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The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) provides a framework for America’s colleges and universities to implement comprehensive plans for climate neutrality. Through the ACUPCC, more than 660 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (over 30% of the entire student population in the United States!) have committed to reducing and eventually neutralizing all greenhouse gas emissions from campus electricity, buildings, and transportation. In addition to educating their students to help the rest of society do the same, Presidents in the Commitment recognize the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in working to create a thriving, civil, and sustainable society. Visit the ACUPCC website for more information or donate to the ACUPCC.

The Advancing Green Building (AGB) program aids under-resourced colleges and universities that are working to build and renovate sustainably on their campuses. Through the generosity of the Kresge Foundation, AGB allows Second Nature to help under-resourced schools implement the construction and renovation of campus buildings in ways that save money, reduce environmental and health impacts, serve as educational tools, and increase student enrollment. Given the environmental and health problems exacerbated by the construction and use of campus buildings, hundreds of institutions of higher learning are now building high-performance, healthy facilities that reduce or eliminate harmful emissions and waste while also increasing quality of life and productivity for their occupants. However, many such institutions that serve financially disadvantaged and minority students lack the resources to spend on bricks-and-mortar projects, the in-house knowledge about green building, and the opportunity to learn from similar schools that have excelled in green building. They benefit, therefore, from the AGB through an education on green building that can result in their saving 10-20% annual energy costs over the long-term. Learn more about or donate to the AGB initiative.

Education for Sustainability focuses on developing high-leverage, multi-sector strategies for transformative action in higher education. Second Nature recognizes the need for broadening the capacity of both the government and higher education sectors to further advance the goals of both a green economy and the work of the sustainability movement. Drawing from leading thinkers and partner institutions that are employing innovative and effective approaches to education for sustainability, we are crafting solutions to the challenges inherent in change. Through this work, we partner with the Campaign for Environmental Literacy and numerous higher education stakeholders to advocate for key sustainability policy education; in particular, we together support passage of and appropriations for the Higher Education Sustainability Act and funding of theEnergy Independence and Security Act of 2007. We also provide Sustainability Advisory services, workshops, and speaking engagements on capacity building in sustainability: What sustainability means and how to get there is at the heart of Second Nature’s work. Learn more about the Second Nature mission and vision or donate to Education for Sustainability.

The Higher Education Association Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) was formed in 2005 by leaders of several of the higher education associations whose oversight ranges from accounting to board governance. The shared aim of HEASC is to support and enhance the capacity of the higher education community in fulfilling its role of producing both an educated, engaged citizenry and the knowledge needed for a thriving and civil society. Coordinated through Second Nature, this consortium is an informal network that shares a commitment to advancing sustainability both within their separate constituencies and within the system of higher education itself. The current member associations that make up HEASC see the need for developing in-depth capabilities to address sustainability issues through their associations. HEASC hopes to involve all higher education associations to get the broadest perspectives and produce the greatest synergistic effectiveness in its efforts. The HEASC organizations recognize that fulfilling their mission in the 21st century requires a broader, systemic, collaborative approach to both their constituents’ and their own work. The consortium provides members with an opportunity to learn from each other, work together on joint projects, get access to the best expertise and information on sustainability, and to keep a collective, ongoing focus on advancing education for a sustainable future. Visit the HEASC website or donate to HEASC.