About Sustainability
Office of Urban Sustainability Initiatives
Initially, 11 faculty and staff from diverse areas came together and developed what we now refer to as "UNLV Urban 21." Subsequently, more than 125 UNLV faculty, staff, and community members have joined a Listserv to share their knowledge about urban quality-of-life issues. We anticipate this number to increase as word spreads. To this end, you may join the Listserv by clicking on the link from our home page. The initial grassroots effort that began in spring 2007 has now led to approval of a new Office of Urban Sustainability Initiatives (USI). The office is under the leadership of Founding Executive Director Dr. Ronald Smith, who currently serves as Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean at UNLV, and Dr. Thomas Piechota, Director of Sustainability and Multidisciplinary Research.
Sustainability Goals
The overarching goal of the USI is to help build a sustainable Las Vegas, surrounding region, and state of Nevada that — for both now and the future — protects the physical environment (ecological sustainability), adds to an economy and to the lives of workers without jeopardizing the health of the ecosystem (economic sustainability), and promotes a supportive social/cultural way of life for all citizens (social and cultural sustainability). USI will accomplish this by stimulating multidisciplinary and UNLV-community partnered research through support from local, regional, and national foundations and granting agencies. USI is a cost-effective effort in that it draws primarily on the large number of faculty and professional staff with expertise on sustainability issues, existing UNLV research and service centers and institutes, and academic colleges that focus on various aspects of sustainability.
The USI mission is consistent with the five Nevada statewide research initiatives jointly established in 2007 by the Nevada System of Higher Education: water availability and cleanliness, quality health care, transportation, sustainable energies, education, and urban and rural sustainability in all its forms — environmental, economic, and social/cultural.
Specific goals of the Office of Sustainability Initiatives include:
- Conduct applied research projects that focus on our urban form and its associated challenges and solutions.
- Create new academic programs, many of which will be interdisciplinary, that will focus on urban sustainability challenges and solutions, encourage development of new sustainability-related courses in the curriculum, emphasize sustainability as a topic in existing courses, and encourage the hiring of faculty who could add to the knowledge base about urban sustainability.
- Reach out to the community by providing urban-focused conferences, seminars, forums, speakers, and publications; developing a website containing both library and community resources; and expanding the Listserv of faculty and community experts specializing in specific urban issues.
- Provide service learning opportunities (e.g., research, service, and instructional in nature) for students through community internships and graduate and undergraduate assistantships that focus on sustainability.
- Encourage the UNLV campus itself to become a model of sustainable facilities and practices through such efforts as recycling, energy-efficient buildings, and xeriscaping.
Urban Sustainability Survey
If you're a UNLV faculty or staff member interested in issues associated with urban sustainability, the Division of Research and Graduate Studies seeks your input. The division is gathering information on research activity on this topic in order to facilitate communication and networking among faculty and staff who are exploring all subjects related to urban sustainability. Please complete the Urban Sustainability Survey and/or Review Survey Results.
Sustainability Partnerships
USI has made contact with the leaders of the sustainability program at Arizona State University, the most highly acclaimed and successful such program nationwide. A UNLV partnership with ASU and other universities in our region — perhaps including the University of Southern California and University of California, Riverside — could well result in a consortium of Southwest urban studies that could jointly seek urban-related grants to conduct valuable research.
Sustainability Research at UNLV
Already a number of important and promising efforts are under way at UNLV to study various aspects of urban sustainability, including environmental, economic, and social/cultural issues. View a list of current research efforts (PDF).
Sustainability Outreach
The inaugural UNLV Urban Sustainability Conference was held Oct. 24, 2007, at which more than 50 prominent local and national speakers discussed the challenges facing Las Vegas and the city's place among national trends. The very meaning of sustainability, as viewed by various constituencies, was also examined. Read a general summary (PDF) of the inaugural conference. The Office of Urban Sustainability Initiatives will continue to host additional meetings, seminars, and conferences in the future. Check back periodically on this website for more information.
