Our Vision for Loyola University Chicago

We endeavor to approach carbon neutrality on our campuses through a university-wide environmental sustainability collaboration involving partnerships among students, faculty, staff, and administrators.  We strive to develop a conservation ethic; transforming our individual consumption behaviors to conserve natural resources for the common good, for future generations, and for all forms of life on the planet.

Mission

The Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP) at Loyola University Chicago works to expand knowledge in the service of humanity by teaching interdisciplinary educational programs, and conducting research and outreach activities on pressing environmental issues. Such issues include global climate change, emerging environmental contaminants, the food production and distribution system, alternative energy solutions, and the unjust privatization of water and other natural resources.

Goals

Deliver a premier environmental sustainability educational experience, characterized by teaching multidisciplinary, problem-solving, research-based, and experiential courses, and offering co-curricular activities to supplement the courses.

Reduce the University’s environmental footprint by 40% by decreasing our dependency on fossil fuels, and by reducing the purchase of goods brought onto campus, reusing goods once they are on campus, and reducing waste that leaves campus.

Develop an interdisciplinary faculty and student research team that explores emerging contaminants in Chicago’s water and air (Chicago Clean Air, Clean Water Program), and collaborates with agencies and NGOs in Chicago with similar interests.

Develop a collaborative outreach program that serves educational, research, and environmental sustainability objectives within our Loyola community as well as in our neighboring communities of Rogers Park, Edgewater, and the City of Chicago.

Strategic Plan, 2010-2015

To see how CUERP will make the above goals a reality, download the PDF of the CUERP Strategic Plan for 2010-2015.