Climate Year
91制片厂 declared 2021 its Climate Year to rally together students, faculty, researchers and staff at 91制片厂 and the Academy of Natural Sciences and begin to create an intentional, climate-conscious culture and practice. Spearheading this work was the Climate & Sustainability Working Group, in collaboration with students and colleagues across all disciplines.
Through Climate Year, 91制片厂 voiced its commitment to combatting the global climate crisis that poses existential threat to the world鈥檚 species and habitats and lays unequal burdens on the most vulnerable populations.
Climate Year Goals
Climate Year was focused on five key goals:
- Strengthen Drexel鈥檚 institutional climate commitment.
- Promote climate and sustainability-focused courses and experiential-learning opportunities.
- Inspire applied climate-focused research, civic engagement and collaboration.
- Engage the community through public-facing climate and sustainability programming.
- Take inventory, coordinate and track climate work happening at all levels of the University.
Learn More About Climate Year Goals
Highlighted Accomplishments
In just a few months, Climate Year and the work of the Climate and Sustainability Working Group helped the University meet several sustainability-related milestones, three of which are described below. For more key accomplishments, please view the Climate Year Six-Month Progress Report.
University Climate Change Coalition
91制片厂 was accepted into the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3), a network of more than 20 R1 universities from the U.S., Mexico and Canada that are committed to collaborative problem-solving around the climate crisis. Membership acknowledges Drexel鈥檚 institutional commitment to continued progress, as well as the efforts of faculty, staff and students to amplify campus programs and activities aligned with UC3鈥檚 mission.
Climate Resilience Research Agenda
91制片厂 has partnered with the City of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the Consortium for Climate Risks in the Urban Northeast to create a Philadelphia regional Climate Resilience Research Agenda. Working groups convened in June 2021 to begin identifying knowledge gaps and research needed to support regional climate resilience. The results of this work were presented at a public meeting the following fall.
Sustainability Self Reporting
In the spring of 2021, the Climate & Sustainability Working Group submitted Drexel鈥檚 first , a self-reporting framework for universities to measure their sustainability performance. Drexel received a bronze rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and the Working Group has identified a path to improve this rating over the next few years.
Climate Year Events and Programs
Climate Year generated robust programming for students, faculty, staff and community members from across the University and the Academy of Natural Sciences, including:
- Two interdisciplinary case competitions tackling topics related to sustainability, climate change and health
- The Climate Year Speaker Series
- Service-learning opportunities for Drexel Community Scholars
- , which ran May through October at the Academy, and associated programming at the Academy
- A book circle for the book 鈥淎ll We Can Save鈥�
- And many more!