.