News
PSU'S NEW SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE TAKES "SOLUTIONS" APPROACH
Led by Dr. Robert Costanza, the Institute for Sustainable Solutions will serve as hub and catalyst for education, research, partnerships, and community engagement
(Portland, Ore.) September 13, 2010 — Portland State University’s Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices is now the Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS).
The new Institute will be led by Dr. Robert Costanza, who joined PSU September 1, 2010, as university professor of sustainability. Costanza is internationally acclaimed for his visionary work across disciplines, linking ecology, economics, and design to create sustainable solutions. Previously he was the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont.
“Portland State University has a unique opportunity to become a powerful catalyst, model, and engine of positive and lasting change; a driving force that can help lead society by design to a sustainable and desirable future,” says Costanza. “I’m extremely excited about joining PSU, launching the new Institute, and helping bring that future into being.”
The new name reflects new leadership and an expanded role since the Center was first established in 2006 to help coordinate efforts across campus to integrate sustainability into teaching and research. Since then, sustainability has become increasingly ubiquitous at Portland State University, with extensive curricular offerings, research activities and expanded partnerships both regionally and globally.
The sustainability program received catalytic investment in 2008 with a ten-year, $25 million challenge grant for sustainability made by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation. This investment, which must be matched each year, is intended to motivate long-term investment to ensure PSU's long-term leadership in this arena.
The new Institute also signals a more “solutions”-oriented focus for sustainability activities at Portland State University, with increased engagement with the campus, city, state, regional, and global communities.
The Institute will also be the new home of the journal Solutions (www.thesolutionsjournal.com), co-founded by Robert Costanza, Paul Hawken, David Orr and John Todd. The print and online publication, billed as a peer-reviewed hybrid between Nature and The New Yorker, showcases bold and innovative ideas for solving the world's integrated ecological, social, and economic problems. Costanza will continue to serve as editor-in-chief; managing editor Dr. Ida Kubiszewski also joins the ISS team as an assistant research professor.
SOLUTIONS SEMINARS BEGIN
On October 6, 2010, the Institute launches its 2010-2011 Solutions Seminars, weekly forums in fall, winter, and spring. The Solutions Seminars will explore visionary and desirable solutions to the environmental, economic, and social challenges of our time. PSU’s Robert Costanza will deliver the opening talk, “Creating a sustainable and desirable future.”
The seminars will be on Wednesdays from 5–6:30 p.m. at PSU’s Shattuck Hall Annex (1914 S.W. Park Ave., Portland, Ore.). Speakers will draw on local and international expertise, including David Orr (October 27), Gail Achterman (December 1), Bill Becker (October 20), and Peter Barnes (November 17). Seminars are free and open to the public and will also be streamed online live; academic credit is available. Visit www.pdx.edu/sustainability/solutions-seminars for more information.
ENVISIONING EVENT PLANNED
A campus and community-wide event to help envision and create the “3rd Millennium sustainable university” will be held on October 23, 2010. This event will engage a broad range of stakeholders in setting goals for the transformation of PSU into the world's leading sustainable university.
TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND TEACHING
The Institute for Sustainable Solutions will support research, teaching, and outreach activities related to thematic areas that build on transdisciplinary expertise at Portland State, including:
• RIVER BASINS, working to create integrated models that can be used worldwide to assist in understanding complex river systems, the ecosystem services they provide, and how to optimize shared uses.
• SUSTAINABLE URBAN COMMUNITIES, including green building, ecodistricts, sustainable mobility, renewable energy, green economic prosperity, natural capital, and social equity issues.
The Institute will continue to administer PSU’s popular Graduate Certificate in Sustainability, while beginning to develop online “meta-courses” available for academic or professional credit through PSU and other universities.
Plans are under development to establish participatory, solutions-focused workshops, or “ateliers,” that will pair students and faculty with stakeholders to address real-world challenges facing a particular community or region.
ABOUT INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR ROBERT COSTANZA
Robert Costanza's research has focused on the interface between ecological and economic systems, particularly at larger temporal and spatial scales. This includes landscape-level spatial simulation modeling; analysis of energy and material flows through economic and ecological systems; valuation of ecosystem services, biodiversity, and natural capital; and the analysis and correction of dysfunctional incentive systems.
He is the author or co-author of over 400 scientific papers and 22 books; and his work has been cited in more than 6,000 scientific articles. Reports on his work have appeared in several outlets including Newsweek, Time, The Economist, The New York Times, Science, Nature, National Geographic, and National Public Radio. For more information, visit www.pdx.edu/sustainability/robert-costanza.
Media inquiries and interview requests may be directed to David Santen at 503-725-8765 or santend@pdx.edu.
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By:
David Santen, Office of University Communications,
Portland State University santend@pdx.edu | 503-725-8765
Source:
Robert Costanza, Director, Institute for Sustainable Solutions
Portland State University
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release (#10-051)
