Northern Illinois University
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Despite the abundance of farms in Illinois, most of the food consumed in the state is not locally produced. Edible Campus seeks to address this disconnect by transforming parts of the NIU campus into a landscape you can eat. This ambitious partnership among NIU units and outside partners is collaborative in nature, including student and community volunteer events and activities, as well as showcasing local businesses.  The Edible Campus project has now built over 200 raised bed gardens on campus that are free to pick beds, where students, facutly, staff and community members can harvest any of the produce grown.  There is also a 5,000 square foot intensive market garden that is used to produce food for our campus dining halls and our Huskie Food Pantry.  A hydropod (hydroponic vertical farm in a shipping container) is used to produce additional leafy greens for campus dining facilities.  Aeroponic grow towers have been placed inside our main library as a demonstration site.  And finally, because of a reported lack of access to on-campus kitchens, a meal prep program was developed, where students can come once a week to learn to prepare a meal with ingredients donated from the garden and take hom 5 prepared meals to eat at a later date.  All the Edible Campus gardens and programs are being integrated into teaching, research and volunteer opportunities. 

The Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy (ESE) is a transdisciplinary academic research center at NIU dedicated to promoting understanding of the environment and the development of creative and effective solutions to environmental and sustainability issues. The institute is a collaborative program with faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, College of Health and Human Sciences, College of Business, College of Law and the School of Art. Other NIU units are joining the collaboration through team-taught courses and research programs.  ESE is home to the Environmental Studies undergraduate major and minors, as well as the Sustainable Food Systems certificate.  ESE also has five jointly appointed faculty, and over 30 faculty affiliates from other programs and departments.  

The Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability (NICCS) is a new research center that was created with the mission of addressing he challenges of environmental change, shifting demographics and sociopolitical inequity that are impacting our region and the world.  To accomplish this, NICCS connects research and innovation to advance sustainability in food systems, water resources and environmental adaptation while also promoting science-based policies and practices for communities.  NICCS is part of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) – a group of public universities and community colleges that work together to improve the state's economy through innovation, research, and education.  Although NICCS research is already well underway, when built, the new NICCS facility will serve to strengthen our research, outreach and policy work. This unique mixed-use research, innovation and education center will also provide a living laboratory to test new sustainable technologies in building systems and infrastructure.