CWU Climate Action Plan Vision and Key Pillars
Vision of CWU’s CAP: CWU advances environmental, social, and economic sustainability in ways that support an ecologically healthy and socially just world, and that honor the Indigenous peoples who have resided here since time immemorial. The CWU CAP will promote sustainable practices and responsible stewardship of land and resources through incorporating environmental, social, and economic considerations into University operations, infrastructure, and academic programs in collaboration with the local community. As a result of the campus-wide Sustainability Forums, classroom presentations, surveys, and listening sessions, the following five key pillars of CWU’s CAP were developed. The key pillars are not hierarcical – each pillar is equally important and serve as a foundational reference and guide for the implementation of the strategies and actions steps listed within each focus area of the CAP.
Zero-Carbon Campus Infastructure and Operations
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Campus and Community Collaboration
Sustainability Education and Engagement
Key Performance Indicators
Per the key pillars of the CAP, the CWU campus community advocates for decarbonizing University infrastructure and operations , transitioning away from natural gas consumption, and installing renewable electricity (e.g., solar) on available spaces owned by the University. The campus community also strongly encourages an in-depth evaluation of each strategy to ensure that our efforts to decarbonize campus do not unintentionally create unnecessary and disproportionate burdens to marginalized, historically- excluded communities . Additionally, the CWU community advocates for seeking pathways to produce more equitable outcomes as the campus builds out sustainability and decarbonization initiatives.
The campus community recognizes the critical need for the University to infuse and embed sustainability education and climate competencies across the curriculum , for the purpose of increasing sustainability literacy and empowering the next generations of climate and sustainability practitioners. For every sustainability and decarbonization initiative or project, there will be educational opportunities available for CWU students, staff, faculty, local community members, and other entities throughout the region. For example, during the design process for CWU’s North Academic Complex, which will be heated and cooled using geothermal technology, efforts will be made to develop an educational dashboard outlining how the geothermal system operates and the role it plays in significantly reducing climate emissions. Last but not least, the fifth key pillar of the CAP stresses the importance of compiling key performance indicators for each of the focus areas listed below to ensure that the objectives are clearly defined and measurable. The CAP will require a diligent approach to collecting accurate, campus-wide greenhouse gas, energy, transportation, waste, water and curriculum-related data for the purpose of measuring progress and prioritizing strategies and action steps. CWU will also likely invest in SIMAP, a platform for higher-ed institutions to collect and measure Scope 3 emissions. CWU Sustainability in coordination with CWU Capital Planning and Projects and other department leads will be communicating, and publishing CAP progress reports to the campus community on an annual basis. CWU’s commitment to issuing annual progress reports will enable the campus community, and leadership to be informed of the progress, successes, and challenges associated with each of the objectives and strategies listed in the CAP.
The third pillar of the CAP is campus and community collaboration. The campus community advocates for collaborating outside the confines of the CWU Ellensburg campus and working with the broader community throughout the implementation process. While many of the objectives and strategies listed in this CAP focus on decarbonizing the infrastructure and operations owned by the University, CWU is committed to collaborating with its satellite centers and leveraging partnerships with the City of Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Yakama Nation, local community groups, state agencies, and other higher-ed institutions to ensure a more collaborative response to climate change. CWU’s CAP and the City of Ellensburg’s recently adopted Sustainability and Energy Plan open the doors for more fruitful collaboration between the University and the local community for the next several years.
14 | CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY | 15
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