U-M is marking late March and all of April with a series of events focused on sustainability and climate action, continuing a tradition that began with the first “Teach-In on the Environment” in 1970—which grew into what is now known as Earth Day.
Empowering a more just and sustainable world requires interdisciplinary coalition-building and collaborative action. The University of Michigan is pursuing multidisciplinary approaches and initiatives built around social justice to ensure that work strengthens and supports Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and all communities. No outcome is a true solution unless everybody benefits.
U-M was the first university to offer Environmental Justice as an academic field of study in the U.S., and remains on the forefront of educating leaders who make real impacts across the spectrum of EJ challenges. In partnership with communities throughout the region and world, U-M experts, from a wide range of disciplines, are pursuing inclusive, responsive, and equitable solutions to real-world problems. Some of our key initiatives in environmental justice include: the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment, Poverty Solutions, the Center for Sustainable Systems, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, and the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative.
U-M is marking late March and all of April with a series of events focused on sustainability and climate action, continuing a tradition that began with the first “Teach-In on the Environment” in 1970—which grew into what is now known as Earth Day.
What materials and methods will allow us to design and construct low-carbon buildings? How can architects and designers promote social justice through community ownership of land? Through its Pressing Matters grant program, Taubman College has funded five faculty-led research and creative practice projects that address these questions.
When climate scientists look to the future to determine what the effects of climate change may be, they use computer models to simulate potential outcomes such as how precipitation will change in a warming world. But U-M scientists are looking at something a little more tangible: coral.
The global challenges posed by climate change are widespread, impacting various aspects of human life, with water resources at the forefront of these challenges. As climate change advances, it is projected to exacerbate water scarcity and access issues, given the intensification of water-related hazards (such as hurricanes and flooding) and rising temperatures that will lead to sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion.
Improving the U.S. electricity grid is necessary to lower costs, boost reliability and help tackle climate change, but it will take some serious soul searching by the leaders of entities that control the grid.
Despite the possibility of climate-smart agriculture improving food security, most CSA practices and technologies are not widely adopted in South Asia.