LibGuides: Sustainability in Higher Education: Initiatives

Study Sustainability at UMass Lowell

Climate Change and Sustainability is an interdisciplinary minor, under the direction of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative and housed in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Students gain an understanding of the basic science behind climate change, the social and economic consequences of climate change and strategies for sustainability and climate adaptation.

UML Undergraduate Courses (No or Low Prerequisite)

ATMO.1410: Weather and Climate
ENVI. 1100: Global Environmental Studies
POLI.1750: Introduction to Environmental Politics
PLAS. 1080: Introduction to Polymer Sustainability
Need to have taken Chem 1 or equivalent.
ENVE.3640: Energy and the Sustainable Environment
Need PHYS.1410 Physics I, and CHEM.1220 Chemistry II, and MATH.1320 Calculus II.

More advanced but critical to sustainable policy:

ENVE. 4640: Solid Waste Engineering and Management
Generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes; treatment and disposal of water and wastewater treatment sludge; landfill design; alternative waste management and disposal strategies.

Current Initiatives at UMass Lowell

UMass Lowell STARS Reports
UML has a gold rating in the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating program. Platinum is the highest and gold is second.
UMass Lowell Power Plants
O'Leary Green Rooftop, 2021
UMass Lowell Office of Sustainability
Student Society for Sustainability
Sustainable Resource List
Compiled by UML Student Society for Sustainability
UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative
A University Research Center that informs and supports evidence-based climate action.

Sustainable Lowell 2025

What Other Institutions are Doing

University College Cork, (Ireland) Library Initiative
A creative collaboration between the science of ecosystem restoration and art for sustainable stormwater management on an urban college campus
Student interdisciplinary project achieved a sustainable stormwater management system on the campus of George Mason University.
Planning a green campus: new St. Louis Community College campus planning process offers lessons in sustainability

Swiss chard growing on the roof of O'Leary Library

Nonprofits in the Sustainability Space

STARS: Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating system
A transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.
(FYI, UML has a GOLD rating, the second highest there is.)
AASHE, (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education)
Second Nature
Second Nature is committed to accelerating climate action in, and through, higher education.
We do this by mobilizing a diverse array of higher education institutions to act on bold climate commitments, to scale campus climate initiatives, and to create innovative climate solutions.

Higher Education's Role in Adapting to a Changing Climate
a publication of the
American College &University
President's Climate Commitment

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions: Business Strategies to Address Climate Change
Includes how to create climate action plans, create goals and targets, and improve energy efficiency.
Drawdown: Health and Education Sector
Founded in 2014, Project Drawdown® is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world reach “drawdown”—the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. Site describes solutions for various economic sectors.

Recycling bins at UMass Amherst. The design of bins can have a positive effect on rates of recycling.