Sustainability Initiatives

Sustainability Strategy Working Group (SES)

The cross-campus Sustainability Strategy Working Group (SSWG) was formed under the direction of Provost Serio in the fall of 2022 to help develop a unifying vision of sustainability research, education, and engagement for UMass.  This working group includes more than 30 faculty members from across all nine academic colleges, with UMass Libraries and the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE) also represented.  The working group is transdisciplinary in nature and collaborative in practice.  SSWG is building on the previous work of earlier sustainability working groups related to academics. For more information on SSWG, click here.

Community Classroom of Hope

Renaissance of the Earth Fellow (2023-2024), Hannah Gould, recently won the Undergraduate Sustainability Research Award for her Community Classroom of Hope project. Congratulations, Hannah! This residential permaculture program aims to increase hands-on learning and community development opportunities on campus. Take the survey here.

Art Sustainability Activism

FROM THE GROUND UP, 2023-2024 — Artists, Scientists, and Writers for Climate Justice

Through Art Sustainability Activism, the Fine Arts Center, the MFA for Poets and Writers, and the School of Earth & Sustainability, are working to create deliberate opportunities to connect artists, scientists, and changemakers. We learn from each other. Together, we reckon with climate change — elevating awareness, recognizing climate grief, and catalyzing meaningful change. For more, click here.

UMass Named Top 20 Green School

We are very pleased to share the news that UMass has risen in its ratings in the Princeton Review's top Green Schools. For 2024, UMass Amherst jumped to #18 (up 10 spots from 2023). Now in the Top 20, it is exciting to see UMass investments in sustainability practices and academics be reflected in metrics and national reporting. For more, click here.

Fort River Watershed Association - Source to Sea Cleanup

Sept 28th 10-2. Welcome to the 28th annual Source to Sea Cleanup! Our goal is to remove as much trash as possible from our waterways, riverbanks, and communities across the 410-mile Connecticut River watershed in NH, VT, MA, and CT. Get your gloves and trash bags ready and join thousands of volunteers today! All ages welcome. More information here

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst occupies the traditional homelands of the Nolwottog or Nonotuck Nation. For actions beyond statements of recognition of Native lands, see MCNAA.