Center for Sustainability

Center for Sustainability & the Environment

The purpose of the CSUDH Center for Sustainability and the Environment is to: 
  • Cultivate interest, promote, and support efforts to institutionalize environmental sustainability within CSUDH's academic units and curricular/research activities;
  • Ensure the university's ongoing prominence as a sustainability and environmental justice leader in higher education locally, regionally, and nationally, and serve as a pillar of the community in this role; and
  • Serve as a campus resource center for building interdisciplinary and regional/national sustainability connections in support of instructional and research collaborations, and to provide a collaborative platform for pursuing associated extramural funding opportunities in this area.  
CSUDH faculty and community partners are encouraged to approach the Center for collaborations, extramural/grant opportunities, and support services to further these efforts.  
Link to the fully executed Charter is here [PDF].  

Upcoming Events

Engage with Center staff at these upcoming faculty events (full events flyer linked above and here):
  • Campus Urban Farm Open House:  (Date Change) Thursday, November 14th, 10am-12pm at the Campus Urban Farm

Don't forget to visit the Brackish Water Exhibit this fall semester.  Consider bringing your class to engage them on sustainability topics while this unique exhibit is here! 

  • Brackish Water Exhibit:  Open at the University Art Gallery August 12-December 14, 2024
    • September 18th, 4-7pm Public Reception, University Art Gallery (LCH A-107) 

Ongoing Programs

Sustainability Research Recognition

The Center seeks to recognize and promote the research endeavors of the university as well as foster interdisciplinary networking amongst CSUDH faculty on sustainability topics.  
  • Award Sponsorship- CSUDH Student Research Conference
    • To recognize and encourage student research in sustainability, the Center annually sponsors four award categories at CSUDH Student Research Conference: Sustainability Engagement, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and Campus as a Living Lab (CALL)  

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

The Center sponsors a faculty learning community (FLC) every spring semester designed to support CSUDH faculty in integrating sustainability across the curriculum.  Calls for applications are announced by the Faculty Development Center every fall.

Past Faculty Learning Community Work

Each FLC is recruited to ensure representation from a diversity of academic disciplines with the intention of supporting and inspiring colleagues from each participant's home department.
Spring 2024 FLC Summaries:
Each participant was asked to prepare a video summary explaining the revisions they made to their class syllabus as a result of their participation in the FLC.  View the Youtube playlist here. Word and PDF copies of the revised syllabi are available in this Dropbox folder for reference (CSUDH log-in required).   

Sustainability in the Curriculum Events

  • Fall Workshop (September 2024) on Applying Sustainability to the Curriculum via the UN SDGs:
    • Link to workshop recording here (Youtube)
    • Downloadable powerpoint slides here [PDF] 
    • Referenced supporting attachment with UN SDGs' Educational Guide linked here [PDF]

Faculty who have incorporated sustainability themes, activities, and content that might not be readily obvious from the course catalog description are encouraged to e-mail Director Ellie Perry at eperry@csudh.edu with your revised syllabus/description of changes.  You will receive:

  • A commendation letter documenting your efforts and continuous learning for your personnel files.
  • Recognition for your course in the upcoming 2024-2025 AY public inventory of sustainability-related courses for the institution: Latest version from 2021-2022 AY available on the Academic page

Campus as a Living Laboratory

CSUDH has an extensive history of integrating campus as a living laboratory projects in the classroom, and has several resources to support ongoing engagement with campus facilities and infrastructure.
  • Visit the Academic page to see resources around physical campus spaces, utility data, requesting guest presentations, current inventories of sustainability research and courses, and more!

CSUDH Sustainability on Instagram: