| Overall Rating | Reporter - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | |
| Liaison | Kathy Dhanda |
| Submission Date | March 22, 2012 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
DePaul University
ER-15: Sustainability Research Identification
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Mark
Potosnak Assistant Professor Environmental Sciences Program |
Has the institution developed a definition of sustainability research?:
A copy of the institution's definition of sustainability research:
Defining sustainability requires an intrinsically interdisciplinary effort, one that builds on concrete connectivities among individuals and groups. The work of such people lays the foundation for establishing, building and maintaining materially, ecologically, socially, economically, culturally and spiritually sustainable communities.
Research that supports the sustainability of a community depends on creating and maintaining systems that promote environmental resilience, social equity and broad-based citizen participation. In an era of increasingly scarce resources, sustainability has to be concerned with long-term economic development, which means integrating private and social economic returns. This is research that builds concrete bridges between people, their communities and the ecosystems they depend upon.
The communities that together make up DePaul seek to be sustainable in the context of an urban university that plays a key role in the life of Chicago—a global city engaged in the process of becoming an international model of sustainability. These efforts take place in the midst of ongoing tensions between prosperity/poverty, diversity/segregation, and ecosystems/development in a globally connected environment.
The project of defining and living out a vision of sustainability is thus one that DePaul engages as a diverse and interdisciplinary group of scholars and learners. It is in this collaborative effort that all the disciplines taught at DePaul come together to become the foundation for building and maintaining sustainability in multiple forms—work that serves to define us as one contiguous community.
Has the institution identified its sustainability research activities and initiatives?:
A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the inventory:
We conducted a survey of all teaching faculty at DePaul University in November 2010 (including tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct faculty). In the survey we asked faculty (1) if were aware of any research centers, institutes, or academic units at DePaul that focus on or are related to sustainability; (2) if they have been engaged in research activities in the past three years and if yes, if they have been related to sustainability; (3) if they answered that they had been engaged in sustainability research, we asked them provide the details (e.g., citations) for this research.
Does the institution make its sustainability research inventory publicly available online?:
The website URL where the sustainability research inventory is posted (required if claiming Part 3 of the credit):
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.