California State University, Long Beach
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

The 2022 CSULB Climate Action and Adaptation Plan includes Curriculum as a key focus area of the campus' Adaptation Roadmap. The action areas included in this part of the plan include:
- Train faculty to integrate resilience into the curriculum and provide incentives for doing so
- Increase sustainability and climate academic programs and degree learning outcomes
- Increase student sustainability and climate literacy. Establish a baseline of literacy and aim to increase it by 5% annually.

Additionally, the 2021 systemwide CSU Sustainability Policy seeks to further integrate sustainability into the academic curriculum working within the normal campus consultative process. Periodically, CSU campuses are required to report progress implementing the Sustainability Policy to the CSU Board of Trustees using the STARS framework.

Sustainability Policy Reporting Metrics:
• Provide the number of sustainability-focused degree programs
• Provide the number of sustainability-focused courses offered
• Please list any courses or projects developed as part of the Campus as a Living Lab program
• List any sustainability-related academic institutes on this campus

The CSULB Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) includes Capacity and Awareness as a key action area in the Adaptation Roadmap, which includes several sustainability objectives that are related to engagement, including:
• Improve messaging around emergency operations
• Recruit and train department-level Sustainability Champions
• Expand outreach and marketing efforts
• increase capacity for sustainability and climate action efforts through fundraising

Likewise, the Mitigation Roadmap of the CAAP includes a goal to promote behavior change programs as part of campus energy efficiency efforts.

The CSU Sustainability Policy also includes several sustainability objectives that address student, employee, and community engagement for sustainability. Examples of such objectives include:
• The CSU will develop employee and student workforce skills in the green jobs industry, promote the development of sustainable products and services, and foster economic development.
• Each CSU is encouraged to designate a sustainability officer responsible for carrying out and/or coordinating campus sustainability program efforts.
• The CSU will inform students, faculty, staff, and the general public of the need for and methods of energy conservation and utilities management.
• Campuses and food service organizations shall collaborate to provide information and/or training on sustainable food service operations to staff and patrons

Additionally, the Policy Statement on Energy Conservation, Sustainable Building Practices, and Physical Plant Management for the CSU (Executive Order 987) states that the “CSU shall incorporate appropriate training programs for CSU facilities personnel to promote and maintain the goals” outlined for energy conservation and sustainable building practices.

The policy also states that “the CSU will encourage continued energy conservation and lowest utilities operating costs on its campuses by instituting incentive plans designed to recognize and reward meritorious achievements by campus staff, faculty, and students beyond normal expectation.

A key focus of the 2022 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan is the mitigation of emissions through operational changes. Recommended strategies in the CAAP include:
• Strategic energy management and energy efficiency through strategies such as energy metering and management systems; lighting refurbishments, and retro- and ongoing commissioning.
• Increasing renewable energy generation on campus and procurement of clean energy from outside sources
• Building out infrastructure to support the transition to electric vehicles
• Transitioning the campus away from fossil fuel combustion through electrification of the central plant, transition of campus fleet to electric vehicles, conversion of gas-powered grounds equipment to zero emissions electric models.
• Implementation of irrigation water savings programs, such as converting all spray nozzles to more efficient models and expanding the reclaimed water infrastructure.

The CSU includes measurable sustainability objectives that address sustainability in operations in several published policies, including the CSU Sustainability Policy and the Policy Statement on Energy Conservation, Sustainable Building Practices, and Physical Plant Management for the CSU (Executive Order 987).

The CSU Sustainability policy outlines specific operational targets and goals related to:
• Greenhouse gas emissions reductions
• Energy resilience and procurement
• Energy conservation, carbon reduction, and utility management
• Water conservation
• Waste management
• Sustainable building and land practices
• Physical plant management
• Transportation

In 2018, CSULB embarked on a strategic visioning effort called Beach 2030, out of which six University Action Plans were born. One of these is the Action Plan to "Build an Equitable and Empowering Culture," which outlines the following goals:
• Embed equity and diversity into every aspect of university life by first conducting a campus climate survey and then tasking the President's Equity and Change Commission with developing actions aimed at mitigating negative findings from the survey.
• Remove barriers to student success by establishing a steering committee to engage faculty, staff, and students in implementing evidence-based practices to remove barriers and close gaps in retention and graduation.
• Build a compassionate and purposeful campus community by developing a holistic DEI professional development program for faculty and staff.

Additionally, the CSU Wellbeing Policy on Student Mental Health (EO 1053) establishes the goals of having campuses provide psycho-educational workshops, programs, and services that address critical student issues as well as prevention and wellness programs. Programs must be responsive to the diversity of the CSU student population and enhance the ability of students to develop healthy and effective styles of living and learning.

From the CSU Sustainability Policy:
“This policy is intended to position the nation's largest university system as a leader in the teaching and use of applied research to educate climate literate students equipped to solve the complex challenges of the world and prepare them for an evolving workforce. In addition, the policy encompasses the tenets of human and ecological health, social justice, and economic vitality, and promotes the environmental sustainability of CSU's operations for our built environment.

The policy summarizes goals and intent in the first four numbered points, subtitled “University Sustainability”:
The CSU will seek to further integrate sustainability and climate literacy into the academic curriculum working within the normal campus consultative process. Activities can include but will not be limited to supporting multi-disciplinary course development, utilizing the campus as a living laboratory model, connecting sustainability with social justice, strengthening community partnerships, and creating appropriate learning outcomes. Progress shall be measured through the use of the AASHE STARS1 platform. (14-New; 22-Revise)
The CSU shall promote environmental and social justice through new and existing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) programs such as the CSU Basic Needs Initiative. (22-New)
The CSU will develop employee and student workforce skills in the green jobs industry, and climate-related industry, promote the development of sustainable products and services, and foster economic development. (14-New; 22-Revise)
The CSU will pursue sustainable practices, using AASHE STARS for guidance and reporting, in all areas of the university, including:
business operations such as procurement; information technology; student and employee services; food services; events, habitat and land-use management, facilities operations; design and construction; and
self-funded entities such as student housing, student unions, parking and transportation, children's centers, and auxiliary operations. (14-New; 22-Revise)
Each CSU will designate a sustainability officer/staff member responsible for planning and/or coordinating campus sustainability program efforts. (14-New; 22-Revise)

Additionally, in 2018 CSULB launched a campus and community-wide visioning initiative called Beach 2030. The results of that effort produced a list of our campus' Vision and Priorities. Among the five strategic priorities identified were the following: Cultivate Resilience: Implement innovative, entrepreneurial, and forward-looking actions to strengthen the institution and support the aspirations of community members.
• Prioritize our campus community's health and well-being.
• Build infrastructure and adopt practices to promote sustainability and withstand climate uncertainty.
• Increase financial capacity through mechanisms such as legislative advocacy, philanthropy, and community and industry partnerships to withstand economic volatility and further contribute to the economic development of the City of Long Beach and our region.
• Be nimble and proactive in an ever-changing technological landscape to support transformations in access, engagement, resilience, teaching, learning, and research.

Sustainability is broadly defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This requires an intentional and simultaneous focus on environmental, social, and economic health.

Definition published on the university's sustainability website:
Often the term sustainability is associated primarily with the environment. Although the environment is an important dimension of sustainability, a more complete definition includes additional aspects. Sustainability consists of three elements:
• Our natural world, the environment, and natural resources - The endowment of renewable and non-renewable resources is critical to sustaining life on the planet.
• The community and social structures - Respect for the cultures and social values that exist around the world is a fundamental dimension of sustainability.
• Economic systems - These systems produce the goods and services necessary for survival and must be included when considering the full dimension of sustainability and sustainable development.
Sustainable solutions must include all of these dimensions. Consideration of the future is also a key element of sustainability. The basic idea behind sustainability is that the current generation can meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Brundtland Report, 1987). Other considerations are depending on the perspective of the person defining the term. For example, economists will include an element that addresses the efficient allocation of scarce resources with inter-generational considerations while an ecologist would frame the discussion in terms of temporal ecosystem functions, biodiversity, or resiliency. Regardless of the discipline, all decisions made around the world today should consider how to implement sustainability in practice.

CSULB became a signatory to the Second Nature Carbon Commitment in 2011 and a Charter signatory to the Resilience Commitment in 2016.