The Office of Sustainability at the University of Minnesota Duluth has a broad mission: communicate, educate and inspire action to integrate sustainability into all aspects of campus life. For 15 years, the office has acted as a critical resource for students, faculty, staff and administrators that want to get involved and lead in sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability (OS) consists of two full-time staff, a GreenCorps service member and three part-time student staff that work to provide events, resources and opportunities to folks across campus.

In 2023, a few new and novel initiatives are happening that are worth sharing including a Campus & Climate Action Plan, management of the UMD Land Lab, growing student organizations focused on sustainability and climate and the Sustainability Living Learning Community, an intentional group within a residence hall that shares some core classes and programming around sustainability.  

The UMD Campus and Climate Action Plan was completed and approved by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Oct. 12. Approval of the plan was the last step in a years-long process that involved focus groups, mapping, visioning and feedback from students, staff, faculty and the broader Duluth community. 

The combined Campus and Climate Action Plan (CCAP) is one of the first among higher education institutions to integrate a university campus plan (traditionally the location of new buildings, infrastructure changes) and a climate plan (infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reach carbon neutrality). This unique combined process has resulted in a bold, aspirational, innovative and intentional roadmap that will guide UMD to carbon neutrality and climate resilience during the next 30 years.

The CCAP framework is primarily concerned with the 250 acres of UMD’s main campus. Ideas for physical improvements to campus circulation, building renewal and replacement, enhanced sports and athletics facilities and better protected natural areas are detailed in the Campus Plan. Details of how to accommodate these investments while realizing emission reduction goals are the substance of the Climate Action Plan.

The Climate Action Plan employs, as a foundation, the logic that carbon neutrality is best realized by reducing energy demand through building energy savings measures, ensuring efficient delivery through district heating/cooling systems, and engaging clean energy supplies. An important influence on this plan is the integration of the 100% clean electricity bill that requires electricity in Minnesota to be generated entirely from renewable sources by 2040.  

The OS is also the new manager of the UMD Land Lab (aka SAP Farm) located across the road from the Jean Duluth Dog Park. Agriculture is an area with great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through climate smart practices and the OS is very excited to have received two years of grant funding to engage students around the topic of carbon neutrality and agriculture. 

The grant funds will support a farm manager and student staff to conduct research in collaboration with local/regional farmers around crop production as well as becoming a climate smart tree seedling grower. This research focus will be a slight shift away from more diversified production at the Land Lab, however, we look forward to getting classes, student groups and K-12 groups back out at the farm to experience this fabulous patch of land.

A UMD student group, Plant The Revolution, has done significant work bringing students to the Land Lab to showcase the work that has been done and help build a vision of what student engagement, research and programming at the site can look like. These events include picking apples and making cider from apples at the Heritage orchard; harvesting and selling garlic, and planting 1,000 bulbs for next year’s garlic harvest; and hosting a Star Gazing Night at the Land Lab in collaboration with student staff from the Recreational Sports and Outdoor Program (RSOP) and the UMD Planetarium. 

Other great student organizations that have involvement with the office include EcoReps, Helping Hives, SEE (Social, Environment and Economic) Change and UMD Robotics.  

The last new thing for 2023 is the Sustainability Living Learning Community (LLC), which is a collaborative/intentional housing group within the on-campus residence halls and includes 18 students in its inaugural year. The students live on the same floor of their residence hall, take one to two classes together and have programming, advising and events that relate to and/or focus on sustainability.

This is primarily a Housing and Academics arrangement, however, the OS does many programs related to these activities already and so we have helped build and shape this LLC as it was coming together. The 18 students who live in this community have taken campus (and the LLC organizers) by storm, organizing many of their own events, leading through their interests and diving into involvement with campus groups.

Often, LLC’s are lauded for their higher-than-average retention rates and grades of students in their communities and we have no doubt the students in this group are well bonded and a force to be reckoned with; voicing what they expect the university to be doing in terms of sustainability and how they will hold the university to account for showing progress as we begin to implement the CCAP in the coming months and years of their tenure.  

After 15 years on the UMD campus, the Office of Sustainability has a long track record of working to move climate and sustainability action forward. UMD emissions are down more than 25% and with an updated roadmap for climate action through the CCAP there are great steps forward coming down the pike. Management of the Land Lab is a privilege and there is so much opportunity to connect with students at a foundational level: food.

Along with this, the Sustainability LLC is proving to be a powerful tool to build community and prepare motivated and knowledgeable students for leadership in sustainability and climate action. So many great things have come to be in 2023 – it gives great hope for 2024 and beyond.  

Jonna Korpi serves as the Sustainability Director at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She works to move the needle on campus greenhouse gas reductions, climate resilience, and community engagement. Jonna earned a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Washington and has a B.A. in Psychology and B.S. in Criminal Justice Studies from the University of North Dakota. She previously worked in small-scale organic farming, energy conservation, resource development, and AmeriCorps service and leadership. Jonna spends most of her free time planting seeds (literally and metaphorically) for a more resilient future.  

Remington Foust is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Duluth studying sustainability, writing, English and social justice. Along with her academics, Remi is the Social Media Manager for The Bark, a student news organization on the UMD campus, and the Sustainability Director for the Student Government Association. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, crocheting and playing video games.