The university has recently achieved net zero greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations, six years earlier than its commitment of 2025. Increased energy efficiency in both new buildings and campus retrofits; on-site solar generation; renewable energy purchases from large-scale, off-site generation facilities; and purchase of carbon offsets and renewable energy were deployed. The carbon neutrality commitment date for emissions related to commuting and air travel is 2035.

In an effort to make higher education more accessible, the university is launching a program that guarantees a tuition-free education for all Nebraska students with family incomes of $60,000 or less. The program begins in fall 2020.

Meals for doctors, nurses and administrative staff at five Boston-area hospitals are now being prepared in Brandeis University kitchens. Sodexo runs the kitchens and has hired additional staff — including some students who are still on campus — to prepare meals for hospital workers. Brandeis kitchens recently prepared and sent 2,200 meals to area hospitals.

This online workshop aims to help faculty understand their own emotions around eco-grief and eco-anxiety in order to create and hold space for their students to integrate and process hard realities about climate change impacts. A short overview of research on climate change education and pedagogies will be followed by four experiential activities that can be used in the classroom. The two-hour workshop is being offered twice: May 21 and June 11. The University of Hawaiʻi is an AASHE Center for Sustainability Across the Curriculum.

Applications and nominations for a 2020 AASHE Sustainability Award are due May 15. There will be 11 award winners selected from across four categories recognizing individuals and initiatives that are advancing sustainability in higher education. Winners receive a complimentary pass to AASHE's annual conference, a plaque from Rivanna Natural Designs, and an opportunity to present a session at the 2020 conference and a 2021 webinar.

The toolkit defines environmental justice, features various university, community and international case studies, and includes specific action items that people can take to advocate for and promote environmental justice. The toolkit was collaboratively developed by University of Connecticut professors and students, local community organizers, and national advocates at the United Nations Association of the USA.

The Campus Sustainability Hub is a one-stop shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections about all aspects of sustainability in higher education. With advanced search filtering, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Recently added publications include:

• College Students’ Understanding of Social Justice as Sustainability
• Synergy of the (Campus) Commons: Integrating Campus-Based Team Projects in an Introductory Sustainability Course
• Geographic Versus Institutional Drivers of Nitrogen Footprints: A Comparison of Two Urban Universities

An initiative of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, the Ideas Worth Teaching Awards highlight teaching that prepares students with the content, skills and mindset to respond to the complexity and rapidly changing issues embedded in our economic and social systems. This year’s awards will focus on individual courses and recognize educators creating movement and change in business education. The deadline to nominate a course is May 8.

Earth Stanzas is an interactive poetry project in honor of Earth Day to which anyone can contribute. Hosted by The Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminar and the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, Earth Stanzas draws on the inspiration of eight poets who engage the beauty, depth and interconnectedness of the Earth.

The university recently adopted a single-use elimination policy that seeks to eliminate all non-essential single-use plastic, both non-recyclable and recyclable, by 2030. The ban focuses on food-ware and plastic bags, and addresses the spectrum of products and packaging used in campus academics, research, administration and events.

Neil Leary, director of the college's Center for Sustainability Education, contributed three tips in People magazine's Earth Day anniversary issue featuring "50 things you should know and do to help the planet." Leary discusses the importance of keeping a refrigerator stocked, ditching the mini fridge, and composting.

A partnership between the university and 45 energy and transportation agencies resulted in the release of a formal agreement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that seeks to protect monarch butterflies. Using the agreement, public and private property owners and land managers can voluntarily adopt conservation measures that are beneficial to the monarch, which is currently being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The development of the agreement was undertaken by the university's Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group and facilitated by the UIC Energy Resources Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In an effort to combat increased food insecurity caused by the pandemic, NYU Dining Services and Chartwells Higher Education dining donated nearly 1,300 pounds of food in early April to a New York City food rescue organization.

The college’s Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering programs and the Arts & Design Department have teamed up with a local vocational school to create 3D-printed face-shields for area hospitals. Approximately 30 shields per day are being created.

Allegheny set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020 as part of a climate action plan adopted by the college’s board of trustees in 2010. Three key efforts contributed to the college’s achievement of this goal: reducing emissions through implementing efficiency measures; decarbonizing energy sources by shifting from fossil fuel to renewable energy; and offsetting emissions through projects that offset or remove carbon.

The International Sustainable Campus Network's 2020 Sustainable Campus Excellence award winners are Chalmers University of Technology and KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) in the whole system approach category; LUT University (Finland) in the Partnerships for Progress category; and Thammasat University (Thailand) in the Cultural Change for Sustainability category. McGill University was recognized with an honorary member award. The International Sustainable Campus Excellence Awards recognize sustainable campus projects that demonstrate leadership, creativity, effectiveness and outstanding performance.

The Medical University of South Carolina, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, University of Alabama at Birmington Hospital, and University of Kentucky Healthcare earned the new designation by demonstrating a commitment to improving community wellness through tree planting, education and community engagement. This is demonstrated by distributing free trees to community members and using trees to create therapeutic landscapes on campus.

Produced by the university's Center for Sustainable Business, the new podcast series Sustaining Sustainability explores sustainability lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Various societal challenges magnified by the COVID-19 crisis are explored weekly through 10-minute interviews.

Consisting of two contracts, the agreement will result in two new solar energy facilities with combined capacity of 220 megawatts, which will produce an estimated 450,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. The purchased electricity will be equal to approximately 75 percent of the total electricity demand of the academic campus and Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

This questionnaire is part of a study on the impacts of the crises caused by COVID-19 to sustainable development teaching. The survey is being conducted by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Program and the European School of Sustainability Science and Research.

The recently released land acknowledgement was developed in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chairman and the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program. University community members are encouraged to read the land acknowledgement at the beginning of gatherings and events.

The new Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies focuses on food systems, energy, natural resources and biodiversity. The program will begin fall 2020.

To honor the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the University of Michigan has organized a Teach-Out, an intergenerational and interdisciplinary conversation about what sustainability means across different sectors, disciplines and lived experiences. Participants will explore themes related to global sustainability efforts, climate change and environmental justice. The Teach-Out is available for free from April 6-30.

The NWF EcoLeaders Equity and Justice Fellow will support the growth and development of EcoLeaders and EcoCareers programs based on research of best practices in the field, stakeholder engagement, and the development of a proposal for strategies moving forward. Fellows receive a $3,000 stipend. The fellowship begins in May and lasts for about 4-6 months. The deadline to submit is April 20.

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories is offering last year's conference presentations free of charge to anyone to aid distance learning and education about lab challenges, technologies and case studies at research institutions.

The Open Society University Network, in partnership with the Talloires Network, recently announced the launch of COV-AID: Communities of Virtual Alliance & Inter-Dependence, to support universities engaged in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COV-AID seeks to collect and share stories of institutions and individuals who are taking action to mitigate the crisis, document practical steps and strategies that may be of use elsewhere, provide uplifting content, and strengthen public support for engaged universities.

Members of the university community are now building face shields and respirator masks using laser cutters and 3D printers, and sewing medical gowns. In less than one week, 208 printers have churned out 1,228 N95-equivalent face masks and 655 face shields.

A growing number of community colleges are now manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) to help with the shortage among hospitals due to a surge of patients infected with the novel coronavirus. Ashland Community and Technical College is using its 3D printers to make face shields and respirators masks. Metropolitan Community College has a goal to make 2,000 face shields. Patrick Henry Community College announced a prototype face shield and is making arrangements to mass produce them using its large 3D printers. Pellissippi State Community College is manufacturing face shield headbands. Red Rocks Community College is producing parts to make one ventilator serve two patients.