University at Buffalo
EN-10: Community Partnerships

The University at Buffalo played a key leadership role in the formation of the Western New York Environmental Alliance, an organization that brings together over 100 environmental organizations in the region. The Alliance's mission is to mobilize change through collective action and collaboration in order to ensure sustainable, thriving ecosystems & communities of Western New York. Over the past decade, our institution has anchored the organization by serving in key leadership roles, connecting our students and researchers with member organizations to create greater synergy within our community on sustainability and climate issues and leveraging external funders as well as providing direct assistance to the Alliance.

More information can be found at http://www.wnyea.org/ and https://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/about-us/sustainability-partners.html#title_1455069671

The Western New York Sustainable Business Roundtable is a “business-driven” organization that relies on its member businesses to drive its mission and organize its events. Members are businesses that have employees in the Western New York region and have signed a pledge to create and implement a sustainability plan.

The Western New York Sustainable Business Roundtable was kicked off with 35 founding member businesses on Earth Day 2014 after months of behind-the-scenes planning by the University at Buffalo and Erie County. Through the work of both of these anchoring institutions, two major stabilizing US Environmental Protection Agency grants were obtained to provide baseline staffing for the organization (and several more grants have been leveraged more recently). Over the past several years the university has continued to play a leadership role in developing strategy and continuing to grow the membership which now includes 75 due-paying members. The Roundtable’s work has greatly assisted member businesses change the way they operate by becoming more efficient with energy & materials use, reducing waste & pollution, and investing in their communities. These businesses have become local leaders and are making the business community more effective, efficient and profitable as they protect our environment and reduce the severity of climate change.

UB's Chief Sustainability Officer was a founding board member and continues to serve on the board of directors due to the critical role the university has played with the organization.

More information can be found at www.wnysustainablebusiness.org/ and https://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/about-us/sustainability-partners.html#title_1965773405

One Region Forward is a broad-based, collaborative effort to promote more sustainable forms of development in Erie and Niagara counties (the Buffalo Niagara Region) in land use, transportation, housing, energy and climate, access to food, and more. It combines research and public engagement with planning and action to help us meet the combined economic, environmental, and social challenges of the 21st century.

One Region Forward was launched through the University at Buffalo's Regional Institute which developed the planning process to craft a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development, a federally recognized document that gives our region priority status for funding opportunities today and into the future. The plan, called A New Way to Plan for Buffalo Niagara, serves as a practical roadmap for improving mobility, promoting more efficient land use patterns, strengthening our basic infrastructure, growing a 21st century economy, ensuring broad access to healthy food, protecting housing and neighborhoods, and mounting our region’s response to the challenge of global climate change.

But this is more than just a plan. One Region Forward seeks to support implementation that will produce lasting benefits for both our economy and quality of life. It seeks to prepare our civic and business leaders to make smart decisions by providing online tools and technical assistance to show how sustainability can work here. Most importantly, this effort is about empowering the people of Buffalo Niagara to be a part of the process in driving positive, sustainable change for their communities.

The University at Buffalo has been at the core of this plan since its inception and continues to play a pivotal leadership role through the School of Architecture and Planning and UB Sustainability.

More information can be found here: http://www.oneregionforward.org/

Please see:
https://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/about-us/sustainability-partners.html
https://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/about-us/sustainability-partners/summer_camp.html
www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/OurStrategy/news-and-events/latest-news.html